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Gilan Gork
| Date: |
02 September 2012 07:00 |
| Producer: |
Carol Albertyn Christie
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| Presenter: |
Derek Watts
Bongani Bingwa
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| Show: | Carte Blanche |
Derek Watts (Carte Blanche presenter): "'It is sunrise at Zwartkops race track. I'm here with Gilan Gork who says he can read my mind like a paperback novel. I don't know what's going to happen now - all I know is that I'm going to be taken for a ride... literally.'
Sports cars, speed and an element of surprise...
Gilan Gork: "(to Derek) Can you see through it?"
Derek: "(wearing blindfold) Not at all.'
Mentalist Gilan Gork insists that Derek be kept in the dark.
Gilan: 'Enjoy the ride, Derek'
It's the first time Gilan has been on a race track, but nonetheless he's going to attempt to drive around Zwartkops, west of Pretoria, completely blindfolded... wearing the mask Derek has on now.
Gilan: 'So Derek, how do you feel driven around, seeing absolutely nothing with that bag and that mask over your head?"
Derek: "Totally disorientated... bloody nervous."
Gilan: "And you have no clue what we're about to do right now?"
Derek: "Absolutely not.'
Bongani Bingwa (Carte Blanche presenter): "Gilan Gork appears to be able to do the impossible... anything from bending metal objects to powering light bulbs, all with the sheer power of thought. Is it magic or just a really good trick?"
Gilan: 'A mentalist is someone who does stuff with the mind. So, for example, thought reading... reading what people are thinking."
Bongani: "So you're already formulating my next question?"
Gilan: "I'm formulating something in your mind. We can try an experiment now if you want."
Bongani: "Go for it."
Gilan: "Okay. I want you to think of a name and focus on it in your mind."
Bongani: "Right."
Gilan: "Imagine shouting out that person's name... three syllables. Are you saying Jonathan?"
Bongani: (laughs)
Gilan: "Is it 'Jonathan'?"
Bongani: "I mean... that's insane!'
Bongani: 'It is estimated that the average person thinks something like 70 000 thoughts a day. So how is it that Gilan Gork is able to focus on just one?'
Gilan: "I don't hear people's voices in my head. And if I'm going to try to read a thought of yours, there are a lot of things I'm going to be looking out for. And I'll often try to get someone getting to a moment where they concentrate on a specific thought, and that's when I can get in there and understand what that is.'
Bongani: "Growing up, boys want to be... I don't know, a policeman, fireman... mentalist? How did this begin for you?"
Gilan: "I would try experiments with my friends. This was even before I knew what a mentalist was. But I'll give you an example of an experiment that we'd try. You know... anything that would have words or pictures or anything like that. Go ahead, and tear this page. It has got quite a few nice words on it. I want you to tear that in half."
So Gilan got me to tear a page from a Time magazine into little pieces. From the small piece remaining, I was to choose a word and he would read my mind again.
Gilan: "Choose a word. I've got an image in my mind, because you're thinking in pictures."
Bongani: "Ja."
Gilan: "And it is a fairly longish word. Just so that I know if I'm on the right track, what's the first letter of the word?"
Bongani: "It is a K."
Gilan: "Oh, that's not... what I was thinking of was something round, like a bag, like a pouch. There's a face - this is something that is living. It is not an object, this is an animal."
Bongani: "Yes."
Gilan: "Standing, sitting on two feet. Is the word you're thinking of 'kangaroo'?"
Bongani: "Oh, get out of here!"
Gilan: "Kangaroo."
Bongani: "How did you know that?'
Just in case he had me hoodwinked, I took Gilan to the streets to see if he could weave his spell on random strangers. Gilan asked the participants to choose a colour on a dice and he would guess it while looking the other way.
Gilan: "Bright colour... I'm definitely sensing that you're starting at something that is sort of a cool colour. Are you looking at blue?"
Man 1: "Ja."
Gilan: "You are looking at blue. Okay, excellent."
Gilan: "It's quite a passionate colour. I can sense that it creates a bit of passion. Are you looking at red?"
Woman 1: "Yes."
Gilan: "It is red? Excellent."
Gilan: "It is either black or white... I'm going to go with white. Is it white?"
Woman 2: "Yes."
Gilan: "It is white. Excellent."
Gilan: "A lot of people say to me, 'Gilan, when did you realise that you had this gift?'. And I think the thing is, just as a kid will play the piano really well and have a talent for that - you find that there are these prodigies. I have a talent for what I do, but it is a learnt skill.'
Bongani: "'How different is what you do from people who claim psychic abilities?"
