Going under

Jimmy Stroup

Woodland Hills resident Scott Carter is a 32-year-old bookstore

manager, but on Tuesday he was in a different world. His performance

on the Sun Stage at the Orange County Fair under master hypnotist

Mark Yuzuik’s command had him spanking himself and screaming “Who’s

your daddy?” before a raucous fair crowd.

Not a seat is typically empty when Yuzuik begins his show, twice

nightly at the fair, and Tuesday was no exception.

Nearly 400 people -- standing room only -- gathered near the

little stage, where Yuzuik, with the assistance of Tina Gassert, put

12 people under his spell and instructed them to do some outlandish

things while hypnotized.

“What you’re doing is directing the subconscious mind,” Yuzuik

said. “It’s like a dream. You’re putting them in a dream state.”

Yuzuik said that, even though the people “under” hypnosis are

susceptible to a variety of suggestions, their subconscious won’t

allow them to do things that are immoral or unethical.

That provides little condolence to participants, however, because

ethical behavior doesn’t save people from the sting of embarrassment

over having barked like a dog, or any number of other things the

volunteers can find themselves doing.

“You know what you’re doing when you’re up there, but it’s like

you’re so relaxed that you think, ‘OK, I think I’ll do what he’s

telling me,’” Scott Carter said afterward.

Carter’s wife Sheri watched from the audience and had nothing but

good things to say about Yuzuik.

“This guy’s fantastic -- we come every year and watch him,” she

said.

Matt Missick of Huntington Beach is a huge Gwen Stefani fan.

Despite that, the 22-year-old would not have imagined himself doing

an impersonation of the group No Doubt’s singer, complete with a

platinum-blond wig and a balloon bust.

“I remember doing it the whole time,” Missick said. “I didn’t

think twice when he told me to do something.”

Other participants were stuck doing things like answering their

“telephone” shoes, feeling revulsion at the prospect of a neighbor

“getting fresh” and performing for the whole crowd as the world’s

greatest air-guitar player.

Assistant Tina Gassert, also a hypnotist, explained that because

hypnotism is a sort of agreement -- you allow yourself to go under --

not everyone is hypnotized.

“If they’re talking to themselves, in their mind, then they won’t

go under,” Gassert said, adding that even some who are skeptical will

occasionally be hypnotized.

“They, sometimes, are the funniest ones,” she said.

At the end of the show, Yuzuik left participants with instructions

to go out that night and have the best time they’d ever had and

ordered them to never drink and drive.

“Sometimes it wears off, but most times it sticks with them

because of positive reinforcement,” he said. “The subconscious mind

accepts positive suggestions.”

Yuzuik and Gassert will be at the Orange County Fair through the

end of the week at 7 and 9 p.m. and will then perform at the Hyatt

Regency in Irvine Monday for an 8 p.m. adults-only show. Tickets are

available at the door or at https://www.greatfun.com.