Derren himself has said its about controlling the situation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/goingout/2002/08/18/derren.shtml
Winning formula
quote:
Finally he hit on a formula he was happy with. Mixing skills learnt in hypnotism with those he'd built up through magic, he created a unique show."It's about controlling a situation and playing games with people," he explained.
"It's much more fun to do because you never know how people are going to respond."
It has certainly proved a popular format, what with television spots, corporate events and now live theatre performances.
http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/home/intro/index.html quote:
Call it what you like. Derren Brown reads minds but claims no psychic power.
"I began my career as a magician but slowly left behind the props and sleight-of-hand to work with the psychological techniques that are the real stuff of magic. I have to learn people's patterns, step inside their heads. Then I can play."The result is a powerful, provocative and thrilling new form of entertainment. [/quote
http://www.derrenbrownfans.bravepages.com/pure_effect.htm
[quote]Derren Brown, the most radical and original new thinker in the world of mentalism, will take you from excellent close-up magic to the most powerful mind-reading you have ever seen. With flamboyant wit, Derren explains the secrets and techniques that he uses to amaze the experts, drawing from hypnotic skills and breathtaking psychological artistry. This is brand new mind reading without compromise; no use of billets, envelopes or nail writers will be found within these pages. This is a book for the serious thinker who would normally disregard 99% of a magic book's contents.
If you know what questions a person is going to ask you know what you need to find out. If you can control what questions that person is going to ask, you get them to ask you what you already know. That makes the job so much easier to put on an impressive performance. If Derren was able to control the librains questions so that he only had to read and memorise a few passages from the book. I find that much more impressive than being able to 'memorise' a book in any lenght of time.
Alex
