Psychic, medium, and hypnotist Blair Robertson mesmerized Carleton freshmen in the first event of Fall Orientation Week Sept. 3.
Robertson became a hypnotist in his mid-teens once he discovered his magic tricks were becoming stale, he said.
He initially thought that hypnosis was “BS,” but said he gave it a try and it worked.
Hypnosis is not about parlour tricks or supernatural ability but rather a drawing forth of natural reaction, he said.
“I help people unleash their innate ability to really express themselves so hypnosis is not something I do to you. It’s something you do to yourself but I coach you into it,” Robertson said.
Robertson believes in a clean show that relies on funny over dirty material to get a rise out of his audience. First-year students laughed as they watched their fellow classmates under a trance, shaking their arms as though they were a washer machine during a spin cycle.
“When you see me walk off that stage tonight I’m going to be exhausted. I’ll be drenched in sweat because it’s a very exhausting show to do. But after the show is over, you won’t find anybody in this room who loves what they do more than me.”
“I hope that the students will realize that the human mind has unlimited potential and they can do anything they set their mind to do,” Robertson said.
Orientation Coordinator Grace Valentine said the event is a great way to get first year students engaged in orientation at its beginning.
“He’s really funny and he also does student participation from the crowd so it gets them feeling like they’re having fun at Carleton on the first day,” she said.
First-year computer science student Karan Singh was not as thrilled to have a hypnotist at orientation.
“He’s okay. I know how hypnosis works so it’s nothing amazing to me,” she said.
Robertson is no stranger to criticism, however. After thirty years in the game he enjoys it.
“I’ve reframed it as I’m doing something good because I’m causing waves,” he said.
In order to foresee the future, Robertson uses a technique he calls “time-projected empathy” to produce psychic predictions.
“I sit down every Sunday night and I just sort of imagine I have [an] old-fashioned newspaper and I am flipping through [it],” he said. He said he then gets impressions of what the newspaper headlines are going to be, such as a bus tragedy, plane crash, assassination, or a royal wedding.
“I get these vibes and then usually right after I get a feeling if it’s distant or close,” he said.
Robertson has accurately predicted several major events including 2010’s Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami.
“I actually encourage people not to listen to me. Don’t believe me. Don’t take my word for anything that I say. Go look, follow the predictions.”
When asked about any soothsaying about Carleton, the future looks bright.
“I don’t see anything negative for Carleton whatsoever. I see everything moving ahead positively.”
