During this point in a semester at Grand Valley State University, students may need a laugh or night out to boost morale. Providing a solution to this, Tom DeLuca, a hypnotist who creates comedic relief during stressful times, will be visiting GVSU on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. 

The hypnotist will be performing in Kirkhof Center’s Grand River Room, where admission will be free and open to the public.

This is not the first time DeLuca has been to GVSU. He has put on a show on GVSU’s campus numerous times, and a GVSU student is even featured in one of his videos. 

DeLuca has been a practicing hypnotist since his college years, where he was trained by his psychology professor. He learned to understand how the mind works and began hypnotizing people into things such as losing weight and quitting smoking cigarettes.

After this, he saw a hypnotist and said he was very impressed by the show. He was soon convinced that hypnotism was his calling and has done it ever since. DeLuca continues to love hypnotism and remains experimental in his shows today.

DeLuca spent most of his early years of hypnotism traveling the U.S. and occasionally internationally. He has performed at the “Just for Laughs” festival hosted in Canada, where several “big-name” comedians perform. 

Now, DeLuca mostly does shows at colleges and corporate events, where all attendees are encouraged to volunteer and participate. DeLuca finds it fun when students in particular are able to get on stage and not only be in the show, but also become the show. 

“I enjoy doing colleges because there’s creativity and freshness,” he said. “You can try some different routines out and be more experimental and more creative.”

DeLuca said that he likes to put on a “clean show.” The show is PG, as he typically does not like to embarrass anyone who volunteers. The hypnotist’s main goal of the show is to get every volunteer to show their “real selves” while being on stage.

“I want them to have an amazement factor,” he said. “I want them to walk away being amazed. I try and show how people really are when no one is watching them.” 

According to DeLuca, he puts the volunteers in fun situations, but there will be no barking like a dog or clucking like a chicken. 

DeLuca said he finds satisfaction when the audience realizes that deep down everyone is the same. When hypnotized, people become exactly who they are, and the audience is either surprised or unchanged at seeing their friend, roommate or coworker for who they truly are. 

“I want people to walk away getting an insight and seeing something that they’ve never seen before,” DeLuca said.