# 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:** 6
**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 22, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/101 "2013-11-22T18:39:11Z")
I think I’ve figured it out. Cosentino is, in fact, an alien who can control our weak human minds. He can actually perform levitation and transportation. All of this talk of video submissions, etc. is just part of his clever alien ruse. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/102 "2013-11-22T18:45:42Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > You need to read some of the OP’s other threads… Thanks to you and \*\*JohnClay, \*\*I have wasted so much time today reading his past threads. They’re not quite hilarious and they’re not quite frightening, but you can’t stop reading them. And the worst part is, as soon as you start to get bored and almost ready to go back to work, he’ll reference another past thread and start the whole fascination over again (e.g. “I don’t think I’m Satan anymore, as I did in another thread…”) ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/103 "2013-11-22T19:10:52Z")
**JohnClay** , you are either thinking way too much, or not nearly enough. I can’t figure out which. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/104 "2013-11-22T19:47:15Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > **JohnClay** , you are either thinking way too much, or not nearly enough. I can’t figure out which. Why can’t it be both? One is a backup in case something goes wrong. ---
**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 22, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/105 "2013-11-22T22:19:07Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > If you are interested in “speed seduction” look up Ross Jeffries on youtube. Notice how he’s an old man yet he is able to attract a lot of gorgeous young women. He does obvious hypnosis as well as using hypnotic/NLP techniques without the woman being explicitly aware. > Check out one of this first books: > [How to Get the Women You Desire into Bed: Jefferies, Ross: 9780963037909: Books - Amazon.ca](http://www.amazon.ca/How-Get-Women-Desire-into/dp/0963037900) > Notice he had glasses… > BTW I’ve never tried any of it. Oh, well if he said it in a book, it must be true, right? I mean, the fact that he’s making a fat stack of cash out of selling the book is just a coincidence probably. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/106 "2013-11-23T01:19:41Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > If you are interested in “speed seduction” look up Ross Jeffries on youtube. Notice how he’s an old man yet he is able to attract a lot of gorgeous young women. He does obvious hypnosis as well as using hypnotic/NLP techniques without the woman being explicitly aware. > Check out one of this first books: > [How to Get the Women You Desire into Bed: Jefferies, Ross: 9780963037909: Books - Amazon.ca](http://www.amazon.ca/How-Get-Women-Desire-into/dp/0963037900) > Notice he had glasses… > BTW I’ve never tried any of it. I remember that book. Wasn’t it offered for 25 cents and a boxtop once in the back of a Superman comic? ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/107 "2013-11-23T02:34:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Oh, well if he said it in a book, it must be true, right? I mean, the fact that he’s making a fat stack of cash out of selling the book is just a coincidence probably. Do you think Ross Jeffries can’t genuinely attract gorgeous women? Do you think his assistants and girlfriends are just from his money? (which he’d get from books and seminars) Why is he so popular if his techniques don’t work? BTW apparently Tom Cruise’s character from Magnolia is based on Ross Jeffries though I haven’t really seen that movie. [http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0004140/quotes](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0004140/quotes) ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/108 "2013-11-23T02:38:02Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > What do you mean “search”? It ain’t hard to recruit an assistant, you don’t need to go on a lengthy interview process and the training you need is minimal. You don’t need Meryl Streep, you just need one of your stagehands to act the part of an audience member. If just any stagehand can be assistant why can’t a fan that wants to be an assistant?! I’m saying there could be 4 trained assistants. What other people are saying is that there is one trained assistant and 3 members of the public… ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/109 "2013-11-23T02:40:17Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Why is he so popular if his techniques don’t work? Unfortunately, things that aren’t always what they seem. It’s like magic. