1. A woman believed she was drowning

We had a hypnotist at our senior night after we graduated from high school. Our whole senior class watched the 5 volunteers go up on stage, and I guess he also tried to hypnotize the audience as well to see who was susceptible/get more volunteers. A few more people “went under”, but one girl started to freak the fuck out. I guess when he told us to think about going deeper down a hole she thought she was under water so she started to hold her breath and wouldn’t wake up. Shit got real for about 5 minutes until he was able to snap her out of whatever she was doing. Not sure if she was just doing it for attention, but her lips started to turn blue so it was pretty scary. She was fine, but the dude stayed like an hour after his show was done just to make sure that she wouldn’t fall back into whatever he did.

2. My friend believed that she won the lottery

This was not me but a very close friend of mine. We went to the fair and they had a Hypnotism act.

Unless my friend is the most sneaky secretive person and I had no idea this was not staged at all. When he asked who wanted to be brought up to the stage I pretty much jumped on my seat and told him to pick her, sure enough he did.

They brought up about 10 people did all their little tricks, even made her think that she won the lottery. She was crying on stage and told everyone that she actually lost her job that day and that this was a gift from God, the entire audience cringed.

After it was all said and done and we asked her what happened she just said she remembers all of it like you would remember a dream. You think back telling yourself obviously that was not real but in the moment you it felt as real as it gets.

3. I fell asleep and collapsed onto the ground

Wow, I was hypnotized in high school when one came to our school and power of suggestion is a really good way to put it. I was definitely in a trance and I always thought of it like my Superego was non existant. Like I sort of knew what I was doing but the social fear of doing embarrassing things in front of my classmates was completely gone.

One thing that completely convinced me was that the hypnotist singled me out, brought me to the front of the stage and told me to stare out at a light in the audience about fifty feet out. While I was staring he came up behind me, tapped me on the head, and shouted “Asleep!” and whole body went limp and he caught me. I am balls sure if he didn’t catch me I was falling to the floor real hard.

4. My friend took a whiff of something disgusting

We had a hypnotist at our school one day, he got a volunteer who had done it before and had him smell two colognes. One was sweet smelling and the other was actually a smelling salt. He said that the sweet cologne would smell like vinegar (the guy now hypnotized) and without telling him it was supposed to be sweet said it smelled if vinegar. He then told him the next cologne, actually a smelling salt, would be very sweet and flowery smelling. He took a large whiff of the smelling salt and loved the smell of it. He then told him to wake up and smell it again and he couldn’t hardly smell it because it was so strong. If you have ever sniffed a smelling salt package you would know you couldn’t take a huge whiff of it. It was amazing

5. We gave lap dances to sorority girls

In college we had a hypnotist perform for Greek week so I volunteered. From my recollection I was playing along and nothing too eventful happened. Flashback to last year when I find old Facebook pictures of that night… In the pictures, my friend and I are both shirtless giving sorority girls lap dances in the front row. I have no recollection to this day. I think it worked.

6. I started moaning in front of a crowd

2 years ago I went to a convention that had a hypnotist show on a late Saturday evening. That show turned out to be an 18+ hypnotist show. He asked for some volunteers to go up, and me being the skeptic I was ended up going up with the encouragement from some of my friends.

So I wont go in to too much detail in terms of me being all sleepy and all that jazz. But as a person who no matter how drunk I get I will not ever dance or sing. But this guy was able to get me to dance provocatively against a stranger I have never met before. He also told me that there was an orgasm button on my wrist and only he could trigger it. I proceeded to moan very loudly whenever he came by and did it. There was another moment where he told me whenever I tried to say my name that I would get this feeling that insects were biting my testicles. The crazy thing to me was I knew what I was doing deep down, but I couldn’t control it. It was honestly the most bizarre thing ever. Im actually going to that same convention this year, though I’m not entirely certain if he will be there. If he is, I might try it again given the opportunity.

7. I thought I gave birth, even though I’m a man

I was accidentally hypnotized at a USO show in Spain in 2005. I was in the audience, really tired, and drinking beer. The hypnotist saw me falling asleep and brought me onstage. I remember doing things like giving birth, holding my newborn son, and having my voice crack with joy when I was asked what gender my child was, (I’m a man by the way). It was an interesting experience where I was about 50% aware at any given time. It is very similar to the feeling you have when you wake up in the middle of the night to pee. Everything is hazy, but you are in control. He definitely wouldn’t have been able to make me do something that I’m not comfortable with.

