# Cosentino's hypnotized levitation trick **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335 "2013-11-20T11:13:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/61 "2013-11-21T12:05:18Z")
I mean, is it really so much easier to find a hypnotizable YouTube submitter who happens to fit the wire harness than it is to have a person trained in using the harness pretend to be hypnotized? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/62 "2013-11-21T12:08:09Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I mean, are you fucking serious? Yeah, I’m beginning to wonder if Mr. **Clay** is yanking our chain. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/63 "2013-11-21T12:38:15Z")
I’m at work again and so cannot watch the video of the performance, so I am only speaking in generalities, but do we see the person levitate or do we see a draped shape that looks like the person under a sheet levitate? Because if so, she never left the ground and had snuck over to the next place she was to be revealed at. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/64 "2013-11-21T14:13:46Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > No conspiracy necessary. > > Step 1: pick your stooge. > Step 2: invite fans to apply > Step 3: announce the winner > > The reporting outlets do not need to be in on the secret at all. > [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > Exactly. Thousands of people could have sent in videos but that doesn’t mean that the person “picked” to participate was someone who submitted a video and not a plant for the trick. And to make it even more realistic, they probably had the stooge make a “video” so they could show it as the one that was selected if it were ever questioned. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/65 "2013-11-21T15:09:10Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I’ve also somewhat similar with non-stage hypnosis. So what is happening in stage hypnosis? Are people under no influence at all? Why do they do embarrassing things? Do they think to themselves “well I feel no compulsion at all to do it but I think I’ll just do it and say it was the hypnosis that made me do it”. > > BTW I see a lot of insight in those quotes about meditation, getting deeper, etc… are you knowledgeable about hypnosis? BTW a little of my background is “speed seduction” where there’s a geeky looking guy who picks up young woman using hypnotic techniques/NLP etc. **The Niply Elder** was specifically speaking of hypnosis on a magician’s stage. Not the bring 20 volunteers from the audience to hypnotize kind of hypnosis. On a magician’s stage everything is as controlled and choreographed as the magician can manage. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/66 "2013-11-21T15:42:19Z")
The person that was selected – was her name announced? Does she have a Facebook page, with years of non-showbiz types entries, and then some comments about making her audition video and hoping she’ll be chosen? Or did she mysteriously appear out of nowhere, with no social media presence prior to the grand illusion? I think it’s going to be harder for magicians to convincingly pick “stooges” these days, because it will be easier for curious people to point out that “Anne, from Sydney” didn’t exist until two months ago, but Tineye matches her pics to stage magic enthusiast Emily Sartis who has years of experience in performing. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/67 "2013-11-21T16:51:51Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I don’t recall him using hypnosis before… he isn’t really relying on it in this instance e.g. > “If I’m unable to guide any of them into a deep trance there will be no levitation and all of this work would have been for nothing.” So, you believe him when he says this? That he’ll just scrap the entire act? (When he could ensure it’ll work every time with a trained assistant) > [@](#): > > BTW a little of my background is “speed seduction” where there’s a geeky looking guy who picks up young woman using hypnotic techniques/NLP etc. This is fascinating. Do you teach this, or just use it yourself? Has it worked? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/68 "2013-11-21T17:21:33Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I’ve also somewhat similar with non-stage hypnosis. So what is happening in stage hypnosis? Are people under no influence at all? Why do they do embarrassing things? Do they think to themselves “well I feel no compulsion at all to do it but I think I’ll just do it and say it was the hypnosis that made me do it”. Yes, that’s exactly what it is. The stage hypnotist picks people out of the audience who seem like good candidates. The audience is made up of people who are interested in hypnotism, and plenty of them want to be on stage. So they get picked to go on stage, and the hypnotist tells them what to do, and they do it. If someone told you to get up on stage and cluck like a chicken, and you thought that was fun, you’d do it. If you’re shy but still want to do it, you are now “hypnotized” and have permission to act as if you’re not shy. Stage hypnosis is just picking likely candidates out of the crowd for some silly improv acting exercises. How the people on stage feel subjectively is irrelevant. Some of them probably feel “hypnotized”, in that they are in a state