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/110 "2013-11-23T02:57:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > …No one has said that it’s not possible. It’s just that it’s very unlikely considering it opens the magician to much greater risk of embarrassment, exposure, and failure for no benefit. Good magicians don’t do that. “much greater risk of embarrassment, exposure, and failure for no benefit” If what people in this thread said was true then it is possible that people would find out that the application process which 400 people applied for and was mentioned in the media was just a big scam! I’m saying there would be four (not one) trained assistants. What risk is there that there would be for “embarrassment, exposure, and failure”? Each could have signed confidentiality agreements and could be thoroughly trained. Lemur866 thinks that any stagehand could have been an assistant. If a stagehand could be why not a fan assistant? Like I’ve been saying the magician is an expert mentalist and surely could know if a fan likes him a lot or if their rapport isn’t so good and the assistant wouldn’t obey him fully. Also with hypnotism he can see signs like eyelids about whether they’re fully obeying him. Consider some things: - they applied to be hypnotized **assistants** - if a stooge was involved why did he insist he wanted assistants? He could have just said he wanted a volunteer. - he used video phone calls - this would be helpful for screening them out. If a stooge was involved it doesn’t matter if they were screened out. - there were four fans on stage and he only made his final decision right at the end - if there was a stooge why bother having 3 others - this way it means 3 backups for the assistant role - why bother doing hypnotism? It would make it a lot easier to see whether the assistants are following his commands since it is hard to fake being hypnotized. The eyelids were a sign that the magician mentioned on TV not on the stage. People in this thread insist that the eyelid sign was rehearsed - but it was a sign that only the TV viewers knew about and the TV viewers wouldn’t be able to notice it anyway so why would the stooge bother doing it? - the levitation trick would have been VERY SIMPLE for the assistant to do. i.e. for most tricks it would involve a very talented assistant. Lemur866 thinks a stagehand could have just been an assistant. - the teleportation wasn’t expected by the audience so if the chosen assistant wasn’t cooperating then they could have left that part out. - the person in the deep meditation was being closely monitored by the magician the entire time. If they were starting to wake up and try to ruin the trick he could detach the wires or something and he could blame the end of the trick on the person getting out of the hypnotic trance. But like I said the magician could tell if they are genuine fans who really want to be an assistant. Someone who genuinely wants to be an assistant wouldn’t deliberately ruin a trick. I mean Lemur866 thinks even a stagehand would be trustworthy enough. And they could have signed contracts to make sure they behaved themselves. It’s easy to just jump on the boat and say “it was just a stooge and he lied about everything” but if you think about it carefully it looks like the 4 fan assistants could have actually been **assistants**. People keep on ignoring that. Why bother searching for **assistants** if they are in fact not assistants at all? It would be far more amazing for the audience if the person was a skeptic rather than a fan assistant! ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/111 "2013-11-23T03:05:55Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Unfortunately, things that aren’t always what they seem. It’s like magic. He used to wear glasses and be a bit thin and now he’s 54. Why does he have gorgeous very young girlfriends? Why are lots of people paying about 185 euros to see him? [http://www.realmanconference.com/Ross\_Jeffries](http://www.realmanconference.com/Ross_Jeffries) Here are some of his products: > **[Ross Jeffries Speed Seduction Courses| NLP & Ericksonian Hypnosis Books](https://www.speedseduction.net/)** > > Browse at Speedseduction.net to find Ross Jeffrie's NLP books, Ericksonian Hypnosis techniques & seduction courses to learn the secrets of seducing a beautiful women On that site it says that in Rolling Stone March 1998 he had a front page article called “The Sultan of Schwing — Sex Tips That Work!” People here like to jump to conclusions without properly investigating things (though I was guilty of this in my first post on this thread) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/112 "2013-11-23T03:35:33Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > He used to wear glasses and be a bit thin and now he’s 54. Why does he have gorgeous very young girlfriends? > Why are lots of people paying about 185 euros to see him? > [http://www.realmanconference.com/Ross\_Jeffries](http://www.realmanconference.com/Ross_Jeffries) > > Here are some of his products: > [http://www.speedseduction.net/](http://www.speedseduction.net/) > > On that site it says that in Rolling Stone March 1998 he had a front page article called “The Sultan of Schwing — Sex Tips That Work!” > > People here like to jump to conclusions without properly investigating things (though I was guilty of this in my first post on this thread) lol ---
**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 23, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/113 "2013-11-23T04:09:36Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > …“The Sultan of Schwing — Sex Tips That Work!” A question from back when you first told us about him: “Have you tried any of his techniques? Have they worked for you?” ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/114 "2013-11-23T06:58:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > A question from back when you first told us about him: “Have you tried any of his techniques? Have they worked for you?” I haven’t tried to pick up girls using the advice of _any_ pick-up artist. Though at the age of 28 I eventually started dating for the first time and the girl ultimately became my wife. