The Phenomenon

This week I interviewed a real phenomenon. Something it will be hard to describe in a newspaper: Ehud Segev…

(Translated from Hebrew, Israel – 1998)

INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK
By Doron Shnaper

Segev, a 19 year-old guy from Rosh-Pinna, possesses a special power that no one else has.

“I've always engaged with mysticism. At the age of 12, during a festival in my hometown, I stopped in a booth that sold hookahs (tobacco pipe of Eastern origin*), incense and all kinds of mystic things. I can clearly remember a pack of cards with all kinds of weird drawings that really attracted me. I asked my parents to buy the cards but they cost a fortune. After I begged them, they agreed to buy the cards instead of buying a new suit for me to wear in my brother's Bar Mitzvah. This is how I connected to the Tarot cards in the first place, and then I started performing ‘readings' to people. I was dealing with Astrology, Numerology, Coffee Grains reading and others. Slowly, I developed my intuition and all of a sudden I could know things about people I've never met in my life! I started using Kabala and discovered I can predict things using Psalms. In this manner, for an instance, I predicted the Gulf War and even Clinton ‘s sex scandal.”

You knew about the Gulf War before it started?

“For sure! There was a lot of stress in the Persian Gulf and I opened the book of Psalms. I was amazed to read all kinds of things that mixed in my head and in a fascinating way made sense. I ran to my parents and told them about everything I read and how it made perfect sense that a war is about to start but they just made fun of me. A few months later the war started and my parents were shocked. They started asking me for advice and asked me to do ‘readings' for them and their friends in the cards and in Psalms. They wanted me to answer different questions about different subjects. My grandfather, who heard about all the special things I did, made up his mind to send me to The Israeli Magic School so I can expand my gift and make a career out of it. This is how I started performing as a professional magician at the age of 13. My show combines magic, telepathy and a lot of entertainment.”

How did it interact with your school?

“It didn't. I mean, I used to shock everybody. I knew the topics for the tests before the teacher said one word! If you'll ask other people who went to school with me they will think for a second and then say – Ah! The Magician! No one called me Ehud, everybody called me The Magician in school. After graduating the Yeshiva I signed up for The Israeli School for Acting and Entertainment.”

When was the biggest transformation in your mysticism life?

“I was always attracted to mysterious subjects, such as life after death and reincarnation. By the way, I don't believe in it anymore, but back then I used to perform séances with my friends. We developed a special connection with an entity that was calling itself “G” – G told us that she is my guiding spirit in the material world or the way people like to call it – a guardian angel. We used to gather many times and communicate with this ‘being' using a glass and a séance board. I remember a really spooky experience I had back then; when I went to sleep I used to feel a sensation like someone is caressing me softly – but when I looked to see who it was I discovered no one was there. First time it happened I closed the window, but when I realized that this caressing continues even though no wind comes in from the window I started sleeping with a fan directly at me so I won't feel this scary touch. G told us in one of our séances that she is the one who stays with me every night to guard me. This story got a lot of publicity and I was interviewed in the radio and in talk shows on national TV. In one of the séances, I asked G to give me a sign for her existence and to perform a miracle. The glass moved from one letter to the other, forming the sentence: concentrate on the spoon. There was only one spoon in the room, inside a tea cup. As I was concentrating on the spoon it suddenly began moving inside the cup in front of our astonished eyes. I pulled out the spoon and it started twisting in my hands. Until today, I keep this spoon with me as a souvenir. I think this was the biggest transformation I experienced because since this day I started bending any piece of metal I saw everywhere!”

At this point I ask that Ehud will show me his special abilities. He asks for my wrist watch and as he holds it in the strap and concentrates, he made the hands inside the watch spin like crazy and as he pointed at them with his second hand they froze. Then he took my pen, placed it on the table and after he was gazing it for a few minutes the pen – for my astonishment – started moving around the table.

How can you explain it?

“Good question. And the answer – I just can't explain it. It's not like a magic trick where I take a piece of paper, tear it apart and then restores it. This specific talent doesn't demand that you'll have sleight of hands or to practice in front of the mirror, it just happens and you have to accept it. No hidden threads, no double cells – it is something weird and with no explanations. It's something that can grow in everyone in the right conditions. I wish I knew what those conditions are.”

What do you do in your show?

“Today I perform as a magician. The first priority in my show is to make people happy. I want people to leave my show charmed – and this is my specialty. I combine magic with Mysticism; this by itself creates a unique and fascinating show for the entire family. I performed all over the place, everywhere. I left my parents home and moved and now I'm back here in the Galilee .”

Can you tell me more about your show?

“In my show I use color handkerchiefs, balls, coins, rings, cards, ropes and everything I can do magic with! The concept of my show concentrates mostly on “Close Up” magic, and not Stage Magic. The audience becomes a part of the show and I become a part of the audience! The show is perfect every event that needs a magical and fascinating attraction.”

Totally shocked from the phenomenon I just met I finish the interview, say goodbye to Ehud, goes to the parking and drives back to my house – but when I get home and try to open the locked door – I discover that my house key has miraculously bent which leaves me stuck outside. Suddenly my cell phone rings. “I'm sorry, but I couldn't control myself. Open the electricity closet and you'll find an extra key.” said Segev and
hung up.