where they are willing to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Others just like acting silly to begin with and don’t feel any different than usual. But nobody is under any compulsion, and when they say things about how they feel, well, they’re at a hypnosis show so they’re going to play along. People like you would never be picked to go on stage, because you wouldn’t play along. And one of the skills a stage hypnotist has is reading people quickly, seeing if they’re willing to be funny and silly and do foolish things for a laugh. One look at you and they would be able to tell you would never do such things. And this is why stage hypnosis looks so convincing to you, because you think most people are like you and would only act like idiots on stage because they were in an altered mental state. But there are plenty of people who are happy to act like idiots just for fun. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/69 "2013-11-21T18:16:20Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yes, that’s exactly what it is. The stage hypnotist picks people out of the audience who seem like good candidates. The audience is made up of people who are interested in hypnotism, and plenty of them want to be on stage. So they get picked to go on stage, and the hypnotist tells them what to do, and they do it. If someone told you to get up on stage and cluck like a chicken, and you thought that was fun, you’d do it. If you’re shy but still want to do it, you are now “hypnotized” and have permission to act as if you’re not shy. > > Stage hypnosis is just picking likely candidates out of the crowd for some silly improv acting exercises. How the people on stage feel subjectively is irrelevant. Some of them probably feel “hypnotized”, in that they are in a state where they are willing to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Others just like acting silly to begin with and don’t feel any different than usual. But nobody is under any compulsion, and when they say things about how they feel, well, they’re at a hypnosis show so they’re going to play along. > > People like you would never be picked to go on stage, because you wouldn’t play along. And one of the skills a stage hypnotist has is reading people quickly, seeing if they’re willing to be funny and silly and do foolish things for a laugh. One look at you and they would be able to tell you would never do such things. And this is why stage hypnosis looks so convincing to you, because you think most people are like you and would only act like idiots on stage because they were in an altered mental state. But there are plenty of people who are happy to act like idiots just for fun. No. This is part of what is going on in a stage hypnosis show, but there is more to it, and more to hypnosis in general, than this. There is a real altered state of consciousness involved. I have been (lightly) hypnotized once in a therapeutic rather than a stage context. I was not far under, and I was not made to do anything silly, or indeed anything much at all. (I talked a bit about my problems, but nothing terribly revealing or embarrassing was said, nothing beyond what I might have said to regular psychotherapist.) However, there was a definite and quite distinctive feel to it. I was peculiarly relaxed and calm both during the session and for a period after. I have seen stage hypnosis shows too and I see little reason to believe that the people in the shows are not in similar altered states to that which I experienced. Following suggestions to act in some uncharacteristic way, however, is something over and beyond that. I doubt whether I would be a good candidate for stage hypnosis myself. I might get hypnotized (as I was by the therapist), but I doubt whether I would perform, being too much of an introvert. I think the same went for my wife when she volunteered to be one of the subjects at a stage hypnosis show. She seemed to be put “under” ok, and was sitting on a chair on the stage, slumped over and somnolent (along with several other people), but unlike most of the others she did not respond to the suggestions to “perform” and was quietly “woken” and led back into the audience by an assistant, as the hypnotist concentrated on getting the people who would perform to actually do so. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/70 "2013-11-21T19:31:26Z")
This OP cannot be for real. In response to every explanation he replies, “But the magician SAID such-and-such…” When you watch magic acts, you need to assume EVERYTHING you hear is irrelevant or an outright lie. If there is a simple way to do the trick, but the only reason it wouldn’t work is “ethics”, then that’s how they did the trick. No one can be this gullible, can they? