Derren Brown - Live

Mind-blowing illusion and showmanship in a goatee. Not suitable for under 12s.
New Theatre, Fri June 8th 2007
It simply isn't possible that Derren uses stooges: the amount of money he could pay them wouldn't be as much as the papers would pay to sell him out. Also, I recently went to see his enigma 2010 tour (which was utterly amazing) and he used frisbees to pick his volunteers as he has done with all his shows and I can confidently say Derren had no control over who caught them.

I personally am a huge fan of Derren's and look forward to seeing him live again.

Can I also say to anyone (not necessarily on this site) who says Derren is a 'dark' person and so on that this is completely not true. After every show he does he takes time to talk sign things and have photos with his fans, and it's not just like he signs your book then moves on, he actually talks to you normally as if he knows you personally and is nice and genuine. Seeing people call him things he's not, on the internet, really upsets me when they have no idea what they're on about.

He does have a neck/head twitch which I, for one, find really cute.
Frenchy talks of the occult and stooges. In truth it is neither. Just skilful misdirection. The greatest misdirection is that Brown is a 'psychological' illusionist. He is not. He is a showman who through careful planning, sleight of hand and an excellent memory, tricks the audience into thinking there is something more.

An example: we thought he manipulated someone to saying numbers that matched a £10 note's serial numbers.

Wrong. He changed the serial numbers (i.e.a colleague did, behind the screen with a printer) to match the numbers given by the member of the audience.

Not so impressive.

If you want to know how it's all done then Google: Derren Brown - Mind Reader: The Evening of Wonders.

Otherwise, just go and see his show and be in awe.

And yes, he does seem to have dystonic movements.
I'm not sure what "Frenchy" is on about in her review. Seemingly going to watch Derren Brown as one of many sceptics .... but why not just take the show for what it was?! A wonderful blend of humour on Derren Brown's part, as well as some fantastic audience interaction and some mind-blowing tricks/illusions. I'm not sure what "Frenchy" expected when she turned up on Friday, but I'm pretty sure she had the wrong show in mind! I know full well that I got everything (and more) that I expected from the show. I wasn't under the impression that I was going to see a magician saw people in half and magically make them re-appear whole! Anyone who watches Derren Brown and enjoys his Channel 4 shows, will entirely appreciate a great spectacle that he put on for us in Oxford! Thanks Derren for an immense show! £20 well spent I must say!
As an aside, I am sorry to see that Darren Brown seems to have an affliction. A spasmodic twitch of the neck/head. I suspect something like spasmodic torticollis.

Once I noticed this I was slightly distracted – but not distracted enough to see the gorilla that ate them banana – at least the first time.

Want to know what on earth I am talking about? – Then go and see the show but….

…many of the illusions/tricks etc are not visual. Just how much mileage is there in a blindfolded man telling someone their star sign, whether they had surgery, what is in their pocket or whether they wrote ‘cock’ on a piece of paper?

For the audience – not much.

If we assume that Darren Brown is not the Anti-Christ then he has to have stooges. There is simply no other way, no amount of skill, no amount of guesswork that would enable him to tell someone their star sign simply from them saying one word ‘Yes’.

When the ‘trick’ or ‘illusion’ carries on for 15 minutes then it ceases to be entertaining.

So what was there that was visual and interesting?

Sadly, if you area fan of Darren, not much. The show included table topping – but then this has been done on TV and is on YouTube.

Perhaps the key is in the finale. At the end of the show Darren revealed that a lot of what happened during the show had been ‘predicted’ – which brings us back to stooges.

Would someone with stooges ever admit it?

Of course not.

If an illusion cannot be put down to extreme skill and preparation you are left with occult behaviour or stooges.

Either one means the show was not as entertaining as it could have been
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