This evening Harriet and I went to meet Leftwing Idiot, Fat Sister, King Russell and their friend Gareth in a bar near the Castle.

I’ve met Gareth loads of times, but it seems that one of my tics from our last encounter has had a big impact on him.

It came up when we were talking about how I write my tics in a book for sharing on my tic page.

Gareth immediately said, “So did you write down the one about Aladdin?” Fat Sister laughed and explained that I only write down the more unusual and interesting
ones. “What about Aladdin?” is an established regular.

Gareth looked slightly deflated by this explaining that when we’d last met I’d ticced a lot about Aladdin. He was so intrigued he’d studied extensively in case my tics asked him anything Aladdin-related again. It turns out his specialist knowledge is epic!

Inspired by Gareth’s research, here’s a quick Aladdin-based quiz:

In which region of the world is the story of Aladdin thought to originate?
In which year is the first written account of the story believed to have been made?
In which country is this story set in this first written version?

Gareth would’ve got full marks because he got all the answers right, and he told us much, much more besides. His commitment to my tics is very impressive.

If you fancy a tic-inspired research challenge, there are 587 questions waiting to be answered here. Please post your findings in the comments section below.