Madison Watkins, Staff Writer

On Aug. 23, the Campus Union Board (CUB) presented a show in the Ogeechee Theatre hosted by Wayne Hoffman, also known as “The Mentalist.” Wayne Hoffman (“The Mentalist”) is a performer and his routine involves mindreading through “Hellstromism” (muscle analysis). He has appeared on “America’s Got Talent,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The Today Show” and “The Howard Stern Show.”

Growing up in rural Pennsylvania and, his dreams were to be a magician, to read minds, and to be on television. In his youth, Hoffman did learn how to do magic and, when he got older, made it his career. His profession as “The Mentalist” began with performances at restaurants and on cruise ships, until he received a call from NBC to be on their show “Phenomenon.” Although this show was cancelled after one season, he had multiple appearances on “America’s Got Talent” in 2015. In 2012, he published his best-selling book called “Mind Candy” that teaches readers how to achieve their goals in life by mixing positive thinking with business tactics and logistics.

Now, onto Hoffman’s Aug. 23 performance in the Ogeechee theatre. Hoffman began the show by simply throwing an airplane into the audience and whomever it hit would come up to the stage. He then asked them to guess a random number between one and 100 and to tell him their name. After they guessed, Hoffman pulled a piece of paper that he had before the show from his shoe and written on it was the student’s name with the number they guessed. After that, he asked for two volunteers from the audience. Once he chose them, he gave each of them a book and told them to open it and choose a random word that had at least seven letters. Once they had chosen their words, he asked them to think of nothing but that word and put his fingers on their forearm. He then started running through the alphabet backwards and forwards. Using Hellstromism, he could correctly deduce the words the students were visualizing. Katie Williams, a sophomore majoring in history, was one of these students chosen.

“The word I chose was ‘becoming’ and when he said, it my mind was blown,” Williams exclaimed, “I did not know what to expect coming into it and I never get chosen for events like this. I was shook. I had no part of it and I’m definitely a believer now!”

Another one of Hoffman’s demonstration involved twin sisters that he picked from the audience. After he asked them to study each other, he had them stand apart and put on blindfolds. He then used a feather to brush one of the sisters on the arm and on the forehead. Next, he drew hearts on that same sister’s arm before he had them take off their blindfolds. Both sisters said they were absolutely sure they had both felt it. When the first sister looked on her arm for the hearts, they actually appeared on the arm he didn’t even touch!

He ended the show by asking everyone in the audience to think of one specific word and stare at it. He used what he called “perceptionism” to observe the audience and again deduce the words certain people were picturing. Hoffman guessed that Savannah Quinton, a sophomore majoring in radiology, was thinking of the word “audacity.”

“I came into this as a definite skeptic,” said Quinton, “but when he said the initials ‘S. Q.’ I started shaking. When he guessed my word right, it made me a believer.”

Hoffman gave some advice after the show to those who held contested or unpopular aspirations: “You must look at it from a business and logistical standpoint. You have to run your life like a business and learn how to manage time, productivity, and your motivation. You’re going to have a lot of lows in life and you have to learn to love the word ‘no’ because that means you’re one step closer to your dream. Happiness is a choice and it makes the difference between a successful person and someone who dwells in negativity.”

The show concluded, a success, shortly concluded after Hoffman delivered those final counseling remarks. Armstrong held this event, and holds others like it to give students the chance to decompress for the pressures of classes and to foster a community among them through entertainment and association.

With the variety of activities held here on campus annually, there will be many more events like Wayne Hoffman show that will provide students with more extracurricular outlets and access to entertainment. Keep reading the Inkwell, if you want to stay informed on the many events to come, and for more information the future events, be sure to check your student email regularly and check out Armstrong’s event calendar on the university homepage.