On Jan. 17, the Student Activities Board (SAB) hosted the show “Cards Against Hypnosis” in Bethany Hall. It was performed by college hypnotist and magician David Hall.
Liam Oakes / Campus Life Editor
Hall said his passion for hypnosis began 12 years ago when he attended a magic show similar to the one he performed at Seton Hall. “I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen,” Hall said. “The more I learned about it, the more my interest grew.”
Despite his years of experience, Hall said he still finds it amusing to witness the amazed reactions from both the crowd and everyone on stage. He added, “As much I know where the show is going to go, I get surprised every show by something that will make me laugh out loud.”
SAB has had a number of performers come to campus to entertain the student body. Lauren Woodward, a sophomore accounting major, shared what she felt made Hall’s show unique.
As a member of SAB, Woodward said she met Hall on a trip to the National Association for College Activities (NACA), where he had “read her mind.”
“I had never experienced any hypnosis like that, so I didn’t really know what to expect,” Woodward said. She remained skeptical about what would happen during the show until it began, and then she saw every student’s excitement.
“It was interesting to see everyone’s reactions,” Woodward said. “It exceeded any expectations I had. Students started getting up and moving closer to see what was happening. One of our members even said that they want him to return next year.”
After a few exercises with the entire audience, Hall began his induction to hypnosis. During the show, Hall asked a group of audience members to volunteer to come up on stage and become the “stars of the show.”
Hall then gave his selected audience members scenarios to act out. The scenarios included pretending to win a million dollars, finding a puppy under a chair and a dance battle with the prize of free college tuition, which was deemed as the crowd favorite.
Carly Fultano, a freshman pre-nursing major, was one of the audience members who volunteered on stage. “I really wanted to do it,” Fultano said.
She said she was skeptical of whether she should go up on stage, since the experience brought her out of her comfort zone.
After being induced, Fultano said her memory of what happened during the show is not clear. “After the first few exercises I don’t remember anything,” Fultano said. “The parts I do remember, are towards the end.”
After the show, Fultano said she had some help regaining her memory thanks to friends in the crowd.
Despite an unsteady memory during the show, Fultano said that her favorite part of the experience was that it gave her new friend. “I did wind up making a friend out of that. I kind of liked that connection,” Fultano said.
Fultano added that she truly felt like she was one of the “stars of the show” and described the bit of fame she experienced after the performance. “I’ve been noticed a lot on campus,” Fultano said. “I had a really great time, I’m glad I went.”
Ronald Castaneda can be reached at ronald.castaneda@student.shu.edu.
