Hypnotist to mesmerize Crowder once again

AQ Tom on Stage 8199Jesse O. Walls
Editor-in-Chief

Tom DeLuca, hypnotist, returns to Crowder College on Thursday, October 3, ready to mesmerize his audience once more with a performance that starts at 7 p.m. in the Elsie Plaster auditorium.

“It’s a unique, once in a lifetime show that most students here at Crowder would never get a chance to experience just in their regular daily life,” said Mark Aubuchon, campus life coordinator. “The students who have participated in it in the past couple of years have raved about it.”

Last year’s performance brought in an estimated 250-300 people, according to Aubuchon, and it is expected to have a similar turn out this year.

“It’s kind of an interactive trip into the imagination,” commented DeLuca of his show. “I’m basically getting suggestions and opening up their imagination on a very deep level.”

Having received his Master’s in Psychology from the University of Illinois, DeLuca got his start while he was in college, working at a club. According to DeLuca, he tries to avoid using the “stock routines” and tries to put more emphasis on “showcasing” the imaginations of his volunteers.

“My show is really about showing who the people are,” said DeLuca. “It’s not all about bark like a dog or the hypnotist is so powerful…it’s kind of antithetical to that.”

Performing for his third consecutive year at Crowder, DeLuca tries to make each experience different from the last, so if people have seen his previous shows, they still get to see some new material.

“I plan on going,” commented Kyle Jacobs, a theatre major who has attended the performance in years past. “I found it very entertaining…you get to see your friends, or sometimes your classmates or teachers, be hypnotized.”

“It’s hard to explain it, unless you’ve seen it, how much fun it can be,” said Aubuchon of the performance. “He’s clever, he’s been doing this a long time and he knows what he’s doing.”

The show, which is sponsored by Campus Life, is suitable for all ages and free to students and the public.

 

Photo Credit: Andris Visockis Photography