Photo By 1st Sgt. Jessica Barnett | Chuck Milligan, a world renowned comedic hypnotist from San Diego, Calif., performs...... read more read more
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A free comedic hypnosis show was held at the North Morale, Welfare and Recreation center on Contingency Operating Base Speicher, April 8.
Chuck Milligan, a hypnotist from San Diego, Calif., is on his fifth tour in Iraq to entertain service members and civilians.
The show started with a total of 22 volunteers from the audience wanting to be hypnotized. After an extensive process of concentration and relaxation, a third of the participants became fully engulfed by Chuck Milligan's hypnotism. Some participants were so relaxed they fell out of their chairs without waking up.
The audience laughed nonstop as the show continued. Milligan started out with little mind benders, such as turning up the heat in the room, or making it so frigid, participants clung to each other for warmth.
The hypnotized started to smell one another as Milligan persuaded them that the person to their right smelled awful, to then having that person smell like the best fragrance ever.
The night went on as Milligan had certain participants convinced they had a particular duty to perform at the mention of a single word. With the command 'water,' one such hypnotized participant ran to the edge of the stage, and thought he was an authoritative lifeguard, wearing a very real whistle and yellow ducky flotation device. He screamed at the audience, who he thought was in his pool, "Hey, hey! Stop peeing in the pool. Get out," after furiously blowing his whistle at them.
Manipulating how people count was so simple under hypnosis that one participant believed that the number three no longer existed. Another hypnotized participant was made to believe there were two twos within the counting system. When these two met, things became comical. After trying to teach the other their counting system, the first participant stated, "He's an idiot ... I don't know what school he went to."
To bring the show to a close, Milligan put Pfc. Roxanne Geiler, a medic at the troop medical clinic from Company C, 701st Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, into one of the deepest states of relaxation and concentration possible in order to twist and turn her hand a full turn and a half without causing any pain or waking her up.
To those who still doubt the legitimacy of hypnosis, Milligan said, "Hypnosis is a natural human phenomenon that happens to every person at night. Every time you go to sleep and every time you wake up, you pass right through it. And it's just a natural human phenomenon that I have taken and turned into entertainment."
After the show, Milligan thanked audience members for attending his show and for their efforts in Iraq.
Having served as a sniper with 3rd Force Recon, Marine Corps in Vietnam, Milligan knows what his show means to the troops.
"I have a pretty extensive military back ground myself," said Milligan. "I know what tours meant that came through and entertained us. It's an opportunity for me to give back to the military, some of what I got out of it."
"Working seven-days-week, always being around non-commissioned officers and officers, makes this a nice break," said Burton. "It's nice to come out and connect with an audience of different ranks in a non-military way."
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2010 11:31 |
| Story ID: | 47943 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 675 |
| Downloads: | 399 |
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