On Wednesday, January 25, Fitchburg State University hosted a Sponsored hypnotist show sponsored by the Fitchburg Activities Board with special guest Maritess Zurbano, an internationally known master magician and hypnotist. Born and raised in Chicago and currently living in Seattle, she has been practicing magic and hypnotism for almost three decades. Zurbano’s performed at over 200 private events all over the world, including Japan, New York, Las Vegas, and Berlin.

The event was completely free and open to all Fitchburg State students, or as Zurbano put it, “This is a free show. It’s totally free. Including your tuition!”

Weather concerns resulted in the show being bumped up by one hour, starting at 7 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., which had some people involved concerned that the turnout would be smaller; that was most certainly not the case. The Falcon Hub was so packed that during the show tables had to be pulled back to make sure all of the volunteers had enough room to spread out and allow the chaos to unfold in a safe and entertaining way. Some audience members were standing up in the booths in the back of the Falcon Hub just to get a better view of their classmates and friends acting out all sorts of strange scenarios while under Zurbano’s hypnosis.

“At first I was really skeptical, because I don’t believe in that stuff, but most of it looked real,” said Fitchburg State junior Kailey Norton, who was in the audience. At the beginning of the show Zurbano mentioned how she was going to need many participants.

But, as the activities evolved some of the volunteers had to be removed from the show for not being “into it as deep as others,” as Zurbano explained.

Participants in the show have to truly believe in hypnotism in order for it to work, and fully let themselves relax.

“My roommate who went up said that she felt hypnotized for a moment, but she ended up coming out of it. Towards the end I really thought it was real, because people were doing embarrassing things that I would never ever do if I went up there, so I was convinced they weren’t acting.”

It’s not every day you get to see your Resident Assistant face down on the floor sleeping like a baby, your roommate floating away like they have a balloon tied to their hand, or your friend from chemistry class acting like a bodybuilder, a ballerina, and a chicken. Overall, Fitchburg State students had a blast, even those who might not remember what they were doing!

Image description: Hypnotized Fitchburg State Students, Taken by Elliot Zopatti