About 800 students filled the Duke Ellington Ballroom at the Holmes Student Center Tuesday night to watch or participate as a hypnotist proved to be “Master of the Mind.”

Sponsored by Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity on behalf of Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the event turned normal students into a Michael Jackson impersonator, 10 pregnant guys, a flock of ducks, sweaty sunbathers and slap-silly “happy juice” drinkers.

Jim Wand, making his third appearance on the NIU campus, hypnotized 27 people who either volunteered to be hypnotized or were brought on stage from the audience after being hypnotized.

The students were under Wand’s powers for an hour and a half as they listened to his every word and command.

The participants were told they “would have extra energy for 24 hours afterwards,” and “you can never be forced to do anything against your will,” although some were amazed afterward at what friends told them they had done while on stage.

As he continually counted backward to take the students deeper into the trance or to change activities, Wand had the participants going from one scene to another “in their own little world,” he said.

The students removed clothing thinking they were in South Padre, Texas, appeared drunk as Wand supplied them with invisible “happy juice.” Students turned into airplanes, truck drivers, Tarzan and Jane, tongue specialists and the women believed they were macho men posing for a Mr. Universe contest.

Western music filled the ballroom as Wand shot them dead, making them close their eyes amd slump over on their chairs, using the microphone stand as a bazooka and machine gun.

Ten guys believing they were pregnant reacted by answering, “Well, they told me to gain weight,” and “I’m going to tell them I’m Santa.” One student was disappointed with his “little green alien” who he named “It.”

The grand finale involved every participant acting as a part of Michael Jackson’s band as the song “Bad” played. The student who thought himself to be Jackson gave autographs to audience members.

Before Wand awoke the students, he told them to concentrate on certain areas they would like to improve, such as study skills, weight loss or quitting smoking. He said they would “be more comfortable and confident than ever before.”

Wand might hold a self-hypnosis seminar on campus Feb. 20 since he said “people can learn to hypnotize themselves.”