The first thing I found incredulous about that story was how she could convince people she was so much younger. Lately I got back into reading Travis McGee stories by John McDonald and a constant theme in that is the very fine differences that the author describes even between a 27 year old and a 33 year old.

On the other hand somebody with a very well developed ‘false self’ can paint on signfiers like that cat ear headband and cast a spell on someone and when it comes to a mass delusion the more people you deceive the better it works… that is how a stage hypnotist can accomplish things with a group in front of a larger group they might not be able to do in private.

A stage hypnotist is working at a greater distance from their audience, and increased distance makes many things easier to hide.

When you get closer, many things get harder to hide.

I think the same is true for the size of the audience at any given distance.