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/115 "2013-11-23T08:20:51Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > On that site it says that in Rolling Stone March 1998 he had a front page article called “The Sultan of Schwing — Sex Tips That Work!” > > People here like to jump to conclusions without properly investigating things (though I was guilty of this in my first post on this thread) I’m going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that article was a bit of send up. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/116 "2013-11-23T08:37:08Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I’m going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that article was a bit of send up. See his wikipedia article: > **[Ross Jeffries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Jeffries)** > > Paul Jeffrey Ross (born 1958 or 1959 (age 66–67)), known by the pseudonym Ross Jeffries, is an American author and pick-up artist. > Neil Strauss, in his 2005 book The Game, describes Jeffries as the "godfather" of the modern pick-up artist community. > In 1988, Jeffries started to study seduction. He taught workshops and promoted a collection of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)-based techniques called "speed seduction". His teachings claim to show men how to create the desired emotional state ... He seems quite respected. > **[Dating game turns ugly](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jan/16/uk.duncancampbell)** > > Can an unattractive man seduce an attractive woman in 20 minutes flat just by using secret phrases with hidden meanings? Can a middle-aged man win the heart of a woman half his age by having a good shave and following a handy 10-point formula? “In one corner is Paul Ross - aka Ross Jeffries - author of How to Get the Women You Desire into Bed, developer of the ‘speed seduction’ and organiser of **$3,000-a-head seminars** on how to seduce beautiful women no matter how unattractive you are.” "All this has brought Jeffries fame in the form of interviews in Playboy, Rolling Stone and on late- night television. His website lists testimonials from grateful men who have met highly responsive ‘HBs’ (Jeffries slang for ‘hard bodies’) by using the techniques of the self-styled Chairman of the Broads. Jeffries, who says he only had sex twice in four years at UCLA because of his own awkwardness, **promises clients: ‘You don’t get laid, I don’t get paid.’"** Jeffries may be hard to believe but that in itself doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I’m not saying you should automatically believe in it either though. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/117 "2013-11-23T09:24:09Z")
Yep. While of course claims get overblown, and there are some fraudsters, it’s ridiculous to characterize dating and seduction advice as woo. Many guys are much more successful with women than we’d expect based on the classic attributes of looks, age and wealth. And many more can become more successful, largely by breaking bad habits. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/118 "2013-11-23T10:40:04Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > it’s ridiculous to characterize dating and seduction advice as woo. No one is doing this. It’s completely reasonable to dismiss the bizarre claims of PUAs as woo, because in the end all their NLP and other “speed seduction” echnique is a pair of magic slippers: their belief that they will be attractive to women makes them more confident, which in turn makes them more attractive. Everything else is either nonsense or creepy nonsense (e.g., forcing physical contact as soon as possible, “negging.”) I would guess that it so often doesn’t work largely because the people to whom it is most appealing are just the sort of gross nerds who come off as desperate no matter how closely they stick to their purchased script. If they had the confidence to just be assertive and direct without coming off as a jerk they wouldn’t need the books and seminarsin the first place. Still, being that weird pushy guy at the bar is better than investing in Rohypnol. edit: But I’m still convinced: The guy in the OP is a real wizard. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/119 "2013-11-23T11:55:45Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Yep. While of course claims get overblown, and there are some fraudsters, it’s ridiculous to characterize dating and seduction advice as woo. Many guys are much more successful with women than we’d expect based on the classic attributes of looks, age and wealth. And many more can become more successful, largely by breaking bad habits. Do you think these successful guys are using hypnotism, though, because that is what **JohnClay** is talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335/120 "2013-11-23T12:45:00Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > I’m saying there would be four (not one) trained assistants. What risk is there that there would be for “embarrassment, exposure, and failure”? > > Each could have signed confidentiality agreements and could be thoroughly trained. 4 people are less likely to keep a secret than 1. And there’s no need to since magicians use plants all the time. It’s what they do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosentinos-hypnotized-levitation-trick/674335.md?page=7)