On February 11, Walpole High School’s Student Council held the annual Hypnotist Show hosted by Frank Santos Jr, a skilled comic hypnotist. He first called up 25 boys and girls from the audience and tested their ability to be put under his trance, sending about half of them back to their seats. However it proved to be pointless because four students from the crowd became hypnotized while sitting amongst their friends. Seniors Kate Lavelle, Jeannette Thulin, Ryan O’Coin and Junior Meredith Barry made their way back on stage to exhibit their dance moves and singing skills to the student body. Though the group had not been selected originally, with the exception of Barry, they still were capable of being hypnotized and participating in the various activites.
Santos began the night by gluing the volunteers’ tongues to the roofs of their mouths, making them unable to speak. After that the real fun began as Santos dropped a water bottle cap on the floor and asked Senior Mike Milien to pick it up. Previously he had told Mike that the cap would weigh a significant amount, so when he tried to pick it up, it brought him to his knees, still unable to complete the task. He asked for the help of his fellow peers, Junior Jeff Dixon, Connor Donovan and O’Coin; however this assignment still could not be accomplished with the aid of his classmates. However, Senior Crystal Parisek picked the cap up with little effort whatsoever, baffling the boys. Ultimately, Santos had put them back to their peaceful state. Next, he told the group that they would forget their full name, which had the audience all laughing in unison. Every participant would just abruptly stop after their middle name and could not explain why they did not know their last name. Senior Amanda Maroun was the only one who could recollect her last name and burst out laughing when everyone found it difficult to articulate the first half of their name.
One of the funniest events of the evening was when Santos had hypnotized Milien into believing that the phrase “Thank You” was one of the worst swears in the book. Santos consistently said the word aloud causing Milien to get even angrier. Milien eventually got up from his chair and said that he could not say the phrase because it was a school event and there were little kids in the audience. Lavelle was to be Santos’ bodyguard, mindlessly demanding that Milien could not hurt her friend Frank and to sit back down in his chair. With that happening, Griffin periodically said “You’re Great” under Santos’ command. Meanwhile, Dixon was walking Santos’ imaginary dog, and each time he played a specific song, the dog would run uncontrollably throughout the auditorium, stopping only when the music did.
To slow the pace down a bit, the hypnotist told every girl on stage to demonstrate their best karate moves. Senior Emily Cotellessa pranced around like a true ninja while Thulin virtually chopped the air into a million pieces. After the karate kid imitations came the last few skits of the show. American Idol had swept through Walpole High, and the girls had the opportunity of trying out in front of the judges, who happened to be the boys. They fell in love with their auditions and sent them all to Hollywood, with the exception of Griffin, who was hypnotized to hate the auditions and told the girls they had “violated [his] ears.”
The Hypnotist Show has been a popular student activity for years now and 2010 was no different. Student Council did a great job organizing the night. Next, look out for Mr. WHS, a night dedicated to finding the school’s most talented senior.
