by Shreeya Chalikonda ’ 21
On Friday, Jan. 25, hypnotist and mentalist Ronny Romm visited KO and brought a new form of entertainment to the Upper School students.
Ronny Romm is a renowned hypnotism specialist and ESP entertainer who has had over 5,000 cruise appearances, over 1,500 college appearances, and many high school appearances.
Specifically, he has visited many prep schools all around New England including Berkshire School, Taft School, Salisbury School, Canterbury School and many more.
Ronny Romm has also come to KO to do a show in the past. “He came to campus a few years ago,” Student Government Adviser Mela Frye said, “and apparently was a massive success. The students really liked him.”
He has many videos up on his website (ronnyromm.com) that show his skill.
“He’ll do these things where he hypnotizes kids and gets them to bark like a dog or dance,” Mrs. Frye said. “It’s not mean-spirited; it’s all in good fun. He’s not getting you to reveal your deepest darkest secrets.”
Science teacher Fritz Goodman recalled the last time a hypnotist was on campus. “He put a $100 bill on the stage and he picked this big huge football player from the audience,” he said. “And he said the $100 bill weighed 1,000 pounds, and this guy couldn’t lift it up. It was so funny to watch this big huge football player not be able to pick up a tiny piece of paper.”
This was a different type of social event for the KO students. “I was really enthusiastic about this idea,” Form Four Vice President Sloan Duvall said. “One of our initiatives for this year was to create fun weekend social events for the KO community that weren’t just dances.”
Senior Speaker Andrew Holland said he was looking forward to Ronny Romm’s arrival.
“This is something that you won’t get to see very often and could potentially be amazing,” he said.
Mr. Goodman agreed that the show was quite memorable. “In my 33 years of teaching, the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on campus was what the hypnotist did to people,” he said.
The show proved to be a success. About 20 students volunteered to be hypnotized and follow Ronny Romm’s commands. Sophomore Catherine Daniels was one of them. “I only remember dancing a little bit,” she said. “It was very scary.”
Many people in the audience also enjoyed the night. “I did not expect anything like that,” sophomore Brooke Seaver said, “and I want to go to another one.”
Sophomore Eden Nenshati agreed that the event was one of a kind. “I thought it was amazing and very funny,” he said.
Senior Ben Small said he found the event enjoyable. “It was very entertaining to watch people make fools of themselves,” he said. “I’m still wondering how much of hypontees’ actions were because of Ronny or because they were faking it. Regardless, it was very funny, and I am glad I had the opportunity to watch him perform.”
Like all SGA events this year, donations were taken for Grace Academy and Covenant Prep which are two tuition-free middle schools for underprivileged kids in Hartford.
