Radio: Brrr

In London last week six BBC staffers sat in a small, dark room and intently watched a television screen. From the screen stared the serious face of a young man; he was talking quietly. Suddenly one man in the audience dropped his head on his chest, fast asleep. Soon three others were asleep.

They had been hypnotized—by television.

Two of the subjects went so deep asleep that Hypnotist Peter Casson, in the flesh, had to wake them up. As a result of this private test, BBC decided to ban hypnotists from telecasting, pending further experiment. (One wag promptly suggested that there was no danger of British listeners being hypnotized to sleep; the somnolent BBC needed hypnotists to keep them awake.) “My goodness,” said one BBC official, “think what would happen if everybody had a television set—as everybody will shortly—and a Hitler sort of fellow started working on them all.”

“Brrr,” he concluded, and quickly drank a glass of water.