Thirteith time and still a hit

By Samantha Bayard

baya0004@algonquincollege.com

Tony Lee, the XXX hypnotist, had his audience going from calmed silence to roaring laughter during his 30th show at Algonquin on Oct. 28.

Lee, who has sold out more campus shows in Canadian history than any other touring performer, sold out once again at The Observatory with a crowd of 180, and compelled more than 30 students to line up for the best seats over an hour before the show began.

Lee used his authority, established through 22 years of experience to convince 18 on-stage participants to go beyond their usual comfort levels with anger, sadness and lust to the delight of the crowd.

“It was amazing. And no, definitely not what I thought it would be.  I just saw the signs and didn’t think it was really real at first until I saw it,” explained first-year horticulture student, Scott Derbyshire about his first time seeing a hypnotist.

Participants had no idea that they had been hypnotized until their memory snapped back upon leaving the doors of The Observatory where some seemed extremely embarrassed and shocked. Others were not as responsive to his techniques, however, and were tapped on the shoulder and asked politely to leave the stage part way through the show.

Lee must have been memorable when he was here beforehand because students from years past came to see him again.  Jenna Mitchell, 22, is a first-year fitness and health promotion student and was a former student in recreation and leisure services.  “Two years ago I went up on stage and tried to be hypnotized,” said Mitchell.

Tony Lee, who is originally from Holland but grew up in Calgary since the age of four, has spent the last his career touring university and college campuses, theatres, and the occasional nightclub through Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Lee stumbled into hypnotism when he was managing a Hard Rock Cafe in Calgary in the mid-‘80s.