Hypnotist Kevin Hurley was scheduled to perform at Ohio State Monday, but was unable to do so because of illness. Hypnotist and showman extraordinaire Gabriel Holmes took his place.

Hypnotist Gabriel Holmes controlled students' minds during Monday's event presented by OUAB. Photo by Eric Pacella.ERIC PACELLA/THE LANTERNHypnotist Gabriel Holmes controlled students’ minds during Monday’s event presented by OUAB.
Judging from audience participation and the high energy level that rocked Independence Hall, Holmes certainly did not disappoint.

Hosted by the Ohio Union Activities Board, Holmes boasts a resume of more than 10,000 previous hypnoses. He performs regularly for universities and Fortune 500 companies across the country.

Twenty-four people from the audience were called up to the stage in Independence Hall to be hypnotized over the course of the next hour. Holmes began to relax the participants and soothed them until everyone on stage had their eyes closed and heads tilted back.

Students participate in an exercise demonstrating the power of suggestion during Monday's event. Photo by Eric Pacella.ERIC PACELLA/THE LANTERNStudents participate in an exercise demonstrating the power of suggestion during Monday’s event.
A way of being coaxed into relaxation, hypnosis is akin to intense meditation. Ohio State student Sanket Sarvar said he believes in the power of hypnosis. “It has been used as a tool for medical healing for centuries,” Sarvar said.

As a child he was captivated by a hypnotist’s performance, seeing how the person who was being hypnotized would change and bend with the hypnotist’s every whim. “The mind can force itself to perform incredible feats,” Holmes reminded the audience. “What you tell yourself you can do, you can really do.”

With such an incredible feat as hypnosis comes inevitable skepticism. Are they really being hypnotized, or are they all putting on a show?

The answer was easy for Sarvar: “It is very hard to bribe a whole audience.”

Whether the show was real or not, or somewhere in between, seemed to be of little import to the audience, which wholeheartedly devoured the unforgettable show.