Watch: Hypnotist Breaks Judge Howie Mandel’s OCD on ‘America’s Got Talent’
NEW YORK, May 27 (UPI) — Howie Mandel doesn’t shake hands, at least he thought so before professional hypnotist Chris Jones got ahold of him.
The America’s Got Talent judge, a known germaphobe with obsessive compulsive disorder, was hypnotized by 28-year-old Jones to believe shaking hands was OK. The contestant — who closely resembled Drake — then performed a special procedure, (that couldn’t be shown on television lest the entire remote audience became affected), that made Mendel noticeably powerless against Jones.
After a slow climb to the climax of the act — which judge Howard Stern noted with a buzz — Jones told Mandel he was wearing gloves and invited Mandel to shake his hand. When it happened, the audience roared with disbelief. Jones went further and convinced Mandel that all his fellow judges were wearing hair-thin gloves safe to touch, and he shook hands with them, too.
When he learned of the trick, Mandel said, “Are you serious? Are you [expletive] kidding me?” His fellow judges were blown away — but he himself felt “taken advantage of” at the time.