Students tricked into thinking they'd been molested at hypnotist show

Students were shocked when a fun hypnosis show included members of the audience performing erotic dances and being tricked into thinking they'd been indecently touched. The show, at the Universities at Medway's Coopers bar, was part of Freshers' Week activities for new students. It was advertised as the chance to "watch your new friends transformed into aliens and superheroes. One to remember!"

But it ended up being remembered for the wrong reasons after hypnotist Colin Adamson  caused controversy with a show featuring sexual acts. Participants were made to perform tasks including lap dances, ogling the opposite sex and imagining others naked. Adamson told two women, hypnotised into performing a lap dance, "When you wake up, you will think he touched you up just now". After doing so, one girl was said to be too upset to speak while the other said she would castrate the audience member with a spoon.



University of Kent feminist society president Natasha Sadaeva said she was shocked and disgusted. She said: "He shows a lack of empathy towards rape victims and all women, and a lack of basic human decency – he has no place at a student union." But Mr Adamson said the show was intended to be humorous. "It wasn't a sex show by any means," he said. "That was just one routine out of a lot of routines, which included people riding horses and making all kinds of funny noises. This is the first time I have had this reaction to the show, which I've been performing for 10 years and when I was performing in Coopers the laughter was very loud.

"The majority of the audience got what it was intended to be – comedy." A Kent Union spokesman said: "Following the hypnotist event we investigated it thoroughly and have since reviewed our due diligence procedures for booking of acts. As a result of this event, we will not be booking this particular act again and we have tightened up our procedures. Colin Adamson has previously been booked by a number of other student unions across the UK, as well as other national companies. To date we have yet to receive a complaint regarding the event and on the evening, no one left or walked out."