I'm skeptical of hypnosis. This Windsor, Ont. man who was hypnotized live on stage says he knows it's real

52-year-old Danny DeLuca of Windsor, Ont. is seen on Feb. 12, 2023. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)

This is a first-person story.

I’ve spent most of my life being skeptical about the power of hypnosis.

I would ask myself the typical questions asked by the doubters: Is the subject pretending to be hypnotized? Are they just going along with the hypnotist’s instructions to be polite? Isn’t hypnosis just a manifestation of the placebo effect?

But after witnessing a 52-year-old man from Windsor engage in a slow-motion imaginary pillow fight, pretend to be a sheriff from an old western and profess his love for Canadian improv comedy icon Colin Mochrie, I’m now a believer.

On Saturday, Mochrie and master hypnotist Asad Mecci brought their nationwide tour of HYPROV to Windsor’s Chrysler Theatre.

The show started with 20 volunteers electing to go up on stage with the expectation of descending into hypnosis. One of my family members was among them.

Volunteers were instructed one-by-one to leave the stage, mainly because the hypnosis was not working on them, leaving just five “hyprovisers” on stage.

My family member did not make the cut. He explained to me after the show that the hypnosis simply didn’t work on him. Sitting in the crowd, I could tell that was the case even before he told me.

There were others, however, who nearly slumped out of their chair when instructed to sleep, drop their head on the shoulder of the stranger sitting next to them and completely ignoring the response of the crowd at all times.

I won’t detail exactly what I saw (out of respect for a live show where filming is prohibited) — but what I did see compelled me to find one of the “hyprovisers” immediately after the show and ask them what it was like to be hypnotized.

I noticed 52-year-old Danny DeLuca walking out of the theatre. He agreed to an interview but only after he could sleep off the grogginess of being hypnotized for two hours.

When I met DeLuca at his home the next day, he assured me he’s not an actor. In fact, he’s a custodian for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board.

“I was kind of skeptical about hypnotism before the slow. But when I was on stage, I was in a total trance,” he explained.

For much of the entire show, all five of the “hyprovisers” are never in a scene at one time.

When they’re not involved, they’re sleeping. Even when they’re awake, their comments dictate the flow of Mochrie’s improvised dialogue.

DeLuca told me his memory of what exactly happened for the two hours he was on stage — awake — isn’t clear.

“I was in a foggy state. After the event, a lot of people were saying, ‘Do you remember saying this to Colin? Do you remember saying that?’ Then, a lightbulb would go off,” said DeLuca, describing how his brain felt while under hypnosis as “really heavy.”

“I was just concentrating on Asad and Colin. There were no other people in the room for that time…I was aware of other volunteers [only during certain scenes].”

I asked about him about the feeling of being asleep under hypnosis.

“I was out but I was aware of voices. I just felt like I was in a coma. I was still aware of what was happening but I had no urge to open my eyes. It was really weird,” he said.

DeLuca also told me he was a long-time fan of Mochrie’s work. This left me confused.

Wouldn’t DeLuca understand that Mochrie was the one requesting him to say and do such unexpected things?

Wouldn’t that snap him out of hypnosis?

“He was a nobody to me. I didn’t realize it was Colin Mochrie when I was up there. I just thought he was another guy,” said DeLuca, adding he could only process “whatever the hypnotist told me to do.”

“Normally, I’m a shy and reserved guy,” he added. “Then, to be in front of 1,000 people, I had no inhibitions at all.”

I ended our discussion by asking DeLuca if he could describe his experience of being hypnotized in one word.

“A dream. It was like a dream,” he said. “Even after the two hours, I was still groggy.”

I’m not saying hypnosis works on everyone. My family member is proof that it doesn’t.

But after listening to DeLuca describe how hypnosis allowed him to feel free and act in a way that is completely out of character for him, I’m willing to look at it with more of an open mind.