Megumi Woltermann was speechless after mentalist Wayne Hoffman read her mind.
From across the overcrowded room in HUB Heritage Hall, Hoffman correctly recited the name of Woltermann's former pet, a cat named Crazy -- though he never saw the piece of paper on which she wrote its name.
"I'm so freaked out right now," Woltermann (freshman-chemical engineering) said, nearly in tears. "That was incredible, amazing."
A mentalist who has performed on shows including the Howard Stern Show, the Ellen Degeneres Show and the Glenn Beck Show, Hoffman boggled the minds of students last night by reading their minds and moving objects without touching them. The event was free and sponsored by the Student Programming Association (SPA).
The venue -- with a capacity of 400 people -- was overfilled, with 60 students standing along the walls and back of the room. About 50 students were turned away, an SPA member said.
Each audience member was given the chance for Hoffman to read his or her mind. The way he chose the first person to participate was by throwing a paper airplane into the crowd and seeing who it hit.
Tristalyn Bixler-Kint was his first subject. He told her to concentrate on a word that she chose randomly from a book and spent several minutes reading her body language and writing lines on a whiteboard.
Hoffman wrote the word and showed audience members, but kept it concealed from Bixler-Kint.
She recited her word to the audience, and it was the same word, "peace," that Hoffman had written.
Bixler-Kint (sophomore-communications) said she was really nervous and thought his mind-reading was "amazing."
Gasps and cheers echoed in the room when Hoffman
performed other tricks, like guessing a cell phone number and calling it and making a digital camera take a picture without touching it.
While students were excited about his show, Hoffman reciprocated the feeling, and said he prefers to perform for college-aged audiences.
"I love colleges more than anything," Hoffman said. "They vibe me better ... college students are always ready for fun."
Clad in torn jeans, spiked hair and gray Converse sneakers, Hoffman explained he and college students "get" each other.
"I can still relate -- I can still do a keg stand," he joked.
