Families of Iowa State students can gather on campus for Family Weekend, and a wide range of activities will be open to them, including a return performance by hypnotist Steve Meade, an ISU alumnus.

The 1990 graduate will be putting on a 90-minute performance tonight at 8 in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

“The audience should expect to come and laugh their butts off — it’s a hilarious performance,” Meade said.

The hypnotist did his act at Family Weekend last year and is looking forward to being back.

Meade calls his show “The Virtual Reality Tour” because he believes that hypnosis involves a great deal of creativity within the subconscious, much like a video game.

When under hypnosis, the average person uses 85 to 95 percent of the brain, as opposed to the 5 to 10 percent used in everyday life, Meade said.

All of the volunteers will be hypnotized for 60 minutes, which is equal to eight hours of normal sleep, he said.

“They will have tons of energy when they wake up,” Meade said.

During the performance, the volunteers will be asked if they would like to improve or change anything about themselves. Some efforts include boosting grades, quitting smoking, losing weight or reducing stress.

When they are awakened, Meade said he believes they should be either improved or on the right track.

“If there is anything the particular person under hypnosis would like to work on, I’ll do it,” he said.

When Meade was a senior at ISU, he listened to a hypnotism tape to help him be a straight-A student.

“I got two A’s and one B, so it definitely helped,” he said.

Amy Gomez, junior in marketing, works for the Student Alumni Association and was in charge of bringing Meade back to ISU for an encore performance.

“Hypnotists have been used in the past as entertainment, and it seemed like the best choice,” she said. “It’s fun for families to see.”