8. I cried in front of all of my classmates

I was hypnotized at my high schools graduation party, its a very unique experience. For me, I knew what was happening the entire time, however when the hypnotist told me something I could help but carry out his orders. He told me I fell in love with one of my classmates and for about 5 minutes I did. Ended up crying in front of everybody I graduated with because I couldn’t have her and she didn’t love me back. Still receive shit today for it.

9. I kept seeing the same image over and over again

I was once a skeptic, but now I am a sure believer in being able to be hypnotized.

There were two participants, we sat with our backs facing each other. The person doing the hypnotizing had a deck of playing cards. We were able to examine the deck to make sure it was legit and the hypnosis began.

While I stared at a wall the other participant had to stare at a flashing yellow light. We ending up doing what seemed to be meaningless things, like counting to 100 and cutting the deck. After a few tasks he told me to select a card, which I silently picked the 9 of hearts unbeknownst to the other party.

After a few more cuts of the deck he asked the person looking at the yellow flashing to pick the top card from the deck and say the card aloud. He picks the first card and it was the 9 of hearts…. he then picks another card, he says again the 9 of hearts… and again, the 9 of hearts. Over and over every card in the deck was a 9 of hearts to him.

I called bullshit, thinking they are playing a trick on me since me and the other person have had no eye contact this entire time. The person doing the trick tells me to get up and pull some cards off the deck. I pulled off 6 of them, flipped them over and they were all 9 of hearts.. Here was hypnotized when I didnt even know I was being hypnotized.

The entire process took about 10min, the craziest part in my opinion was that another person came into the room near the end of the routine and it ended up she could only see the 9 of hearts as well, no matter which card she looked at. After wards he broke me from the hypnosis rather quickly, but it took the person staring at the flashing yellow light about an hour to stop seeing the 9 of hearts, lol. I definitely believe in hypnosis now.

10. Everyone tried to eat one other

You have to be open to the idea of hypnotism. At my high school graduation party, we had a hypnotist come and the people who were skeptical did not get hypnotized. Then there were the ones that were hypnotized to the point where they truly believed they were opera singers at the snap of a finger. One of the exercises was “the person to your left is the smelliest person in the world, and the person to your right smells like your favorite food.” It ended up being one person trying to hug/eat/be near the person next to them but they wanted nothing to do with them because they smelled like trash. It was hilarious. It’s all about willingness and your ability to let go of reality.

11. He believed he was a karate master

Holy shit! I have something relevant here, if only I could find the old VHS it was on. Ok, so my best bud got hypnotized at our senior all nighter that we do. Basically every senior goes to the school and all the parents volunteer to do various jobs like dealing black jack, etc. All as a means to ensure we don’t drink immediately after school is out and get in trouble.

ANYWAY, they had a hypnotist there and my buddy was called up on stage. A guy I’ve known since I was literally 3. He gets hypnotized and the guy tells him hes Bud Chan, Jackie Chan’s younger, badder brother. So he’s showing off all the other kids that are hypnotized and my buddy is just in a daze for the most part. Then he gives him the cue and springing into action is Bud Chan! He’s karate chopping and round house kicking. It’s fucking hysterical. Then he drops him off and it’s back into a daze. Seriously that was some funny shit!

To answer your question, no. I don’t think it was a hoax as I’ve asked him about it years later and he still says he doesn’t remember it. He’s not one to lie to me so I’m a believer.

12. A girl sucked on an imaginary dick

This is late so it will probably get buried but its a really funny story. I went to a hypnotist comedian show for a work event and it was funny and stuff but it seemed a little bogus.

At one point, the hypnotist was walking around with a long pink skinny balloon that was blown up (like a balloon animal balloon) and hitting all the people in the face with it and saying it was his penis. Most of the people cringed and ducked away or hit it away or fake stroked it being stupid.

HOWEVER. this one girl took it in her hands and started totally sucking all over it and deep throating it and just really getting into it. This guy stood up in the crowd and goes “FUCK YOU CHRISTINE YOU STUPID SLUT, YOU CAN FIND YOUR OWN RIDE HOME!” and ran out. Then three minutes later he ran back in and was yelling more obscenities at her until he was escorted out.