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/71 "2013-11-21T20:18:28Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > This OP cannot be for real. In response to every explanation he replies, “But the magician SAID such-and-such…” > > When you watch magic acts, you need to assume EVERYTHING you hear is irrelevant or an outright lie. If there is a simple way to do the trick, but the only reason it wouldn’t work is “ethics”, then that’s how they did the trick. > > No one can be this gullible, can they? Reminds me of an email conversation I had just this week with an African 419 scammer - it went like this: > [@](#): > > **Scammer:** Attorney James Luper is my name, I WAS THE SOLICITOR AND ATTORNEY TO LATE REV.A. COLE AN AMERICAN WHO PERISHED IN THE DANA AIR CRASH ON THE 3RD OF JUNE 2012 IN LAGOS… blah blah etc. > > **Me:** Fucking idiot scammer > > **Me (every day for the following week)** Fucking idiot scammer > > **Scammer:** Dear Mange > Please I beg you in the name of God to stop sending to me what I do not know about. > I have given you my drivers license and house address then how can I be a scammer. > > **Me:** LOL. Fucking idiot scammer ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/72 "2013-11-21T20:24:33Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > This OP cannot be for real. In response to every explanation he replies, “But the magician SAID such-and-such…” > > When you watch magic acts, you need to assume EVERYTHING you hear is irrelevant or an outright lie. If there is a simple way to do the trick, but the only reason it wouldn’t work is “ethics”, then that’s how they did the trick. > > No one can be this gullible, can they? You need to read some of the OP’s other threads… ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/73 "2013-11-21T21:45:47Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > This OP cannot be for real. In response to every explanation he replies, “But the magician SAID such-and-such…” > > When you watch magic acts, you need to assume EVERYTHING you hear is irrelevant or an outright lie. If there is a simple way to do the trick, but the only reason it wouldn’t work is “ethics”, then that’s how they did the trick. > > No one can be this gullible, can they? Well. magicians do have their own ethical principles, and one of them is something like “Don’t use a stooge unless it is the only way that you can create a really impressive effect that will still be baffling even to someone who assumes that you may be using stooge.” I think the effect in question meets that standard, so that all but the most puritanical magicians would accept that the use of a stooge in this case is acceptable. Most magical effects do _not_ meet that standard, however, so although many could in principle be done by using stooges, they very rarely are done that way in practice. You are quite right, of course, that magical ethics _absolutely_ allow and even encourage both bare-faced lying and deliberately and systematically misleading talk and behavior in pursuit of a more convincing and more baffling effect. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/74 "2013-11-21T21:51:54Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > You need to read some of the OP’s other threads… Are those threads evidence that he really is stupendously naïve and gullible, however, or that he, for some twisted reason, enjoys having people think him so? ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/75 "2013-11-21T22:08:37Z")
JohnClay, can I ask you a question? Are you, personally, a strong believer in the power of hypnotism, as commonly presented as entertainment on stage and screen? Would you consider the topic of hypnotism somewhat important to you? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/76 "2013-11-21T22:59:46Z")
Reading the thread, I think the answer is already given in this thread as a “yes”. Look at the links he provided about hypnotism, and the comments about “speed seduction”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/77 "2013-11-21T23:26:39Z")
> [@digs](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > BTW a little of my background is “speed seduction” where there’s a geeky looking guy who picks up young woman using hypnotic techniques/NLP etc. > > This is fascinating. Do you teach this, or just use it yourself? Has it worked? By means of my amazing mental powers, which _You Can Also Learn_\*, I predict the answer to this question will be: Bought a book/dvd/course/something on the subject, and it promises much. Hasn’t worked yet. Must not be doing it quite right. \*My book is only $199, or buy the book and DVD together for only $249! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/78 "2013-11-21T23:33:21Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > By means of my amazing mental powers, which _You Can Also Learn_\*, I predict the answer to this question will be: > > Bought a book/dvd/course/something on the subject, and it promises much. > Hasn’t worked yet. Must not be doing it quite right. > \*My book is only $199, or buy the book and DVD together for only $249! $199??? Damn, the price was much lower back when we bought it from the back of a comic book. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/79 "2013-11-21T23:43:53Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > $199??? > Damn, the price was much lower back when we bought it from the back of a comic book. Yes, but my method is guaranteed to work, if you do it right. (and you’ll know you’re doing it right - because if it doesn’t work, you’re doing it wrong) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/80 "2013-11-21T23:46:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Yes, but my method is guaranteed to work, if you do it right. > > (and you’ll know you’re doing it right - because if it doesn’t work, you’re doing it wrong) It’ll never work without a hypno-coin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335.md?page=5)