You're Getting Very Sleepy

Students were completely mesmerized by the power of the mind when Paul Ramsey,
professional hypnotist, performed at Subway Sides on Wednesday, February 25. Audiences were
spellbound as Ramsey opened by hypnotizing the entire crowd all at once. He asked the audience to
close their eyes and imagine two dozen balloons tied to their right arm while holding a heavy dictionary
in their left. After a while of this, he asked them to open their eyes, and sure enough, their left arms
were lower than their right, weighed down by dictionaries that did not exist.
 Next, he asked the audience to get relaxed, and while all were in this trance-like state, he told
them to forget their names. When he brought everyone back, he asked if any of them had truly
forgotten who they were. To the surprise of many, five people could not recall their identities. It was
these people that were chosen to participate in the actual stage performance.
 During the entirety of his show, Ramsey repeatedly stated that hypnotism works only when one
allows it to happen. According to him, one cannot be hypnotized against their own will. This thought
was very reassuring not only to those chosen to participate in the actual stage show, but to those
watching them, especially considering the stunts he made them perform.
 Ramsey, according to his official website, has been performing hypnosis shows since 2004.
Clearly, he has learned a few tricks in his travels, and has implemented them in such a way as to stand
out from the crowd. For instance, unlike many hypnotists, the audience has some degree of control over
the proceedings thanks to modern day technology. By surrendering their student ID cards as collateral,
audience members were able to receive electronic remotes. Through the use of these remotes, they
were able to pick and choose exactly what Ramsey would suggest to his subjects.
 These suggestions ranged from making the subjects believe they were in clubs that do not exist,
that they were experts in fields that had no knowledge in, and even convincing them that they were
famous celebrities.
 He began by convincing the five people that they were in a ballet club and that they had been
selected to perform a dance for the audience. It took a moment or two, but eventually, all five got up
and pirouetted like champs. He then made one man of the five believe he was a drill sergeant and one
lady of the five scream out “Who’s Your Daddy?” at the mere mention of the word “Concord.”
 Next, he convinced all five of them that they were finalists in a national Guitar Hero
championship and that if they won, they would win $100,000. He even told them to play air guitar using
their tongues, and they were made to do it! Perhaps the greatest laugh of all, however, came from
Ramsey convincing one of the women that she was Idina Menzel, Broadway actress and voice of Elsa in
Disney’s Frozen, hired by Concord to perform “Let It Go.” Finally, with the use of the Journey song
“Don’t Stop Believing,” he awakened them from the hypnotic state.
 Before I went to this hypnosis performance, I had written off the whole phenomena as merely a
trick or that the one undergoing the hypnosis was faking it in some way. After seeing the reactions and
the look on the subject’s faces as they came out of the hypnotic state, I am fully convinced now that it is a real thing. Through a clever synthesis of technique and technology, Paul Ramsey created a wonderful
show that enthralled Concord students. To say that he would be most welcome to return to captivate
the student body again would be an understatement.