At the end she got off the stage and seemed genuinely confused as to where her boyfriend was. Someone at her table explained it to her and she started bawling and ran out. So I don’t know if they were just an elaborate ruse to make the show more exciting or if that was real haha.

13. I quaked like a duck

I was hypnotized at a fundraiser in front of about 200 people by a guy who sounded like Morgan Freeman. I don’t remember much of what we all did. I do know I quacked around like a duck for 15 minutes and ate some disgusting things that the entertainer brought with him. End of day what I remember, like the others posting here, is that its all about suggestion. You don’t actually become mind controlled, you just become so relaxed and chilled out that you go with the flow, so much so that you just do anything the guy tells you – it was Morgan Freeman for fucks sake, do what the man says.

14. A pretty girl started to feel me up

I wasn’t the one hypnotized, but I was a “victim” of the hypnosis, as it were.

Frosh week at a University, I was on Student council so we had a hand in organizing it some activities for the incoming class. We get a Hypnotist. Really cool guy, we have dinner with him before the show for the freshmen (about 2,000 kids), and says he’ll need one of us to volunteer for the show, but we won’t be hypnotized. I agreed.

Fast forward to the show and we’re all standing just offstage behind the curtains. He’s gotten a bunch of volunteers from the audience and puts them under, or whatever.

The time of the show comes where he needs me, so he calls me in from off stage. I walk onto the stage, a 6 ft 6 19 year old guy, in front of 2,000 people. I regret agreeing to this immediately.

He takes the women from his “pool” of hypnotized people, introduced me to them and the audience, and tells the women that I’m irresistibly attractive – that I’m basically their dream come true and standing right in front of them. I am not prepared for this.

There were about 4 girls, and their reactions ran the gamut. One girl immediately became super shy and kind of just looked at me coyly with doe eyes, batting her eyelashes and looking away whenever I face her. One girl introduces herself and asks to hang out, and two actually initiate physical contact.

I’m standing there, mid stage, nothing around me, and two girls legitimately start to feel me up. One throws her arms around my neck, the other starts rubbing my chest and going… south. I actually needed to paw away her hand to stop her from trying to jerk me off over my pants. Everyone thinks this is hilarious. I have never blushed so hard in my life. I try to play it off and play along at the same time, also struggling mightily to not pop wood in front of everyone.

The hypnotist lets it go on for a little bit, enjoying my discomfort. Then he tells the girls he was wrong about me, I’m actually repulsive. They scram and act as if they’re grossed out.

Now I’m a huge skeptic, as much as anyone, but this guy basically had girls tugging at my junk onstage in front of thousands. I can’t explain it. It was weird. Not going to lie, I enjoyed my small 15 seconds of fame around school after that.

15. My brother sang Shania Twain in front of everyone

When my whole family and I went on a cruise we decided to go to a hypnotist show wherein my brother volunteered to be a part of.

It was the funniest thing I’ve ever witnessed.

The highlight was when my brother was chosen by the hypnotist to sing Shania Twain since he was one of the deepest under.

He instructed my brother that when he plays Shania’s “Man, I feel like a woman,” he would believe he himself is Shania and come back on stage after being told the show is over and give a performance.

What proceeded was the single most funniest moment of my life.

My brother was instructed to go back to his seat, and as he sat by me he appeared to be tired, until the hypnotists said, “We have a very special guest in the audience today. Ladies and gentleman please give a round of applause to Shaia Twain!” dun duuunnn dun dun dun DUN

His face lights up and runs on stage, grabs the microphone and gives it his all.

“C’mon ev’ry body! The best thing about-a-bein a woman….”

His mannerisms were hilarious, like holding the mic above his head and clapping with the confidence only Ms. Twain could have.

16. My friend believed he was gay

So at my high school, all of the seniors had a dinner wherein a hypnotist was present for entertainment. My friend was one of about ten students chosen. Of the ten, 4 immediately got up and left saying it didn’t work. The other 6 continued to do as the hypnotist said. It was at that point that I had the idea to “out” my straight friend. I told my table that we should tell him that while hypnotized, he was asked to tell a secret and his was that he’s gay. The table next to me heard, and as soon as the hypnotist released everyone from his/her trance, over half of our senior class was congratulating him for being brave enough to come out. He spent weeks trying to convince everyone he wasn’t gay, and was quite mad when he found out why everyone said he was. We don’t talk much these days.

