Derren Brown

Just got back from seeing Derren Brown, it was amazing! It's hard to describe what the show is like but there's a lot of things such as getting a member of the audience to write something down, put it in an envelope and then he manages to correctly guess what it is. There's a lot more showmanship to it than that (he's also very funny so the show is part comedy) and some more elaborate methods, that's a very simple example. They get more elaborate and complicated as the show goes on.

But again, he makes it clear he doesn't claim to be a psychic or mind reader, he admits it's all tricks of the trade. He also admits that he relies heavily on subliminal messages and cold reading. I never put much weight in subliminal messages before but I certainly do now. Although having said that, neither Steve or I picked the things we were "supposed" to pick so it's a good thing we didn't catch any of frisbees (to help prove the members of the audience who participate are not plants, he randomly throws frisbees out to the crowd - naturally, he can't control who exactly catches them unless he's also an expert frisbee throwing, lol). I'm pleased I'm not quite as suggestible as some people but seeing how well it works on others really was amazing.

One of his shows was aired on TV a while ago and I remember at the end, he revealed some of his methods. With some of them, there were images of subliminal messages placed purposely in the theater or just outside and with others, the messages were sent during the show as he spoke. He would slip odd words into his sentences here and there and you wouldn't even notice it until they pointed it out afterwards. It would sound so obvious when they played it back but you honestly didn't notice it at the time.

I wish I could show you an example video but since they've cracked down on youtube, there's not much available. I also wish I could better explain, in detail, what some of the tricks were but the most impressive ones are complicated to explain and the wow-factor probably wouldn't come across as strongly as actually seeing it. All I can say is if Derren Brown ever comes to town, GO SEE HIM! It's hugely entertaining.