I was never one to believe in the hypnosis mumbo-jumbo a friend of mine claimed he studied. Bob was a comedian with a fairly decent show every Saturday night at a local club. I always assumed the hypnosis "tricks" he performed as part of his act were staged in advance. I thought he found people to come to the club and knowingly participate in his routine for some cash. After all, he was never the studious type and I didn't see how he could have mastered such a skill. However I was wrong, and I found out the hard way!
One night after his show, he invited my wife and I back to his place for some cocktails. His girlfriend Nicole was sitting with us during the show as warned us in advance he might want to go out for a night on the town after his act. I guess he must have changed his mind during the show because it went a bit longer than usual. I certainly didn't mind the idea of staying in for a change. A relaxing evening with friends sounded good to me.
When we got to his place, Nicole and Tracy headed straight for the living room to gossip. Bob had only been dating Nicole for about 5 months, so the "girl" relationship was just starting to flourish. They couldn't talk much at the club because of the noise and the fact that they didn't want to be rude during Bob's show. This meant Bob and I had a good half hour before they would even notice we were missing. We got them each a glass of wine and went downstairs to his den where the big screen T.V. was. If we hurried, we could catch David Letterman.
During the beginning of the show, Letterman made a joke about Hypnosis and that he thought the idea of it seemed kinda silly. I agreed out loud and started laughing and Bobby started to get defensive. I forgot about my environment, and that he was even there. I probably shouldn't have laughed, but I thought I would pursue the conversation further.
"So you're telling me those people you bring on stage aren't paid?" I asked.
"Hell no!" he replied. "They're just ordinary people out of the audience."
"You're saying you can hypnotize anyone you meet and they will do anything you ask?"
"Not everyone can be put under, and some take longer than others, but generally speaking most of the people I meet can be manipulated by the power of suggestion." Bob said.
He could see me thinking about what he was saying. He could tell by the look on my face that I was still very skeptic. Then he proposed a test that would convince me.
"Seeing you don't believe in hypnosis, how about letting me hypnotize you or your wife?" he asked. "If you don't think it will work you have nothing to lose anyway."
"Why don't you hypnotize your girlfriend?" I replied. "Have you ever put Nicole under?"
"I have." He stated. "But I don't think it would convince you. How would you know if she was faking or not?"
He made a good point. I wouldn't know if Nicole was really hypnotized or faking it to help Bob convince me. So with that, I agreed and we went upstairs to ask my wife if she would participate in our little test. In all the time we have been going to Bob's show, I never really asked Tracy if she thought hypnosis was real or not. So I wasn't sure what she would say.
We walking into the living room and the ladies went silent. They were probably talking about us from the minute we went downstairs. Nonetheless, they were curious why we came back before Letterman was over. Bob took the opportunity to explain.
"John thinks that I fake my shows with paid actors, and I would like nothing more than to prove him wrong." Bob explained. "I would like a volunteer other than John to participate in my little test!"
"I'll do it!" my wife shouted to my surprise. "I've always wondered what it was like to be hypnotized, and whether or not it really works."
"I assure you it works. If you let me, I will prove it to you and your husband." he replied.
"Me too!" Bob's girlfriend blurted out. "I know you tried it on me once, but I don't really remember anything."
"Fine." Bob agreed. "Let's get started.