Hypnotism, you’ve probably seen it in cheesy movies or cartoons. A man dressed in a funny suit dangles a watch back and forth and takes a helpless person under their complete control. It surely doesn’t seem plausible, but there are a number of performers who make their living off of it, without the costume or watch of course. If you don’t believe in hypnotism, just ask former audience members and they will tell you how real it was. Mix in the element of comedy, and you’ve got a great show.

On Friday, Feb. 22, one such performer, Comedy Hypnotist Frederick Winters, came to Monmouth College. The performer, one of the top five in the country, was brought to MC by ASAP. Winters, who has been nominated over ten times for “Campus Entertainer of the Year,” has performed over 2,000 shows and hypnotized over 125,000 people. He is truly a seasoned veteran, and it showed in his dazzling performance.

Winters became interested in hypnosis under the tutelage of George Vaughn Lowther while in college at Northwestern University in Chicago. He went on to become certified in hypnotherapy, and hasn’t looked back since. “I am truly indebted to him,” Winters says.

Winters is intrigued by the power of the human mind and imagination. He says that he loves doing what he does and fully devotes himself to his work. The jet lag can get to Winters sometimes, in the middle of an eighteen-year long career, but he says that he would trade the world for “the moment that I walk out on the stage.

Audiences leave his shows in awe, either in disbelief of what they just saw, or in disbelief of what their friends and family members tell them they have just done under hypnosis. Winters claims that the reason he continues to perform is for the looks on the faces of his audience members, and the laughs he provides them.

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