Students will be hypnotized by the comedy and hypnosis show of Kevin Hurley in his first visit to Mississippi on Monday in Lee Hall.
Hypnosis is a trance-like state that resembles sleep but is induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary.
“Colleges are the best audience for hypnosis shows,” Hurley said.
Hurley has performed at a lot of colleges, resorts, companies and even for some celebrities. He said his dream would be to perform half for colleges and half for celebrities.
“Colleges are my favorite though, and I’m not just saying that,” Hurley said.
Colleges have fewer guidelines, so he can do his own thing, he said. Also, college students are more receptive to allowing themselves to be hypnotized, he said.
“I haven’t heard of a hypnotist act coming in a few years,” said Blake Butler, Campus Activities Board entertainment division head.
Butler wanted something different and someone new for campus, so he contacted Hurley’s booking agent, he said.
“I think what he’ll do is ask for about 20 volunteers to come on stage. Basically he’ll put them under hypnosis,” Butler said.
Hurley’s brochure says people will forget their names sometimes, pretend to drive a car on stage and do other crazy things, Butler said.
“Some people don’t even know really what happens during a hypnosis show,” Butler said.
The show starts with 10 minutes of comedy to prepare the audience for what they are about see and explaining hypnosis, Hurley said. Next, he takes volunteers for hypnosis, he said.
“The best part of the show is when they’re actually hypnotized they’ll do pretty much whatever I ask them to do,” Hurley said.
To find out what he will actually make the hypnosis subjects do, people will have to come to the show, he said.
“I have about 100 comedy routines,” Hurley said.
He assesses the people on stage and what he thinks they will be able to do in order to decide which routine to go with, he said.
How a person reacts to hypnosis depends completely on his or her personality, he said.
“Some people will be on the stage completely passed out, and others will be acting completely outrageous,” Hurley said.
Sometimes audience members who don’t mean to be hypnotized find themselves on stage after Hurley has performed the hypnosis, he said.
Butler said he thinks Hurley is good and he can’t wait to see what he can do to MSU students.
“I’m hoping to get a couple friends up there just to see, so they can get hypnotized,” he said.
Hurley was a magician first, and still is, but worked with a hypnotist at one of his shows and saw that people were actually reacting to the hypnosis, he said.
He went to Australia and studied hypnosis and put a show together combining his talents, he said. He now performs 200 shows a year.
“And I ended up at Mississippi State,” he said.
Hurley, who is from Pittsburgh, Pa., has performed from East Coast to West Coast, with the exception of Alaska and Mississippi, he said. He said he is excited to put another notch in his belt by coming to Mississippi.
“I’m really excited to see the campus and the culture and seeing how y’all react to being hypnotized,” Hurley said.
He said even if people are skeptical, they should come to the show to see hypnosis and how it works.
“You can come see the show, or you can come be the show. It’s up to you,” Hurley said.
The show will be Monday at 8 p.m. in the Lee Hall Auditorium and is free to the public.
For more information about the
Kevin Hurley Show or future
CAB events, call 325-2930 or
visit msstate.edu/org/cab or
Hurley’s Web site: kevinhurley.com.