17. I thought my feet were glued to the floor

A few years back I went to audition for a tv show about hypnosis (I wasn’t really interested in being on tv, I was more interested in the experience).

We were a lot of people (around 50, I think) and the hypnotist did some tests to see who was most affected by the hypnosis. These test involved feeling very hot, feeling very cold, having the taste of lemon in your mouth, thinking we were driving a sports car down a highway, crashing said sports car, and even more.

It worked so well for me that at the end of the day I was hypnotized alone. He made me think my feet were stuck to the floor. He then told me to walk a few feet to the left but I was unable to move. The more I tried to move my feet, the heavier they felt.

It was a very unique experience and I’m glad I did it. That being said, the hypnotist explained that hypnosis doesn’t work for everyone. You have to believe in it, at least just a tiny bit. If you’re completely convinced that it’s not going to work for you then it won’t.

18. I finally got over a traumatic childhood experience

Totally worked. I had a traumatic experience when I was a kid and it was inhibiting my every-day life. It’s more like affirmation. The guy got me to lay down on a padded cot with a blanket and close my eyes, then said “you’re relaxed” and “breathe deeply” and stuff like that (not “you’re falling asleep,” ’cause you want the subject to be awake and listening but not actively thinking about what’s going on. He can’t make you do something you absolutely don’t want to do). Then he mixed in some “you’re no longer affected by your experience when you were 4 years old” etc and basically said I wouldn’t be thinking about it anymore. He recorded the session and told me to listen to it every day for a week and then whenever I needed to after that. It definitely worked!!

19. I screamed at a stranger for peeing in an imaginary pool

I was hypnotized at a show during my college’s new student week my freshman year, and again the next year by the same guy when I was a student leader for the event.

I can assure you that it was not a hoax, but that it doesn’t work like you imagine it to. I always pictured being hypnotized as falling into a deep sleep, but, in my case, I was in full control of my body, I knew what was going on, and I was able to remember everything. The only thing different about my night was that anything the hypnotist said was the best idea I had ever heard.

It was like: pretend I’m a life guard and yell at a audience member for peeing in the pool? Of course I should do that, you’re a genius.

It was also one of the most relaxing experiences of my life. I’ve never slept better.

At one point the hypnotist told me the girl next to me had the biggest, most beautiful breasts in the world, expecting me to be totally into it. Instead I looked recoiled and yelled “gross!” And that’s the story of how I came out to the entire freshman class.

20. My mother fell asleep and wouldn’t wake up

My mother used to meditate to relax, seems simple enough. During one of our cities fairs they had a guy hypnotizing people. So being a good son I volunteered my mother. He did the whole count backwards, close your eyes stuff. Then she just never woke up. After an hour or so we had to go collect her off the stage and she was still kinda out of it. She didn’t goto sleep or anything she just shutdown. Sleepy enough to leave her phone and purse there.

Along with that and that Derren Brown guy, I would have to say it is real.

21. My aunt and uncle gave up cigarettes

My aunt and uncle were hypnotized to quit smoking…..they haven’t had a cig in years.

Personally I would like to try it, just to get some memories back from the ole partyin’ days.

22. My brother was convinced he lost a body part

Not me, but my brother went to a hypnotism show, was asked to come on stage and proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes furiously looking for his asshole as he had dropped it somewhere in the crowd. Funniest. Shit. Ever.

23. I believed I had a brick tied to my hand

I’ve been hypnotized several times. I’m what they call a “highly suggestible person”. The first time I was hypnotized, I was at a high school show and the hypnotist performed a test on the audience to show you how suggestible you are. You close your eyes and hold both of your arms straight out in front of you, palm side down. Then he starts his soothing mystic voice shit, and tells you that you have a brick tied to your left hand and a helium balloon tied to your right. After a few seconds, everyone opens their eyes. The more suggestible/susceptible to hypnosis you are, the further apart your hands would be.

That night, I was hypnotized in the audience. After falling out of my chair, I somehow managed to crawl into the aisle and basically laid there the whole night. The whole time I was worried that I looked like an asshole and my pants were pulled down too far, but it was damn near impossible to solve the situation.

