Campus Activities’ annual Crimson Kickoff welcomed back America’s Got Talent-famed Hypnotist Chris Jones Monday night in the Corbett Center Student Union ballroom.

The two-hour show engaged the mostly student audience in high-energy entertainment with Jones even inviting some apparently hypnotized students on stage.

Those who were deemed hypnotized took on the role of zombies, superheroes, mind-readers and animals— even convincing some to dance wildly to popular songs such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

Kiersten Hernandez and Kylie Rhodes were two incoming freshmen who enjoyed their experience.

“(The show) was creepy. I was skeptical going into it, but now I believe hypnotism is real,” Hernandez said. “I would’ve wanted to see one of my friends get hypnotized.”

Also skeptical, Rhodes said she was eager to be hypnotized but wasn’t. “I want to know how it feels,” she said.

A professional hypnotist since 2010, Jones said his career started in his freshman year of college.

“I was in a college audience when my roommate got hypnotized. The next semester, I went and fell asleep,” he said. Following his experience, Jones said he asked the Hypnotist to teach him.

He said he was shown a book which he read cover-to-cover, and has been traveling the world ever since.

In Jones’ third return to NMSU, the ballroom was packed enough to cause some students to wait more than 30 minutes for a seat.

Kaili Howard, one of the volunteers working the event, was astonished by the turnout.

“I couldn’t even count how many people we had to reject tonight. We reached maximum capacity around 10 minutes before the event started,” she said.

Those awaiting the show were allowed in upon an audience member’s departure, Howard said. Those who went to the bathroom also had to wait to re-enter.

Unlike magicians, Jones revealed the hypnotist’s secret: “It’s all about trust,” he said.

Whether students believe in hypnotism or not, the roars of laughter from the show was surely a great beginning to a new semester.