Brian Imbus, a hypnotist, will return to campus to perform a demonstration for a Cabinet event.
Imbus has come to ACU several times for over a decade to do hypnotism on campus. Libby Boyd, a junior speech pathology major from New Braunfels, is the vice president of finance for the CAB said she’s excited to see the hypnotist.
“It’s such a fun event,” Boyd said. “After Sing Song everyone’s going to be so tired so it’ll be good for everyone to come to an event and it will be comedic and entertaining. That will be rest before another wave of finals hit.”
Boyd said that one hour of hypnotism is equal to 12 hours of sleep and said she’d do it for that reason alone. She also said the CAB looks for ways to create community and believes they’re doing that by bringing in Imbus.
Throughout the year the CAB puts on nine or more events and Imbus’ hypnotist exhibition has been one of their more popular events. CAB president Nicole Mallet, a senior marketing and management major from San Antonio, is excited to see what Imbus has to offer at this year’s show.
Every CAB event is free and Mallet and eight other officers work to plan these events for students.
“We really want to foster a fun community at ACU that everyone can be involved in,” Mallet said. “This event will be a fun event for people to come out and either participate in the show or just watch. It’s really funny every time.”
Imbus has done hypnotism for over 23 years, and his act is completely volunteer based. He brings audience volunteers who want to come on stage to be hypnotized and keeps a percentage of them on stage that actually do get hypnotized. He said he then takes them on a journey of imagination with different skits and routines.
“The responses to some of these specific routines are what makes it entertaining because everyone responds differently,” Imbus said. “It makes the show engaging and fun. That’s the great thing about the show is it’s not about me, it’s about the audience.”
Imbus said there are three major misconceptions to hypnotism. The first answer he said is you can’t be hypnotized unless you’re willing to be; it’s completely based on volunteering. His next answer was that it’s impossible to be stuck in hypnosis and you’ll eventually wake up from your state just like a short nap. Finally, he said you won’t give up your deepest darkest secrets in hypnosis, you wouldn’t do anything against your moral code and he wouldn’t ask you to.
If you’ve seen his show before, this show will be filled with brand new material and new routines. Imbus said he makes sure to take detailed notes of each show he performs at to make sure that his routines are never repeated. Over a decade ago, an adviser at ACU saw one of Imbus’ shows at another institution and decided to bring him to ACU.
“The energy at ACU is among the best of the colleges I do,” Imbus said. “They’re always excited to be there, the energy of the show is always at a high level and they make me feel so welcome when I come on campus. I always look forward to coming back to visit.”
Imbus’ act begins at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, April 5, at Hart Auditorium. Admission is free for all students.
