The doors of the Fieldhouse Arena will open at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday to host a performer that has not only toured internationally, but has been to GVSU for 29 years in a row. The free show is organized by Spotlight Productions, the student-run programming board at GVSU.

“We bring events that fall into the categories of comedy, music and traditional events such as Tom DeLuca,” said Carly Rouke, Spotlight president.

DeLuca’s show involves most of the typical mayhem of a group hypnotist, but his departure from the mundane show is what has kept him in demand for decades.

Deep relaxation is used on a small group of volunteers picked out of the audience. The tone of DeLuca’s voice is his tool, not the stereotypical pocket watch or other prop. Once students are under his control, he gets them to do things most would never do on stage in front of 500 people.

DeLuca stresses his show is not raunchy. He aims for a PG performance, although he laughingly mentioned he sometimes has little control of the participant’s language.

“Who doesn’t want to see their fiends get hypnotized on stage?” asked Natalie Wozniak, music committee chair for Spotlight. “Bringing Tom DeLuca to Grand Valley has become a tradition. Every year we have a large turnout.”

DeLuca performs for audiences around the world in different capacities. One major part of his yearly touring schedule is corporate events, though he says the routine is much different for these shows.

“When your boss is in the audience there is more risk for you to come on stage,” DeLuca said. “I change the routine for colleges to allow more creativity.”

DeLuca said he has enjoyed his long relationship and hopes to continue into a third decade of performing for GVSU students.

“Tom DeLuca is a good fit for GVSU because it’s a completely different type of show,” Rouke said. “It’s fun, entertaining and gives students the opportunity to get involved.”

DeLuca will pick students out of the audience to come on stage and be hypnotized. He said this process is very important to having a fun, believable show.

“I don’t pick people who are easy to hypnotize,” DeLuca said. “I don’t even know what that means.”

DeLuca said many people show up convinced that nothing he does is real, a criticism prevalent in the trade.

“There’s nothing you can do about them,” DeLuca said. “Once they see the show, most believe. Every night I get people coming up to me telling me I changed their minds.”

From big-name comedians to high-profile concerts, Spotlight is always looking to entertain their fellow students.

“Students should know that we want to hear from them,” Wozniak said. “The more they communicate to us what kind of free events they want to see on campus, the better we can provide for them.”

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