Nicole Gerszberg

There is no explanation I can provide for what occurred in the McClain Auditorium on Feb. 5. As one of the participants who danced, screamed and milked a cow onstage in front of the majority of the student body, I can honestly say that I was under the spell of hypnosis.

Although I was physically aware of my surroundings, my emotions and actions complied with the commands of Tom DeLuca. His soothing words brought me, along with the rest of the participants, into a state of complete relaxation in which his “suggestions” were followed to the fullest extent.

I remember many of the activities in which I partook, such as smelling shoulders, eating ice cream, driving a Ferrari and other bizarre occurrences. The two times that DeLuca said “New York,” I ran from my seat, grabbed the microphone, screamed in a rather terrifying voice, “I am Tinkerbell. Fear the fairy,” and then proceeded to fly back to my seat.

Looking back, I remember waiting for DeLuca’s cue without even thinking about how random or weird his request was. This, in fact, was the element that kept the show together. Whether the audience was chanting for the Mamaroneck Mercenaries (I still wonder where that mascot came from) or watching the resuscitation of two very special apples, it was the obscurity of participants’ actions that made the show a success. Under normal circumstances, no one in his or her right mind would have done what we did onstage, but while hypnotized, we honestly didn’t know better.

            Even while I was hypnotized, I watched a very similar show to that of the audience. I laughed when Jack Miller ’10 was hit by a “500-pound” sponge, and I watched up close the confusion on the face of Matt Gray ’10 when he turned around to find a woman from the audience standing across from him.

During the hour and a half I sat on the stage, I remained in a relaxed state of mind, unlike any other I’ve experienced before. Until the moment I heard DeLuca snap and lead me from center stage, where I’d been dancing, toward my chair, I had been fully unable to control my actions.

            Although I cannot describe the remarkable feeling of being hypnotized, I am still able to appreciate its power. I learned what it is like to let go of all limitations; I bonded with an entire audience (who doesn’t like Train or dancing like a maniac when you think no one’s watching?), and now that I’ve listened to my shoe, casted an imaginary fishing rod and flew like Tinkerbell, I know that nothing is impossible.