As Sir Mix-A-Lot's infamous "Baby Got Back" resounded in Irvine Auditorium, four students got down and dirty onstage in front of hundreds of their classmates.
No, they weren't acting out a bad dream -- the students were a part of a group of 20 subjects hypnotized by Tom DeLuca on Friday night.
DeLuca's show has become an annual campus tradition.
It is sponsored by the Sophomore Class Board during the "No Place Like Penn" weekend. DeLuca, who has been featured in the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, has performed at Penn every year since 1997.
"I came last year and really enjoyed it," College junior Danielle Wade said.
DeLuca began the show by asking the audience, "How many people here believe in mind-reading, extra-sensory perception? I'll now delve into the psyche. Hold on to your seats!"
When he asked for volunteers, hundreds of audience members tried to grab his attention. One particularly eager volunteer ripped off his shirt. Another stood on his friend's shoulders.
After pulling 20 volunteers onstage, DeLuca talked to them until they appeared to fall asleep. Once they were hypnotized, he told them they would wake up from "a safe, warm, blue place." Then the hilarity began.
DeLuca told the subjects that they were driving brand-new Ferraris. They mimed putting on their seat belts, making turns and slamming the brakes. Suddenly, they were in a field of cows and each had to milk one.
Later, DeLuca told his subjects that they were in a beauty contest. They began posing and flexing as "I'm Too Sexy for My Shirt" played. He then asked them why they should win the contest.
"Because I have a perfectly chiseled body," one said .
"Because I'm Ahnold," said another.
Throughout the evening, DeLuca made his subjects think they were from other planets, lose their butts, believe their shoes were on the wrong feet and forget the number six.
One subject was made to believe that "fruit have feelings, too."
Later, when confronted about secretly eating an apple, the subject defended himself by saying, "I love this apple and it loves me. We have an understanding."
As their classmates continued with the show, the audience roared with laughter.
"It was absolutely hilarious," Sophomore Class Board Secretary Beth Newton said. "I think everyone here really enjoyed it."
"It was awesome," Engineering freshman Kyle Andrews said after the show. "It was great because my friend was in it. I tried to remember everything he did so that I could make fun of him for it."
Even the subjects enjoyed themselves.
"I had a great time," participant and Sophomore Class Board Treasurer Ali Lapinsky said. "When I first woke up, I remembered only the Ferrari and that it felt really good driving it. I feel really energized now. ... I've always wondered if it works, and it definitely does."
The show sold an estimated 1,000 tickets at $6 apiece. If the Sophomore Board makes a profit from the show, proceeds will be donated to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
