By Neal Kirmer
Staff Writer
On the evening of Feb. 7 in the McCasland Ballroom, Cameron University was host to mind meddler, mentalist and comedian Troy Peters.
Peters wowed the crowd with his ability to seemingly read the thoughts of those in attendance. Accurately reading the thoughts of those selected to participate, whether that be knowing what word from a book the attendee was reading, or what type of animal they were thinking of.
Peters is billed as a mentalist. Those who practice mentalism demonstrate highly developed mental or intuitive abilities, such as the ability to guess when an audience member is thinking of a horse or the color red (more on the color red later). Those who are adept at mentalism use the power of suggestion and the ability to read body language to predict what people are thinking.
The performance by Mr. Peters was a showcase in the abilities of mentalists. Peters began the show by correctly identifying three things that audience members were thinking of, well almost correctly. He correctly guessed that one audience member was thinking of a horse and that another was thinking of broccoli. The third participant was asked to think of a number, Peters was slightly off in his guess on what number the audience member was thinking of, however several other people in the audience had the same number that Peters predicted in their heads it was just that their brain waves were louder than the participants.
That is the power of suggestion. Mentalists are not actual mind readers or psychics. They use the power of suggestion, along with the body language and mannerisms of those they are “reading” to predict the outcome of the questions asked.
At the end of his show Peters asked a volunteer to color in a drawing however they saw fit. Peters correctly predicted that the volunteer would give the drawing a red shirt, yellow tie, green shorts and so on. Peters was so sure in his prediction that he was wearing that exact outfit under his stage clothes, and revealed the attire to much laughter from the crowd. Even those in attendance had picked out these colors in that specific order.
Even for those who understand how this is done, knowing the how does not take away from the experience. Cameron University student Marshall Sadler not only enjoyed the performance but also participated as a volunteer.
“I really enjoyed the show. I thought that it was really cool how he incorporated our free choices in his act.” Sadler said.
The event was hosted by PAC (Programming Activities Council) as part of a week-long list of activities for homecoming week. PAC is dedicated to enhancing the college experience for those attending Cameron. Jadance Black, a Cameron student who was involved in bringing Peters to campus looks forward to bringing similar acts to Lawton.
“We focus on what people like to go to. We try to mix it up and get everybody something that they would like. We do novelties, crafts and shows like we saw tonight.” said Black.
As for the Mind Meddler himself, Mr. Peters stated that he would love to come back to Cameron “I am really impressed with your campus. [Cameron] Has very unique and interesting students. Tonight, was a small but energetic crowd, who were really into the show.” Said Peters
To find out more about future events hosted by PAC, follow their social media accounts on Instagram (pac_cu) and Facebook (PacCameronU).
