Mind melding with hypnotist Michael C. Anthony

By Gabriela Tobar

Rider students were invited to drift, dream and forget about their stress with the end of the spring semester approaching. 

On March 29, Hypnotist Michael C. Anthony began the night with a simple card mind-trick that eventually led to students believing that they were in the Bahamas, dancing with the most attractive person and that a belt was a snake.

Anthony called nine volunteers from the audience up on stage who were willing to be put under a trance, allowing their minds to wander. 

Before he began, Anthony expressed two main reasons why students should be up there, calling it a “totally cool experience.” 

“You’ll be able to reach out and touch things that aren’t even there, you’ll feel them there. You’ll smell and taste things that don’t exist,” Anthony said. 

It began with Anthony asking the students to concentrate on his hand, to inhale and exhale, close their eyes and focus on the sound of his voice.

“Although you’ll only be up here for about 45 minutes, you’re going to have the benefit of about eight hours of sleep,” Anthony added. 

He conducted three tests to determine whether or not the students fell into the trance. The first test required students to interlock their fingers, which they had to try to pull apart. 

With Anthony counting to three, it would become hard to release their fingers because their minds tricked them into having superhuman strength. 

The second test had students stick their arms out to trick their minds into believing that they had a balloon tied on one hand and books placed on the other. 

“Using your imagination to guide you all on its own as you continue to get even more relaxed and continue to become even more focused,” Anthony said, tricking their minds. 

The last and final test is where Anthony got students to feel very relaxed. 

“Here’s when you make the conscious decision, a conscious effort to shut out all those distractions because if you do, you could remain so focused on me,” Anthony said. 

Anthony had the nine students feel relaxed and tired just enough to fade the stress away. He guided the students into relaxing their heads, telling them to rest their chins toward their chest. 

Through the sound of his voice, students became more alleviated, setting their minds to believe that they were in the most comfortable position possible. 

He touched students’ wrists, causing some to fall to the ground and change their resting positions to reach deep relaxation. 

“It’s important to be relaxed. So relaxed in fact, that your attention to me increases even further as you allow yourself to drift and dream without a concern,” Anthony said in a calm, relaxed voice. 

After noticing that some students did not allow their minds to completely fall into a trance state, he sent them back to the audience.

Eventually, out of the nine volunteers, only four students were capable of reaching the full state of semi-consciousness. 

To prove that they were still there, Anthony had the students wave their hands in the air as they were lying in a state of relaxation on the ground. 

The minds of the four students that successfully reached the trance, were challenged by different scenarios from Anthony. 

The first scenario involved the students believing that they were in the Bahamas, enjoying a nice day at the pool. 

Anthony tricked their minds by playing with the weather, making the students believe that it was hot then eventually cold. 

During the “hot” weather, he made the students believe they had a cold cup of water and directed them to take a sip of it. 

As they were taking a sip, he made it known that it was actually vinegar, which caused the students to have a facial reaction. 

Rachel Dente, a freshman who is undecided, was one of the volunteers who successfully fell into the trance. 

Dente, who had never been hypnotized before, felt unsure about going to the event since she didn’t believe it would actually work. 

She felt as though the second test, leading into the trance, was a common mind trick that works on anyone. 

“But once he put me to sleep, that was a little weird,” Dente said, recounting how that experience helped her mind ease in. 

Dente remembered the process that Anthony had instructed her and the other students to do. Although Dente felt like herself during her unconscious state, her conscious mind was still working. 

“It was very trance-like. I understood everything that was going on but I was also doing everything he told me to do,” Dente said. “It was like they were fighting each other. It was really weird.” 

Dente, as well as the other three students, were each hypnotized into doing certain actions that were triggered by a specific word. 

For Dente, her trigger words were “full moon” which caused her to turn into a wolf and howl as loud as she could. 

“In the back of my mind, the conscious part was like, ‘you’re not doing that’ and the unconscious part was like, ‘yeah I am.’ So, I just did it,” Dente said. 

After the event, Dente was worried that she would still be triggered by “full moon.” 

But, Anthony advised everyone prior to starting the trance that these trigger words would completely leave your mind once it was over. 

Anthony snapped all four students out of their trance, telling them that they’d remember everything that occurred once they stepped off the stage. 

Dente’s uncertainty of hypnotism changed after her experience that night. 

“I’d try it again. Maybe I’d try and fight it next time to see what happens,” Dente said jokingly.