Pick a card, any card.

On Tuesday, May 15 at 7 p.m., Christopher Carter, a performer who works with Extra Sensory Perception, hypnosis, and other tricks of the mind, amazed a moderately sized crowd of students in the Driscoll ballroom.

As students entered the room, they were given a string, a golf pencil and a note card, and were told to hang on to these objects. Carter began the show by selecting participants from the audience. He had each of the participants pick a playing card, and, using their body movements, facial expressions, and other cues, picked their cards from the pack. He then asked the audience to think of a number. He chose one female student from the audience, who had chosen the number he had been thinking of, and brought her up on stage. He then took out an envelope, containing an audiotape which he had recorded before the show. On the tape was Carter, describing perfectly the woman who was standing on the stage before him.

Carter proceeded with the show, taping two silver dollars over his eyes with duct tape, and then covering them with a blindfold. He had two new volunteers collect objects from the audience, then described the objects while holding his hands over them.

He asked the audience to take out the cards they had recieved at the beginning of the show and write four things on them: their name, a number that was important to them, something he would not be able to guess about them, and a question. He then collected the cards, held them in his hands, and read the information off them. He then removed the blindfold, duct tape and silver dollars from his face.

The string given out at the beginning of the show was brought up next. The audience was asked to tie something fairly heavy, like a watch or a ring, to the end of the string and hold one hand under the hanging object. The audience was told that the object would begin to spin and rock, which it did for the majority of the audience. Carter explained that this was because of psychological suggestion. Those members of the audience who believed it would happen moved their hands subconsciously, causing the object on the string to spin and rock.

Carter then urged the audience to hold hands, so that they could combine their energy. He then held up a lightbulb, and told the audience that they could make it burst by focusing on it. The audience grew quiet, and the lightbulb popped. Next, Carter brought out a flourescent lightbulb, and asked for another volunteer. He handed the light to the volunteer, a female student, and asked her to imagine a beam of light going from her forehead into the light. The lights were brought down, and Carter told the girl to imagine the beam of light growing stronger. As she did so, the flourescent lightbulb began to glow.

For his finale, Carter set up a “watch” on a table, comprised of an empty water glass and a broom. He borrowed a watch from an audience member, and gave it to a new volunteer. He asked the volunteer to check the time on the watch, then to hold it tightly, while he stood next to the table, and caused the broom to spin slightly, without touching it or the table. The broom-watch moved an equivalent of 20 minutes counterclockwise. Carter then asked his volunteer to check the time on the watch. It was now 20 minutes slow.

To find out more about Christopher Carter, ESP, or hypnosis, go to his website at http://www.mindcramp.com/esp.html.