The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-08-29
NEED HYPNOTIST IN BOX OFFICE

The Orpheum Theater was not near.
ly filled last night, when Barnett and
Ayesha opened their Honolulu season
as hypnotists. They are billed as
Americas greatest hypnotists. The
audience was languid, and seemed
skeptical from the beginning, and it
was hard to get volunteers to go up
on the stage. It is no wonder then
that the show dragged considerably,
especially as Barnett made no attempt
to resort to the usual tactics adopted
by showmen, to enliven the proceed.
ings.
There were eighteen chairs arrang.
ed in semi-circular formation on the
stage, and Barnett came forward and
pleaded for volunteers. He worked
hard at this, but no one seemed dis.
posed to so for some time. At last he
got six This, he said, was hardly a
sufficient number, for he did not feel
disposed to make people work hard
for him. For himself he cared moth
ing, he would work as hard as he
could. He pleaded on, but there was
no one willing to increase the half.
dozen on the stage. He even went so
far as to threaten to give the people
their tickets back, but this did not
have the desired effect, so he went
to work on the six.
The Star does not undertake to say
whether they were hypnotized or not
All that it can do is to tell what the
people did Taking the volunteers
one by one, Barnett told each one to
relax his muscles, throw his head
back and concentrate his mind on
the belief that he was falling back
wards. With a subject in this posi-
ton Barnett would stand behind him
and draw his hands down the mans
back. Almost invariably the patient
would fall back into Barnett's arms
Then the same process would be gone
through with Barnett staring into the
mans eyes.
These were but preliminary exer
cises, it was explained, to test the
capabilities of the subjects. Two OF
them, Barnett stated, were cataleptic
subjects. About this time one man
left the stage, then there we're but
five. Barnett sought out a youth, and
made some mystic passes, and ca
resses, with the music playing a soft
dreamy air. The boy stood stiff
Barnett, picking him up, he was plac
ed across the backs of four chairs, the
calves of his legs resting on the backs
of two of the chairs, and his shoulder
on the backs of the other two chars
Thus there was no support for hi!
head, or his back. The chairs wer,
held in position by volunteers sittin!
on them. Two more volunteers kind
ly sat on the youths chest and legs
while Barnett struck a graceful att
tude on his stomach-the youths. 0
course, not Barnett's.
Invited the Audience.
Once more Barnett made a passion
ate appeal to members of the audienc
to come up and be hypnotized A
irreverent one in the gallery suggest
ed that the dog that had followed on
of the volunteers, be hypnotized, Will
| another voiced the thought that Ban
nett should hypnotic the people int
going on the stage, without askin
them. The appeal was long one, bu
no one seemed disposed to go up. Ba
nett repeated his threat to close tn
show for the evening, and give thos
present tickets for the following pei
Torrance. Once more he sought ale
He said that tonight he would hav
people on the stage, even if he had t
Ipay them-"not to do what I te
: Them" he hastily added, but just I