The Hypnotist and the Elephant
Yesterday I saw a guy ride a tiny pink elephant. I am NOT bullshitting you.
The elephant ran on stage, and everyone else leapt out of the way and some girls shrieked in fear, and then one of the guys leapt at the elephant, mounted it, and rode it about the stage. Finally, he brought it back to center stage, where others overcame their fears and approached the elephant; two of the guys even went so far as to pet it.
For the other two hundred college kids in the auditorium, there was no elephant to be seen. But for the hypnotized students on stage, the elephant was unlike any creature they'd ever seen before. They all saw it. Some in back whispered amongst themselves. I heard one girl say "what IS that," to which another participant--who had been instructed to believe his own name was Chip, and not Eric-- responded "a motherfucking pink elephant!"
This was some excellent entertainment. Of course, I didn't believe in hypnosis going into the show with Alyssa last night. And I'm certain many others didn't either, and probably still don't. Of course, the hypnotist, whose name was simply "The Amazing Borris," only picked people from the audience to participate if they were already susceptible to hypnosis. He was careful not to pick any fakers. He conducted tests on the audience, such as hypnotizing us to believe there were balloons pulling our right hands into the air. Anyone who actually had their hand in the air would be selected. From this group of thirty, only twenty survived the first round of hypnosis. Those who weren't really hypnotized sat back down in the audience.
At this point, I wasn't sold on the hypnosis thing.
When he instructed Eric to forget his name, and then asked him what his name was, he looked generally confused. He really didn't remember his name, and that scared him. Then he was told his name was Chip, and that everytime he was asked for his name or had to tell someone exactly what his name was, he would get more and more frustrated explaining his name was Chip. This gag would last the entire hour and a half show.
One poor girl was told there was a bird sitting on her shoulder that continually pecked at her ear with a razor sharp beak; also, every five seconds, the bird called Chip "Chuck." The girl was actually very upset about the bird. Chip looked ready to fight the damn thing. When Borris "shot" the bird with a gun only the hypnotized twenty could see, they all panicked. They started diving out of the way like they were in a John Woo movie. Only Chip was happy when the bird was dead. "And that stupid bird couldn't get my name right either!"
There was a point where he had the hypnotized kids "Freeze!" This was the best part. The audience was then invited to check out the frozen kids. He told us that their eyes would point straight ahead no matter WHAT we did. Snap your fingers in his face, pull out your cigg lighter and spark it right in front of him, and the guy's eyes would stay put. The ones I thought that were faking hypnosis had their eyes fixed straight ahead no matter what.
One guy was told he was Usher. He was told to sing and dance for us. Borris chose well--the guy actually danced like Usher. He was GOOD.
One guy thought he was Conan O'Brian. He actually told Conan-style jokes. "We spared no expense on this show. Tens of dollars were spent. They've been rehearsing for half an hour."
Everytime Boris made a Shwoooping noise, the bird would fly over their head real low so they had to duck, and it would call Chip names, and curse at him in seven different languages. Eric/Chip was getting REALLY pissed at the bird. He was gonna throw something. The audience was loving it. "Chuck!" they called as he passed, leading the world's best Conga Line to the music of Gloria Estaban.
We've all heard of the Pink Elephant phenomenon. No matter what, if someone tells you to immediately NOT think of pink elephants, then pink elephants are all you can think about. These guys were told that, whenever they heard *this* sound (something like a an elephant's trumpet), that a little pink elephant would charge right at them and then dissappear just before hitting them. I already told you that one of the hypnotized guys managed to tame one of these beasts. For ten minutes, it seemed, we all stared transfixed as some of the guys came closer and pet the little creature that only they could see. And suddenly, I wished I could see it too. It must have looked incredible.
I'm still having trouble sleeping. And I still have no idea why. And I'm still writing about it, for the zillionth time. Not because I like to go about saying, "look at me, I can't sleep for some reason! Look how troubled I am!" but because I'd like to solve whatever mental block is keeping me from getting some sleep. I've covered stress factors, climate factors, health factors and even some psychological factors, and haven't come to the reason I can't sleep.
Maybe hypnosis can help me.
