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Imagine witnessing a mysterious figure hypnotize people in a local store, causing them to sleep, fish, or bike for hours. Or watching a car with painted black windows driving down the street by supposedly using telepathy. These are just a few of the things the infamous Dr. Zomb did to gather a crowd. This hypnotist was outrageously unconventional in all the best ways. 

Dr. Zomb, a.k.a. Ormond McGill was a famous stage hypnotist starting in the 1930s and ending his career in the early 2000s. He had many great shows and his book, The Amazing Life of Ormond McGill highlights many of his endeavors. It’s a rare glimpse into the backstage workings of his showings. Honestly, it’s fascinating. 

Looking more into one of his acts, the Blindfold Drive, shows how bizarre his tricks really were. The act consists of his assistant being placed in a car with the windows painted black making visibility impossible, then blindfolding him, placing a bucket over his head, locking the doors, and sealing all keyholes. But just in case that wasn’t enough they handcuffed one of his hands to the steering wheel. With all this making driving impossible, Dr. Zomb, who is outside the car, proceeds to control his assistant using “telepathy”. Much to the audience’s surprise he drives the car just fine. 

To spoil the magic though… The book tells how his assistant had a solution in his pocket. He would remove a fingernail sized spot in the window to the far left of the windshield and he would drive using it after removing the bucket and blindfold with his free hand. Then after the drive he would paint the spec over again with paint he had in his pocket. So it appeared that even after the crowd inspected the car, there was no possible way of seeing while driving. 

This elaborate, yet well thought out act, helped gain him a lot of publicity. If I saw this going on, I know I would purchase a ticket to see what else he had up his sleeve. These publicity stunts gained him large crowds to go see his midnight shows. Dr. Zomb even came to downtown Mt. Vernon to perform at Lincoln Theater. Same with his car stunt. I wonder what roads he and his assistant drove, where they ventured around while being here. If only I could time travel. 

Dr. Zomb made a point to remain very mysterious on stage and not make much contact directly with the audience. He would take back exits and have police to help with crowd control while also giving a very serious and mystical flair. The more attention gained from the townspeople the better. To say the least, Dr. Zomb’s show packed local theaters like the Lincoln. 

To get more people to attend his shows or to find subjects to hypnotize, he would publish advertisements in the newspapers notably calling the townsfolk “sissies”. He was not afraid to call people out in published text and deliberately did odd things to grab the attention of others. 

He had a very dramatic flair and knew how to work a crowd. I would buy tickets in a heartbeat if I could watch one of his shows today. He was mysterious, outlandish, and all the while professional. I’m a fan and I’ve only ever read one of his books.