Verbal Amnesia by Mike Kempner

From the creator of Mathematical Amensia comes its creative counterpart, Verbal Amensia. How would you like to cause any spectator lose the ability to speak? I have studied hypnosis for quite some time, and this is the easiest application of a secret principle that I consistently use with 100% success, and you will be able to do so also immediately after reading this manuscript.

You give a piece of paper to the spectator (not a stooge) on whom you will perform Verbal Amensia with some very simple instructions on it. You have another spectator (again, not a stooge) confirm that what is written on that piece of paper is legitimate and is not some silly gag that simply tells the spectator to remain quiet. After it is confirmed that the instructions are legit, the spectator is asked to think of ANY words, per the instructions. The audience will burst into laughter upon the realization that the spectator is not able to say any words. He literally will stop talking and will become very frustrated and frozen in trying to say any words. He just won’t be able to do it. You then thaw him from his frozen mental state by using certain “hypnotic trigger words” that will cause his mouth to release over 100 words in less than a minute. It is something that must be seen to be believed, and at the end of the experiment, the spectator will honestly feel, “why the heck could I not think of any of those words before the performer put me into verbal amnesia?”