Britney, Sean, Eminem—Hypnotist fills Art House with aliens and celebs
February 12th, 2011 Posted in Arts and LifeStory & Photo by Heidi Hansen
LOGAN—The likes of Robin Williams, Eminem, Justin Timberlake, Brittney Spears, Glen Beck and Sean Connery graced the Logan Art House and Cinema Thursday evening during the comedy hypnotist show Abracadan.
Okay, those celebrities weren’t really there—unless you ask the six participants who searched the audience for their favorite stars after Daniel Geddes, 35, hypnotized them.
Participant Katheryne Blubough, 22, of Logan, sat next to a middle-aged man she claimed was Robin Williams and chatted with him. This was only one of the many outrageous things Blubough did while under hypnosis.
Earlier in the show, Blubough thought she was an alien and spoke in her native alien tongue to a male participant, who said he had come in contact with many aliens while working as a corn farmer.
In gibberish only the farmer could understand, Blubough revealed that her home planet had really clean rivers, that she had two moms, and that she hated environmentalists and sharks, but liked cats and ponies.
“You don’t lose awareness completely of what you’re doing,” Blubough said later. “You feel the sensations but you’re not totally aware of what’s going on.”
It’s hard to explain, she said-it’s just something people have to experience themselves.
Sarah Herbert, 34, of Logan, was another crowd-pleaser. Describing the experience in one word, she said it was “exhilarating.”
“Yeah, it got a little wild,” Herbert said, when asked if she remembered dancing on a chair to the Brittney Spears song, “Oops, I Did It Again!” while under hypnosis.
During a segment where participants were hypnotized to believe that their favorite colors had smells, Herbert proclaimed, “I want to smell gold necklaces,” and proceeded to take one of off an audience member she knew. Later, she described the smell as a mix of “perfume and food, kind of like a chemistry pheromone smell.”
Geddes, the instigator of all this, is a former professional magician from Preston, Idaho, who switched to hypnosis five years ago after attending the Utah School for Hypnotherapy. Though he mostly performs regionally and at Christmas parties, Geddes has traveled as far as Arizona to do hypnosis shows.
“When I do a hypnosis show, my main goal is to educate people that hypnosis is safe and fun,” he said. “It’s an empowering tool and it’s not mind control.”
Geddes wanted to emphasize that while under hypnosis, his subjects still have free will and won’t be forced to do things they don’t want to do.
“Entertainment was also important for a night like this,” Geddes said. “I believe in the power of laughter to make us feel good.”
A clinical hypnotist by day, Geddes operates a hypnotherapy office with fellow hypnotist Rick Dial, 61, of Logan, in the Clock Tower Plaza on Main Street, offering treatment for smoking, weight management, overcoming fears and stress reduction.
“Hypnosis works if you want it to work,” Geddes said. “It’s all about changing thought processes.” The process is not usually successful for people on drugs, however.
“I enjoy helping someone unlock their potential and achieve goals,” Geddes said.
Abracadan will perform at the Logan Art House and Cinema again next month, on March 18.
TP
Tags: Art Cinema, Dan Geddes, hypnotist
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