Gilan Gork: Mentalist extraordinaire Video

South African born Mentalist Gilan Gork’s art of bending metal with his mind and predicting thoughts is unique and mysterious.

“I am not psychic nor was I born with a gift,” said Gork.  

“I deliberately set out to learn these skills and have been mentored and trained by mentalists from around the world.”

It was during his adolescence that Gork decided to follow this career path. 

He spent a lot of time with his mentors watching how they performed their mental feats and their interaction with people.  More recently with advanced technology, he has Skype sessions with his peers.

“I absorbed their ideas and have fine tuned them into my own talent."

One of the things that Gork never imagined possible was to bend metal with his mind.  “When it really happened it was amazing.”

Enjoying his home audience tremendously, Gork has had the opportunity to take his show on the road to the USA, Israel, Namibia and has just recently returned from Tanzania.

In preparation Gork enjoys a quiet moment before each performance to ready himself. 

“I feed off the audience. So the minute I step onstage I really have no idea what I am in for. 

“Every show is different and it is completely interactive.  Everyone’s thoughts are different so the show each time is unique.

“I have to be focused and know what I want to achieve and how I want to connect with the audience.  There is not really a lot I can do to prepare.”

“My goal when I get on the stage is not only to entertain but to show that we are all capable of doing so much more if we put our minds to it, and believe in ourselves. We can accomplish anything that we set our minds to.

“I want people to feel empowered and inspired when they leave my show.”

Having the ability to read thoughts, we asked him about an occasion where he read minds off the clock.  “I once sat in a social situation and watched some guys trying to pick up girls.

“It is the thoughts that girls are thinking that really makes me a laugh.  Especially when the guy thinks that the ladies are really interested in what they have to say, and the girls are thinking did I feed my puppy or did I leave the iron on?

“It is fun to watch whether they are actually engaging or not,” said Gork

Had Gork not selected this career path he told us that he would probably have started his own business in the online sphere.  “I am passionate about family and educating children from a young age. I would probably have developed educational toys that would be available online because that is what got me interested in mentalism.”

“My life has benefited in so many ways by being a mentalist. Just learning how to connect with people and read them.  I am not always switched on and I don’t have psychic powers – this is a learned skill and anyone can learn it and that is also what makes it so exciting.”

Gork’s show ‘Beyond the Mind’ can be seen at the Nelson Mandela Theatre on the Square, Sandton from 7 – 11th February 2012.