By Maddy Privasky

There is something strange about watching someone forget their own name on command. One minute, they stand on the stage in Oates Theater looking completely normal. Next, they stare into the crowd, confidently insisting their name is something entirely different. One student could not lift a sponge, no matter how hard they tried. Another somehow transformed into Collegiate’s most aggressive cheerleader. The audience was losing it, laughing, shouting, and recording every second. It was chaotic and exactly what everyone came to see. But after the show ended and the videos reached everyone’s camera rolls, a more complex question arose: was that truly hypnosis?

Tom DeLuca has built a decades-long career performing hypnosis shows at schools and universities across the country. On DeLuca’s website, he emphasizes “the importance of the imagination,” framing his performance as a demonstration of how powerful and useful focused imagination can be. With a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Illinois, DeLuca presents himself as more than just an entertainer. He describes himself as someone who helps audiences “harness the power of the imagination,” whether through his comedy hypnosis shows, corporate workshops, or stress-reduction programs.

His return to Collegiate on Sat., Feb. 7, postponed from the original date of Jan. 24 due to weather, came with weeks of anticipation and excitement. Organized by SCA, which brings DeLuca to campus every two years, the event has become a cherished Upper School tradition. 

For those who have never seen the show, the structure is consistent. DeLuca begins by asking for volunteers from the audience; students must be at least seventeen years old and complete a consent form in order to participate. In the minutes leading up to the selection, students wave their arms and try to make themselves impossible to ignore. Some dress up in costumes and hold handmade signs with phrases like “Pick me!” or “I volunteer as tribute,” and other jokes meant to catch DeLuca’s eye. From there, he selects a smaller group to join him onstage, where they sit in a semi-circle facing the audience. Speaking both into the microphone and quietly to the students themselves, he guides them through breathing and concentration exercises. Gradually, their posture changes, their eyes close, and the show begins.

While the performance’s entertainment value is undeniable, what actually occurs onstage is difficult to define. To explore this question, I spoke with several students who volunteered to be hypnotized. Their responses reveal a broad spectrum of experiences. Some described their experience as something close to a trance, while others credited their actions to focus or social pressure.

For JD Chen (‘26), whose over-the-top school spirit became one of the night’s highlights, his experience was all about fixation. After being selected, DeLuca suggested that whenever he said “Collegiate School,” Chen would transform into the school’s most intense cheerleader. Each time the phrase was spoken, Chen leapt across the stage, pumping his fists and shouting, “C! O! U! G! A! R! S!” From the crowd, Chen’s reactions looked completely ridiculous. From his perspective, they felt natural and appropriate to the instructions he had been given. He explained, “I had laser focus on DeLuca the whole time and wasn’t thinking about the audience or what was happening around me.” His memories of being on stage do not suggest unconsciousness. Instead, he recounts feeling fully absorbed, almost like everything else faded out.

Rosie Ferrell (‘27) shared something similar but more physical. After guiding her into a relaxed state, DeLuca suggested that she had forgotten English and could only communicate in a completely new language of her own creation. Almost immediately, Ferrell began responding to questions in a confident, animated gibberish, complete with expressive gestures as if the words made perfect sense. She exclaimed, “I focused on him, and when I began to do the things he said, I started to feel drowsy and peaceful, seeing a peach-colored light.” Although Ferrell remained aware of the audience and knew people were watching, she experienced a deep sense of calm and detachment from her surroundings.

One thing most volunteers emphasized was awareness. No one said they were asleep or blacked out. Instead, they talked about drifting, concentrating, and choosing not to resist. Jane Cullen (‘27) characterized the experience as inconsistent. She explained, “Things felt odd, but I didn’t feel a need to react to them.” She added, “I felt like I drifted in and out, sometimes hypnotized and other times fully awake.” Her description challenges the common image of hypnosis as total mind control. Rather than a complete loss of power, Jane’s experience felt more like a shift.

Not everyone was convinced it was hypnosis at all, even among those who had been hypnotized themselves. Rhodes Neuner (‘26) rejected the premise entirely, saying, “I don’t think he is a hypnotist; he is a peer pressure-er. People want to impress the audience so badly that they go along with it.” This explanation reframes the performance as a social-psychological phenomenon. Volunteers sit beneath bright lights, facing hundreds of classmates. They choose to go onstage. The goal of the show is clear: entertainment. Neuner’s point suggests that the pressure to comply, or at least not resist, may be extremely powerful. 

When DeLuca tapped Wright Montague (‘27), he became one of the volunteers chosen to dance like no one was watching. Montague shared that his opinion was somewhere between belief and doubt. He expressed, “It wasn’t hypnotism like what I expected it to be. It felt like manipulation. You are aware of what you are doing, but he is in control.” His reflection introduces another possibility. Hypnosis may be less about control and more about suggestion layered on top of expectation. If a trusted hypnotist confidently tells someone what they are experiencing, the mind may follow that narrative.

Several students reported physical sensations. Neil Meyers (‘26) recalled, “I became tired, and everything began to spin. After that, the show blurred together.” Elle Garnett (‘26) remembered, “I felt like I couldn’t control my actions or facial expressions until he gave me a command.” Many volunteers exhibit sharpened focus and increased suggestibility, which actually aligns with how hypnosis is commonly defined. As the Cleveland Clinic explains, hypnosis is “a heightened state of concentration and focused attention.” By that standard, many volunteers’ experiences qualify. At the same time, the setting itself matters. Suggestibility and social pressure may operate together.

The most fascinating part might not be whether it was “real” hypnosis; it may be a measure of how willing people were to step into it. Every student who volunteered made a choice: to focus and to follow along. Whether that was hypnosis, social pressure, performance, or a mix of all three, it revealed something larger about how powerful expectations can be. People like to think that they are fully in control of themselves at all times, but DeLuca suggests that it might not be that simple. 

All photos by Maddy Privasky.