Vandal Entertainment hosted Sailesh the Hypnotist, APCA’s Entertainer of the Year for 2023, in the admin auditorium for students at the University of Idaho to watch or be watched. He returned to UI for the third year in a row last Thursday.
Acclaimed by MTV Europe as the best hypnotist in the world, Sailesh has over 5,000 shows in 15 different countries and a 95% rate of always being asked back. In the 20 years he has been working. 5 of those years he has performed for colleges all over the nation.
Sailesh has gone on three live nation tours, where the audience describes his shows as a cross between a concert and the best party ever. His performance uses the audience and makes students “the stars of the shows”.
Over twenty volunteers from the audience came up to the stage, and only nine were able to relax their minds enough to stay on stage for the rest of the show. They were first sent into deep relaxation making, easing their minds into manipulation.
Volunteers had to sit straight, eyes closed with their hands on their knees, and in just three minutes were sent into a deep sleep, those who didn’t were sent back to sit in the audience.
For almost two hours volunteers were taken on a rocket ship, made into rubber, switching genders, and more. Sailesh played music according to whatever he had the “stars” see or do. In between each new exertion, volunteers were snapped back into sleep as he told the audience whether he would turn a belt into a snake or become the sexiest man alive.
The stage favorite of the night was volunteers showing off their abnormal superpowers. One participant became known as Spider Weenie, who shot hot dogs out of her hands, another was Razor Fingers, who just had sharp fingers, and another participant was known as Trashman and enjoyed taking people’s garbage.
After participants were snapped back to consciousness, Sailesh reflected on their experiences over the last hour and a half. Some felt like they were only there for thirty minutes, others only felt like they were in hypnosis for five.
For their bravery in volunteering the students were gifted Shakras from Sailesh as a reminder of their experience on stage.
Sophia Newell can be reached at [email protected]