Hypnotist Wand brings magic to Phoenix Rooms

Students could hear the roar of laughter coming from the Phoenix rooms as Jim Wand mesmerized the crowd Oct. 20. Wand is a hypnotist who has been coming to UW-Green Bay's campus for 18 years. It's only fitting since a college incident sparked Wand's exploration of hypnosis. When Wand was a freshman in college he weighed 220 pounds. A friend of his family hypnotized him, even though he was leery about it. He lost 65 pounds in six months. After that, Wand changed his major from computer science to psychology. Wand earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate's degree in the field. Wand does more than 250 shows a year all over the country. He taught himself how to hypnotize throughout his doctorate's course work. The entertainment part of his career then took off over night. He has been performing for nearly 25 years and does a show in Vegas once a month. When he does a show, he doesn't know what he's going to do on stage, but he does know he isn't going to do the same things done the previous year. Wand likes to keep shows fresh. "I have some ideas on what I would like to do, but I built it around the people on stage and on how the audience responds," Wand said. There are different types of shows Wand specializes in. For his most recent show on campus, he was asked to do something R-rated. "College students like an edgier show," Wand said. His shows range from G-rated up to X-rated. Before he starts, he always makes sure that the people on stage are comfortable and know what they are getting themselves into. Wednesday night many students volunteered. A total of 21 students were on-stage, including 11 men and 10 women. Wand had the students doing everything imaginable after they were hypnotized. The first thing he did was make them compete in the "hottie" competition. The students had to pretend they were in the competition and strut their stuff on the cat walk. Wand then had all the men come front and center. He had a magical leprechaun that the men had to mimic and not take their eyes off. Then they were told to dance and do a short tribute to Michael Jackson's song, "Beat It." Next, the men were six months pregnant. He went to each of them and asked what they would tell their parents about being pregnant. Some of the men said they were raped, abducted, it was a new experiment, it was a pretty good night, that he fell on it, artificial insemination and what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Wand told them they were nine months pregnant. After they were going into labor, the women sitting next to them had to deliver the babies. The women told the men how to give birth. Wand joked that men should feel the pain of birth, even if it isn't real. After that, Wand made the students mimic exotic animals. The animals could speak, but only in English. Some of the students were lions, zebras, seals, flamingos, raptors and more. Wand had the students do their dating dance, and then had them do a mating dance. He then selected a few students to compete in the international butt-dancing contest. The students were scored on technique and style. They all had to represent a country and there could be no duplicates. After international butt-dancing, Wand had the students try out for a Vegas porno. If the student was male, they would be female for the video and vice versa. The prop used in this act was a chair, representing the opposite sex in the porno. Some of the students just did lap dances for the chair, while others pretended to have sex. Wand said that not everyone on the stage will remember what happened. It's different for everyone. Adam Young, a student from NWTC, was one of the students on stage. He didn't remember a thing. "I remember being a zebra," said Sarah Moore, a student at UWGB. Other than that, she doesn't remember much. She did say that she remembered the crowd and how everything was a blur. Students said that they would definitely come back and see Wand perform. Kris Reseburg, an undeclared sophomore at UWGB, said that he had a blast being hypnotized, even though it was a little embarrassing. He would love to see Wand perform again. Wand is expected back again next year. For more information on Wand and his shows, visit his Web site, hypnotism.com.