I'm not about to spend money on it, though. It's something to think about. If some people can readilly succumb to even the simplest instructions, maybe I could too. It'd be convenient. Snap your fingers, and "you're in a deep slee----
The elephant ran on stage, and everyone else leapt out of the way and some girls shrieked in fear, and then one of the guys leapt at the elephant, mounted it, and rode it about the stage. Finally, he brought it back to center stage, where others overcame their fears and approached the elephant; two of the guys even went so far as to pet it.
For the other two hundred college kids in the auditorium, there was no elephant to be seen. But for the hypnotized students on stage, the elephant was unlike any creature they'd ever seen before. They all saw it. Some in back whispered amongst themselves. I heard one girl say "what IS that," to which another participant--who had been instructed to believe his own name was Chip, and not Eric-- responded "a motherfucking pink elephant!"
This was some excellent entertainment. Of course, I didn't believe in hypnosis going into the show with Alyssa last night. And I'm certain many others didn't either, and probably still don't. Of course, the hypnotist, whose name was simply "The Amazing Borris," only picked people from the audience to participate if they were already susceptible to hypnosis. He was careful not to pick any fakers. He conducted tests on the audience, such as hypnotizing us to believe there were balloons pulling our right hands into the air. Anyone who actually had their hand in the air would be selected. From this group of thirty, only twenty survived the first round of hypnosis. Those who weren't really hypnotized sat back down in the audience.
At this point, I wasn't sold on the hypnosis thing.
When he instructed Eric to forget his name, and then asked him what his name was, he looked generally confused. He really didn't remember his name, and that scared him. Then he was told his name was Chip, and that everytime he was asked for his name or had to tell someone exactly what his name was, he would get more and more frustrated explaining his name was Chip. This gag would last the entire hour and a half show.
One poor girl was told there was a bird sitting on her shoulder that continually pecked at her ear with a razor sharp beak; also, every five seconds, the bird called Chip "Chuck." The girl was actually very upset about the bird. Chip looked ready to fight the damn thing. When Borris "shot" the bird with a gun only the hypnotized twenty could see, they all panicked. They started diving out of the way like they were in a John Woo movie. Only Chip was happy when the bird was dead. "And that stupid bird couldn't get my name right either!"
There was a point where he had the hypnotized kids "Freeze!" This was the best part. The audience was then invited to check out the frozen kids. He told us that their eyes would point straight ahead no matter WHAT we did. Snap your fingers in his face, pull out your cigg lighter and spark it right in front of him, and the guy's eyes would stay put. The ones I thought that were faking hypnosis had their eyes fixed straight ahead no matter what.
One guy was told he was Usher. He was told to sing and dance for us. Borris chose well--the guy actually danced like Usher. He was GOOD.
One guy thought he was Conan O'Brian. He actually told Conan-style jokes. "We spared no expense on this show. Tens of dollars were spent. They've been rehearsing for half an hour."
Everytime Boris made a Shwoooping noise, the bird would fly over their head real low so they had to duck, and it would call Chip names, and curse at him in seven different languages. Eric/Chip was getting REALLY pissed at the bird. He was gonna throw something. The audience was loving it. "Chuck!" they called as he passed, leading the world's best Conga Line to the music of Gloria Estaban.
We've all heard of the Pink Elephant phenomenon. No matter what, if someone tells you to immediately NOT think of pink elephants, then pink elephants are all you can think about. These guys were told that, whenever they heard *this* sound (something like a an elephant's trumpet), that a little pink elephant would charge right at them and then dissappear just before hitting them. I already told you that one of the hypnotized guys managed to tame one of these beasts. For ten minutes, it seemed, we all stared transfixed as some of the guys came closer and pet the little creature that only they could see. And suddenly, I wished I could see it too. It must have looked incredible.
I'm still having trouble sleeping. And I still have no idea why. And I'm still writing about it, for the zillionth time. Not because I like to go about saying, "look at me, I can't sleep for some reason! Look how troubled I am!" but because I'd like to solve whatever mental block is keeping me from getting some sleep. I've covered stress factors, climate factors, health factors and even some psychological factors, and haven't come to the reason I can't sleep.
Maybe hypnosis can help me.
I'm not about to spend money on it, though. It's something to think about. If some people can readilly succumb to even the simplest instructions, maybe I could too. It'd be convenient. Snap your fingers, and "you're in a deep slee----