Alături de prietenul Andrei, am asistat ieri seară la un spectacol de mentalism. Mentalizantul a fost Cristian Gog, iar eu am jucat rolul de fundamentalist sceptic mentalizat.
Celor care citesc mai mult decât gândesc și vorbesc mai mult decât ascultă, numele de gog nu le va spune absolut nimic.
Cei care au jucat Heroes of Might and Magic III (adică eu) și s-au rătăcit prin castelul Inferno (tot eu), gogii și magogii (după upgrade ;)) erau niște trupe de level 2 extrem de enervante care trăgeau cu bile de foc, provocând durere nu doar adversarilor, ci și trupelor tale. Oricum, după ce treceam la cerberii și archdevilșii cu no enemy retaliation, sau la efreții cu fireshield care făceau orice master genie să intre înapoi în lampă, ma(gogii) deveneau doar o amintire. 😛
Pentru inițiații cabaliști (still me :D), etimologia cuvântului Gog se referă la o legătură oarecum malefică între omul locului și locul omului … până la sfârșitul timpului.
”This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.” – Chapter 10 of the Book of Genesis
”Son of man, direct your face towards Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince, leader of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy concerning him. Say: Thus said the Lord: Behold, I am against you, Gog, the prince, leader of Meshech and Tubal.” – Chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel.
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Nu voi divulga trucurile sau numerele folosite de Gog, dar vă spun că e un spectacol la care chiar merită să mergi.
And if you go, keep your mind sharp and open, listen completely when the Gog or somebody else is talking and never, but never, think what you are going to say. 😉
Just observe and when you come out from that ballroom be sure that you know everything that you just saw … and not only that.
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Almost every mental (mathematical or magic) trick has three parts:
In the first part you’re building ”The Trust”:
The Gog shows you something ordinary: a -fireball-, perhaps a little box, maybe a deck of (big) cards, a mirror, a rope, even a gun. Then, every single time, he asks you to inspect this -fireball-, in order to see if it’s round, hot, real, solid, normal, touchable, yada yada yada. But then again, regardless of your observation, it surely isn’t.
The second part will be ”The Twist”:
The Gog takes the -fireball-, the ”ordinary” one, and makes it look like doing something (extra)ordinary, unreal, inexplicable, mysterious and perplexing. Now, you start looking and searching (mentally) for the secret. Of course, unless you’re David Copperfield, you won’t find it, not because you’re not really looking or searching, but because you don’t know where and how to do it. Your mind isn’t ready to think for (and of) yourself, but for (and of) someone else: The Gog. Why ? Because you love to be fooled, not just from time to time, but all the time.
To make extraordinary even ”extraordinary-er”, doing something magic isn’t enough. You have to go back in time … to restore the parity and the inexorable justice of universe. Disappearing may be cool, but finding and bringing it back is the real deal, where the Gog, from the land of Magog can touch the past and the future in the same time.
And exactly this is why every mental magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part a real Gog likes to call it ”The Test of Time”.
Applauses, please. 😀