Dan Lornitis, originally from Springfield, Ill., and living in Chicago, will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Pennsylvania College of Technology, and Lornitis is no stranger to Williamsport.
"I'm pretty excited to come back," he said.
Lornitis got his start in hypnotism when his mentor, Christopher Carter, took him under his wing, but Lornitis also had been a magician to pay his way through college.
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Dan Lornitis will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. For more information on Dan Lornitis, visit www.danlorni tis.com or www.facebook.com/danlornitis.
"Since I was seven, I've been into magic; I've always done magic," he said.
Twelve years after his relationship with Carter began, Lornitis went out on his own. Today, he perfoms more than 100 shows a year and travels throughout the United States. He's had the pleasure of being the opening act of Weird Al and Louis Anderson as well. Lornitis perfoms at college campuses and for corporate events, but recently got to give back to the troops and perform in South Korea in 2010.
"I did 14 shows, a show-per-day, with a couple days off," he said. "It was for the troops, all different army bases and air force bases. Every day a USO tour bus would take me to my performances. I even flew via Blackhawk to locations."
Lornitis finds that he tweeks his performances sometimes and will do so especially for his upcoming audience at Penn College. He uses newer, hip material for the college audiences.
The show Lornitis has planned will feature many different tricks, but he said the true trick is being hypnotised.
"Everybody can be hypnotised, it's a matter of them letting themself go into that state," he said. "The hypnotist is the tour guide to that place. They take you on a journey."
Lornitis said he always tells volunteers they will not do anything that could compromise their morals or hurt them.
"I give them a few minutes of what's going to happen. They will never black out, they will always be semi-aware," Lornitis said. "They are not gonna do anything that's against their morals. They won't make themselves feel or look bad. Even if they did, they won't remember it anyway. Other than that, I just tell them to stay away from the edge of the stage."
Lornitis also said he feels the audience and volunteers out, saying that someone's personality might go better with a different trick. Each show, Lornitis incites laughter from the audience, though, making sure they have a good time.
"I start the show off beginning with putting them on an airplane, in first class seats," he said. "They fly over a beach, that happens to be a supermodel beach that turns into a senior citizens' beach."
Other tricks that Lornitis brings to his show are making guys dance to "Single Ladies," and having a shoe thief, where a volunteer steals someone's shoe every time a certain phrase is said.
"You can expect your friends and colleagues to show their personality. It could quite possibly be the most entertaining and funniest thing you've ever seen them do. It's fast paced, you'll laugh by the second," Lornitis said. "It's an experience that the audience may never forget and the volunteers will never remember."
For more information, visit www.danlornitis.com or www.facebook.com/danlornitis.
