Obsessive-compulsive disorder is no joke for longtime comedian Howie Mandel. The entertainer has admitted to his incapacitating fear of germs, refusing to even shake hands with anyone or anything.
“I’m always on the verge of death in my head,” he told “20/20” more than half a decade ago.
Enter Chris Jones, a born-and-raised Chicagoan who has dedicated his life to hypnosis. Jones saw an opportunity dangling in front of him while he was standing onstage during the Season 10 premiere of “America’s Got Talent” earlier this year.
Within seconds, Jones hypnotized the 59-year-old judge on the NBC show, putting him to sleep while standing up, in front of a large studio audience.
Many audience members stood up to leave during Jones’ set, refusing to undergo hypnosis of any kind. Others who stayed actually fell asleep, too, following right along with Jones’ calm, soothing demeanor onstage.
Not missing a beat, Jones pressed on, convincing Mandel that he was wearing gloves when in actuality he was not. Only the motion of stretching gloves over his hands was made.
Jones proceeded to wake Mandel from his slumber, and then the former “Deal or No Deal” host actually extended his arm and shook hands with the contestant, leaving judges Heidi Klum and Melanie Brown hysterical in disbelief.
The kicker?
Once Mandel retook his seat at the judges’ table, he had no recollection of the stunt.
“You shook hands twice, effortlessly,” radio legend and fellow judge Howard Stern said to Mandel.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mandel blankly responded.
The “America’s Got Talent” YouTube account posted Jones’ set online immediately after the May 26 airing of the show. Just six weeks later, it had racked up more than 4 million hits.
Want to see Jones in action? Tune in to “America’s Got Talent” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, on NBC for his second pick act in front of the judges.
Jones grew up at East 91st Street and Jeffrey Avenue on the South Side of the city, graduating from Mount Carmel High School. The entertainer—who now focuses on hosting high school and college hypnosis shows—said he grew up with a speech impediment and started learning magic because “it was cool.”
In college, Jones saw traveling comedy hypnotist Frederick Winters’ show, noting that he fell asleep, just like Mandel did in his act, and realized, “Wow, this isn’t fake. It’s actually real.”
Jones “chased Winters to his car” after the show and demanded that he teach him the art of hypnosis.
Seven years later, Jones is a five-year professional hypnotist, still keeping in touch with Winters on a regular basis.
Jones’ next big goal is to immerse himself in the nonprofit world, as well as to get involved with Chicago Public Schools to ”visit schools and be a good role model for preteens.”
Man oh man, Chris. Hypnotizing Howie Mandel on national television after watching him fist bump every contestant on “Deal or No Deal” for years—that’s incredible.
[Laughs.] Thanks. I was the last act of the day, and I heard he immediately went offstage and began washing his hands vigorously. He was asking everyone around him, “Was he wearing gloves or not? Seriously, don’t fucking lie to me.” And, of course, Howie Mandel said, “Fuck you” to me. How many people can say that? It made me so happy.
So he hates your guts, basically.
I don’t think so. He’s tweeted to me and invited me to the viewing party of the first episode to watch it next to him. I told him how appreciative I was that he let me do that and how much it’s helped my career. He told me his therapist said it was good for him to experience it. But he was elbow bumping everyone that day. He said, “I’m not even doing fists today.”
How long were you onstage when hypnotizing Howie Mandel?
I was onstage for 30 minutes. America saw only seven minutes. I wanted people to know he was not faking, so I hypnotized the crowd afterwards, doing two skits in one performance. A lot of people ask if that was really my first time meeting him or if anything was staged. Believe me, I hadn’t met him, and he had no idea that was going to happen. If you want that $1 million prize, you can’t meet the judges ahead of time.
So you’ve been waiting around for NBC to air the next episode, right? What have you been doing to stay busy?
I’ve been running more to get in shape, and I’ll be doing some racing. I will win the Chicago Marathon and set a world record. And to hold me accountable, I got a tattoo in 14-point font in Times New Roman.
Excuse me?
Yep, I’m going to win the Chicago Marathon. My father was a great runner in high school. When I told him I’m going to run it, he said, “If you win it, then we’ll be impressed.” [Laughs.] He was never satisfied with just the idea of participating in something. He always pushed me.
Damn. It’s real now. Speaking of pushing someone in the right direction, I see you offer help to people to stop smoking or to lose weight?
I do. But so many people have been emailing me since the set with Howie [Mandel] aired, asking me to help them fight depression, fight addiction or to hypnotize their kid because he won’t brush his teeth. I hear it all. But I’m not selling anything. I’m an entertainer.
I hear you. What’s the dating world like for a professional hypnotist? I imagine that’s got to spook certain women.
[Laughs.] Uh, yeah, definitely. Half of Chicago is on OkCupid. The “I’m a professional hypnotist” is the second message I send. I want a woman who is career-oriented. But there are those people that think hypnosis is rape-y or something. It’s not like you’re going to fall asleep and not remember stuff just from hanging out with me. I’ve met a few paranoid girlfriends’ parents in the past. The mothers will enjoy it and ask me to hypnotize them to lose weight. The dads? Yeah, they are always skeptical and then just say, “Stay away from my daughter.” [Laughs.] Like, is this a real conversation, sir?
[Laughs.] So I have to say it. I know you get it a lot, but you look a lot like Drake, man.
Oh, yeah. All the comments online are, “I didn’t know Drake hypnotized people.” [Laughs.] And just so you know, he is three months younger than I am, so technically, he looks like me. But yeah, he has millions of dollars. And I have, you know, student loans.
You and me both.
