Hypnotist and Magician David Hall performed his famous Cards Against Hypnosis skit in the Student Union dining hall Monday afternoon, leaving the audience awed and laughing.               

David Hall became interested in hypnosis and magic in 1998, and performs shows all year round for various colleges and venues. His shows are usually in the evenings, but for AACC, an afternoon show was all he needed.

“This was a really great turn out, especially for an afternoon show,” David said after the performance. “I usually perform in the evenings, but truly, this was a great audience and everyone seemed to enjoy it.”            

David got the show started with an explanation of the game and his trade. Cards Against Hypnosis is a play off of the actual card game Cards Against Humanity. There is one black card with a fill in the blank statement or question, and white cards with possible answers.

“Hypnosis is a natural state of mind,” David said, describing his craft to the audience. “It’s a state of mind we experience every day.”             

As 14 volunteers sat on stage, David proceeded to hypnotize them into a deep state of sleep. After a few test situations in which he made them believe they were in Hawaii and then freezing temperatures, he narrowed the volunteers down to the five most receptive participants for the actual show.

In his performance, David would read a black card and then throw a foam Frisbee into the audience. Whoever caught it was instructed to choose an option off of the white card showing to fill in the black card David read from. 

One of the black cards David read had the participants believe they were watching a funny movie, but when he said “popcorn,” they removed their shoe and started using it like a phone!

Another scenario from a black card had he volunteers believe they were angry at the audience, but the only way they could speak was through space alien noises. This led to many laughs from the audience and David himself. 

One of the student volunteers, Noah Burt a freshman double majoring in computer science and music therapy has seen hypnosis performances before but had never actually participated before.

“At first I thought ‘this isn’t going to work’, but the further along it went, the more hypnotized I felt,” Noah said. “I felt awake, but submissive I guess is a good word to describe it. It was really fun to be a part of.”

The audience seemed into the performance, almost hypnotized by it. David elicited many laughs, wow moments and a lot of appreciation, especially from audience member Daniella Hutchins.

“I loved it,” Daniella, a junior transfer studies major said. “It was awesome and a lot of fun to watch. I’m glad people actually participated. I loved all the parts where he had the volunteers dancing.”

Check out David Hall’s Facebook page for his upcoming events and videos from past shows.