Rolling Stone knows about it, Microsoft can’t move forward without it, BMW wants it to come back fast, and colleges all over the country love it.

They’re all talking about what National Media called “the greatest hypnosis show in the country, performed by renowned “hip” hypnotist and comedian Tom DeLuca.

Corporations hire DeLuca for company events to teach skills such as stress relief, team building and “power napping” skills.

You may have heard of DeLuca around campus because of his long history performing annually at Sacramento State, but it’s one thing to hear about him and a completely different thing to see his incredible work in action.

UNIQUE Programs will be hosting, “A Night with Tom DeLuca” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the University Union Ballroom.

This event is free and all ages are welcome. It’s an opportunity to watch students open up their imaginations and to have fun seeing peers succumb to hypnosis, revealing a thing or two you would have never guessed about them.

DeLuca, who earned a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Illinois, began stage performing before local civic groups after his graduation and expanded his performances throughout the Midwest beforebecoming nationally known.

DeLuca not only works with colleges, but also with Fortune 500 companies and associations across the country, including Microsoft and BMW. He has been featured in People and Rolling Stone magazines, The Wall StreetJournal, “Good Morning America” and The Maury Povich Show.

“His approach is to forgo the gimmickry in order to reveal the fun and wonder hidden in the attics of his volunteer’s minds,” Rolling Stone magazine said.

His focus on showing people a side to hypnosis that is not usually seen creates a performance that is considered one of the best college entertainment shows in the nation, with acclaim from the National Association for Campus Activities. This is why DeLuca has been voted the Campus Entertainer of the Year numerous times.

“You can be much more creative when you’re working at a college, because you don’t have to worry so much about what you can and cannot say or what people can and cannot say,” DeLuca said.

Karen Chu, a sophomore business major at Sac State attended DeLuca’s show on campus in the past.

“It’s highly entertaining, a lot of people go, there are a lot of volunteers who go up on stage, and it’s really funny too,” Chu said.

DeLuca performs for hundreds of colleges in the country every year including the University of Virginia, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech which usually brings in audiences of thousands, even 10,000 people on a couple of occasions, all to see what DeLuca does best.

With audience numbers so high, it’s easy to wonder, what does this man do in his show?

DeLuca tailors each show to the participants, which allows audiences to see the volunteer’s imagination and their interpretations of DeLuca’s suggestions. By not simply asking his volunteers to bark like dogs or think that they’re freezing cold, he is able to weed out the “fakers,” and the audience is given the opportunity to see imagination and creativity through the volunteer as well as DeLuca.

Chu said her favorite part of DeLuca’s show is “the ridiculous things these people do when they’re hypnotized.”

Chu said she had friends who volunteered last year but didn’t feel embarrassed after performing.

DeLuca calls his show crazy and says that working with college audiences leads to some of his best shows, unlike his corporate events where there are many boundaries. This means anything can happen at the college shows.

This performance is only on campus once a year. Attending the event with friends is a great way to ease back into the semester. Casey Farrell can be reached at [email protected]