At a stage hypnosis show, you cognizant the entire time. The only thing that matters, though, is the hypnotist. His/her voice and gaze are like…well…hypnotic. Even though you are focused on that one person, your mind still works and you can still rationalize. So, for example, if the hypnotist were to tell you that the number “6” would be missing from your vocabulary and then ask you to count your fingers, your response without hesitation would be “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11”, but in your mind you would still be thinking “That’s wrong. There’s a six in there.” For some reason you just can’t verbalize it.

The same goes for when the hypnotist asks you to do stupid or humiliating shit, like flex in front of the audience, dance, or milk an invisible cow. You are half thinking about pleasing the hypnotist and half thinking “I can’t believe I’m doing this shit”.

I was hypnotized twice at college shows, once in the audience and once on the stage. Recently, while working with local businesses, I was hypnotized in a cigar shop by a patron who was sort of a jack-of-all-trades. I had been having a severe gallbladder attack and it ended up soothing my pain a good deal. Though he also gave everyone else in the shop a little show with all the parlor tricks, which I was not anticipating but it’s all good :).

I think the weirdest experience i had was in high school. One day a teacher decided to start class off with a “nature walk”. We all put our heads down on our desks and he basically started the hypnosis shit – the whole “feel your body relax, feel your arms relax, feel your fingers relax..” so on until you feel like your whole body is melting into the table. He never brought the class out of the trance, so when the whole deal was over I was sitting there like a drugged dope. He had to take me into the hallway and bring me out of it. Told me then that his father was a hypnotist. That’s where he got the “nature walk” and knew what was going on with me and how to bring me out of it.

Embarrassment aside, being hypnotized is the most relaxing and wonderful experience ever. It’s like taking a nap for hours (you feel like you’re under for many, many hours) and there is no shitty after-nap hangover – you just feel completely relaxed and refreshed.

Overall, if you believe that hypnotism is a crock of shit then, in a way, you are right. If you enter it with that mentality there is little chance you will be susceptible enough to go under. But if you approach it with an open mind, clear your head and listen to the voice of the hypnotist, you are opening yourself up to a really awesome experience. If you ever want to try it, just download any hypnosis track online. Steve G. Jones has some amazing ones. I listen to his 5-diamond series at night. With track hypnosis tapes, don’t be surprised if you fall completely under (like, fall asleep) during the hypnosis portion and then wake up right after the tape is over (or when the hypnotist brings you out of the trance).

Oh, also – for every show I’ve been to with a hypnotist and a stage, there are a few people on stage who are nothypnotized. The hypnotist knows that, but is aware that these people just want to showboat and will make for a great presentation, so he will usually pull one of them up for a Q&A that will result in the whole audience going berserk. So if you do ever watch a show and think “yea, that person isn’t hypnotized” than you might be right!

24. She put her shoes on the wrong feet

Like most people, I had a hypnotist as entertainment at one of my high school after-proms. The hypnotist had all of the subjects reverse their shoes sometime during the show. After the show, one of the girls who was just hypnotized sat next to a bunch of us, with her shoes still on the wrong feet. We were all trying to convince her that her shoes were on incorrectly and she, at first, refused to believe us. Then the more we pressed her about it, the more scared she became. She was so confused about what was happening that she was tearing up and asking us if she should switch them. All of subjects eventually remembered the events that happened during the hypnotism though so it wasn’t permanent.

25. I did everything that he said

I was hypnotized on a cruise end I last year. It was really quite bizarre.

It was a group hypnosis, and explained how not everyone would go under, so he did quite a few exercises sort of thing to out those under who could, and then went round as he did it to remove the people that weren’t be hypnotized.

I wasn’t as deeply under as some people were so I remember bits and pieces, he just got us to do silly things. You’re completely aware of everything too, but you just have this urge/need to do what he says. Obviously if you’re not going to do something you’re not willing to do, but everything he was saying was just fun things so it was fine.

Would be interesting to see what a one-on-one would be like.

26. I have no memory of what happened

I do not remember the experience, and watching the film of it is weird.

27. She quit smoking for once and for all

My aunt was a smoker for 32 years with no intentions to quit smoking. Her friend asked her to go see a “quit smoking hypnotist” with her, which she reluctantly agreed to. After they left my aunt who had no intentions and wasn’t buying into the whole hypnotism thing never smoked again. Her friend who wanted to quit and believed it would work, kept smoking.