Derren
Brown is a master of mind tricks, made famous by his Channel 4 ‘Mind
Control’ series.
(If you’ve never heard of him, where have you been? Click
here for more.)
His
first UK tour brought Derren to Colne for a sell-out performance
on a drizzly Saturday night. The audience buzzed with anticipation
as the house lights went down.
Mischievous
The
show begins with an ice-breaker "to get over the embarrassment
factor". Derren hides behind a curtain and throws a ball of
paper out. Perhaps a more formal start with more ‘wow-factor’
would have made some of the more unruly audience members behave?
Derren
describes the first half of the show as "entertaining, to make
you laugh". (Tip: As with many comic shows, don’t make
the mistake of booking a front-row seat.) Effortlessly funny and
somewhat mischievous, Derren is instantly likeable and strangely
attractive.
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Derren
as The Riddler. How much did they pay him to wear that suit??
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The
stunts in this half are the kind seen on his TV show, using undetectable
suggestions to sway volunteers’ decisions and picking up on
signals to ‘read minds’.
Dressed
to impress
I did
wonder if the TV editors only show the most successful bits, but
Derren was right 100% of the time.
Scarier
than his dinner party tricks was the semi-hypnosis. Derren put his
hands over volunteer Fran’s eyes and pulled her head forward.
I hate anyone standing too close in a shop queue - didn’t she
mind Derren’s invasion of her personal space? How does he do
it?
After
the interval, Derren donned his Matrix coat and cranked up the spookiness.
I’m not giving anything away but it involves a ouija board
and you’ll never believe psychics again. By the end, every
jaw was on the floor.
I’m
sorry I’ve forgotton
For
a man who can memorise four packs of cards simultaneously, Derren
was rubbish with names. "Mark, no, err, Keith?" Is this
to throw his subjects off-balance or does he genuinely need a lesson
from Tony
Buzan?
My
major gripe would be the audience. Some of the 683-strong crowd
thought it appropriate to roll in drunk, kick bottles over in the
silence and clomp drunkenly to the loo throughout the performance.
It’s not a cabaret! Give the man some respect.
I met
Derren afterwards and he admitted it had been a difficult gig. With
the spotlight on him, he hadn't realised he'd received a 70% standing
ovation. We might have been a difficult bunch but we loved the show.
Superhuman
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Mr
Brown minus the Matrix coat...
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A mis-spent
childhood has provided Derren with a superhuman ability. It's something
everyone could aspire to, but while most of us were busy partying
our way through college, Derren was devoting hours of practice to
his art.
Thank
goodness he doesn't aspire to world domination (I hope).
Derren
is currently working on a book - hurry up with it please. And Mr
Brown, if you ever fancy taking on an apprentice…?
Review
by Suzanne
Worthington, BBC Cumbria
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