Cindy Layne Vincent, a longtime Fullerton resident, stage hypnotist and entertainer who performed professionally as “Cindy Layne: The Ultimate Hypnotist,” died at her Fullerton home on December 2, 2025, four days before what would have been her 89th birthday. According to friends, her devoted friend and caregiver, Mitch Macias, was by her side. Her friends are only now catching up with the loss of a woman they remember for her energy, humor, warmth and seemingly endless ability to entertain. As one friend put it, “the show must go on,” but those who knew Cindy realized they had never properly written her story or memorialized her in print.

Layne performed across the country under the name Cindy Layne, the Ultimate Hypnotist. Her career included theatrical and entertainment appearances in numerous locations, including Fullerton. Her connection to Fullerton is documented in the Los Angeles Times and the Tribune.

On December 27, 1996, the newspaper reported that Layne would perform as part of First Night Fullerton, the city’s alcohol-free New Year’s Eve arts celebration. The event was scheduled for December 31, 1996, at locations throughout downtown Fullerton. The Times identified her as “the ultimate hypnotist.”

Layne returned for First Night Fullerton several years later. In a December 25, 1999, article, the Los Angeles Times reported that the 10th annual First Night Fullerton on December 31, 1999, would include more than 20 entertainment sites and featured “hypnotist Cindy Layne.” The celebration took place throughout downtown Fullerton and culminated with midnight fireworks.

Friends also remember Layne performing at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and as a headline entertainer at the annual Miracles Happen gay AA convention in Laguna Beach. Friends who worked with her at the Laguna Beach convention recall one particularly memorable experience.

One friend served as Layne’s stage assistant. He discovered that he was so easily drawn into hypnotic suggestion that Layne eventually had to pull up a chair and make him one of her subjects instead of keeping him backstage as an assistant. According to the friend, the same thing happened several times when they worked together.

Courtesy of the History Room in the Fullerton Public Library.

Layne reportedly had some initial misgivings about becoming a stage hypnotist. Friends say her husband, Bob Vincent, encouraged her and convinced her that she could succeed.

Bob Vincent was himself a veteran of the entertainment business. Born Vincent John Cernuto on March 7, 1918, in Detroit, Michigan, he became a big-band singer and theatrical agent. He later worked in entertainment management and became associated with Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Reno showrooms. In the 1960s, he became involved in managing the career of a young Wayne Newton. Historical material also documents Vincent presenting entertainment at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, including a 1964 program featuring Jack Benny with special guest Wayne Newton.

Bob Vincent died in Fullerton on June 25, 2005, at age 87. Cindy was also preceded in death by her beloved daughter, Frosta Palmieri. Friends say Frosta struggled with severe substance abuse and that Cindy continued to love and encourage her throughout the struggle. They say the loss took a profound toll on Cindy.

Away from the stage, friends remember another side of Cindy Layne. She was an accomplished cook and a generous host who frequently opened her home to friends and family. Mitch Macias, Katherine Thurman White, Debbie Perrotte, Kevin Curriston, and Michael and Rebecca Nickodem, whom friends describe as Cindy’s adopted family, shared many holiday dinners with her. They also gathered at her home for a wedding reception and other celebrations.

Courtesy of the History Room in the Fullerton Public Library.

For those closest to Cindy, these gatherings were as important as her performances. Food, laughter, friendship and conversation filled the same spaces where she had entertained audiences. Her friends remember her as someone who could make people feel welcome, whether they were sitting around her dinner table or standing beside her on a stage.

Cindy’s hypnosis performances also had a personal quality. She could turn an ordinary audience member into part of the entertainment, often with humor and without taking herself too seriously. That quality is part of what her friends say they will miss most. They describe Cindy as effervescent, energetic, loving and remarkably warm. She entertained audiences professionally, but those who knew her personally say she also entertained the people around her simply by being herself.

In remembering her now, her friends say they were, in a sense, hypnotized by Cindy’s love and warmth for so long that it took them months to “awaken” to the realization that she needed to be memorialized in print. So this is their attempt to do just that. Cindy Layne Vincent spent much of her life onstage, asking audiences to suspend disbelief, participate in the moment and follow her lead.

Now her friends are asking the community to remember her. The show may have ended, but the memories remain.