Gilan: "For me it is important for people to know that I don't have psychic powers; I don't want to mislead anyone. My intention when I do a show is not to fool people or to just try and amaze them. It is really to try and explain to them and just have them experience that we can all do so much more with our minds."
Bongani: "Could I learn to do this?"
Gilan: "Yes, I believe you could.'
In his next experiment, Gilan tried to demonstrate our inter-connectivity.
Gilan: "I want you both (Bongani and Woman 3) just to stare at each other. Imagine that you are starting to synchronise... what we call 'mirroring'. Bongani, I want you to close your eyes. In a few moments you are going to feel some light touches, and with the index finger of your right hand, will you please point to where you felt the touches."
Bongani: "Over here (touches bridge of nose)."
Gilan: "And keep your eyes closed. Take your right hand and indicate where you felt the touches.'
Bongani: (touches chin)
It felt as though he was touching my face, when he was in fact touching the volunteer.
Gilan: "(to Woman 3): 'Where did I touch you the first time?"
Woman 3: "On my chin... on my nose."
Gilan: "And the second time?"
Woman 3: "On my chin.'
Gilan: "(to Bongani) And where did you feel touches the first time?"
Bongani: "Oh my goodness - were you touching her?"
Gilan: "I was touching her. And you felt it on your nose and on your chin. I must tell you guys that that effect lasts for a wee so wherever you touch yourself... I'm just saying (laughs)."
Meanwhile, back on the track...
After Derek's blindfolded ride, it was Gilan's turn to go solo.
Gilan: '(blindfolded) 'So, will you help me into the driver's seat please?"
Derek: "Absolutely... to the driver's seat? Are you serious?"
Gilan: "I'm deadly serious.'
Gilan: 'We are going to attempt in some way remote viewing."
Derek: "Well, this should be very interesting."
Gilan: "And that is being able to see through other people's eyes."
Derek: "Have you done this before?"
Gilan: "I've never done this in my life."
Gilan: "In the 1970s, the US military conducted Top Secret research for the government for Project Stargate. So they have a person in a certain location and they'd have no physical vision of the location. And they'd have another person in a completely separate location and they'd be able to describe what the first person was seeing, as if they were seeing it through their eyes."
Gilan: "What I need you to do is to really focus on the road, focus on every bend, on every curve..."
Derek: "And just think about it?"
Gilan: "And just think about it. Keep your eyes sharp."
Derek: "But not say, 'left,' 'right'?"
Gilan: "Don't! You don't have to say, 'left,' 'right, 'slow down,' anything. Just keep your eyes sharp."
Derek: "Okay..."
Gilan: "Are you ready?"
Derek: "Are you feeling alright to do this?"
Gilan: "I hope so... alright, let's go."
Derek does not look, shall we say, his usual, comfortable self.
Derek: "So I must just look ahead?"
Gilan: "Look ahead. Just keep focusing on the road."
Derek: "Focus... and must I think where I would turn?"
Gilan: "Think where you would turn."
Derek: "Okay..."
Gilan: "Keep focusing on the road. Keep focusing on the road."
Derek: "I'm focusing."
Gilan: "Okay, I'm definitely sensing left..."
We placed some cones on the track as obstacles.
Gilan: "Do you sense anything? I need you to stare at them."
Derek: "Okay... I stared at that one."
Gilan: "Was there something?"
Derek: "There was a cone there... You're doing well."
Gilan: "Thank you."
Remarkably, Gilan managed to avoid all seven obstacles in his way.
Derek: 'Now if I stop focusing will you just..."
Gilan: "Then we may crash into something."
Derek: "There's a meerkat. Seriously."
Derek: "You sure you haven't cut a little hole in here [mask]?'
Things almost went awry because of Derek's loss of concentration.
Gilan: "I feel like I'm about to... Sorry, I just got disorientated there for a moment. Did you lose concentration?"
Derek: "Funnily enough I did, and I have to admit that."
Derek: "Unveiling Gilan Gork."
Gilan: "(takes mask off) Wow, that light is bright."
Derek: 'Now Gilan that was incredible. But were you really using my concentration, my focus?"
Gilan: "Well, we were busy driving together, so I'm feeding off you; I'm feeding off what you're focusing on and that's how I get a sense of where things are."
Miraculously, Gilan managed to complete the course without seeing a thing.
Derek: "Now we've survived. What more can we ask for?"
Gilan: "Yes, here we are."
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:While every attempt has been made to ensure this transcript or summary is accurate, Carte Blanche or its agents cannot be held liable for any claims arising out of inaccuracies caused by human error or electronic fault. This transcript was typed from a transcription recording unit and not from an original script, so due to the possibility of mishearing and the difficulty, in some cases, of identifying individual speakers, errors cannot be ruled out.
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