derren brown ~ russian roulette

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Postby bananafish » Oct 6th, '03, 12:26



I agree totally that Derren Brown put on a truley great performance.

Even knowing that there was no way that his life was a risk at any time - he really did make the whole thing very believable indeed.

A very entertaining show (imho).
Well done Mr. Brown.

I strongly suspect he was wearing bicycle clips - just in case!

Brown by name - Brown by pants...

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Postby jabba01 » Oct 6th, '03, 13:06

I agree that the Magik program was c*** (not the best).

Sorry to rain on everyones parade, as i am a great Derren Brown fan. But i was very disapointed in the Russian Roulette stunt as well. The selection process was entertaining but othr than that i thought it was over the top and also one of those performaces that lends itself to too easily being criticised of being staged and set up. Which is the general concensus of everyone I have spoken to.

I still love his live work and books though!!!!!!!

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Postby seige » Oct 6th, '03, 16:14

Having made distinct reservations about the timing of this stunt (you know, coinciding with the 'Man in the Box' stunt) I was actually relieved to see that the show itself was a quite decent display of the character and strengths of Derren Brown.

To me, the roulette effect was secondary - it was the 'mind games' that interested me in particular. It is sometimes hard to forget that just because WE know how he pulls these things off, the layman is totally bewildered - and to that end, the actual roulette part, which we KNOW must be a trick - was quite limp.

Shame - but it doesn't change my opinions at all - I still think he's one of the UKs finest!

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Postby Mandrake » Oct 6th, '03, 16:20

That very long pause was excellent. I know he's a showman and I know he will milk things in the nicest possible way to get the drama right (readers of Absolute Magic will know all about this) but it was a brilliant aspect.

OK, we all 'knew' he wouldn't really blow his brains out (didn't we?) but the lead up was all important. I'm glad I recorded it and it'll be watched many times for the sheer enjoyment!

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Postby Mark Waddington » Oct 6th, '03, 17:00

When i was watching it i was on tenter hooks but every 5 minutes my younger brother Neil shouted 'get to the shooting bit!!!!'
Even though it was all great showmanship it must have been scary for him just thinking about whether its gonna work or not

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Postby Mandrake » Oct 6th, '03, 17:01

I like Neil's way of thinking!

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Postby seige » Oct 6th, '03, 17:06

Blimey!

And how old would Neil be???

Hmmm... curiously, I doubt whether Neil would have been privvy to the following show - but I'm not alone in thinking that a lot of us were shouting 'Get on with the shooting' at that show as well.

Food for thought? (Fish?)

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Postby silver shadow » Oct 6th, '03, 18:22

i was videoing the whole night so i could replay it at a later date, i turned the recording of during the magik show, if you can call it that, didn't like that at all, and the restarted the recording after for the gratest tricks thing. i do hope they are not carring on that trash magik show!

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Postby Mark Waddington » Oct 7th, '03, 07:44

Our neil is only 10 and hes obsessed with blood and guts

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Postby Mandrake » Oct 7th, '03, 10:43

Magicbilly may have a point.

The title of the programme was 'Magick' and the spelling suggests leanings towards dark and disturbing aspects - if so, it certainly fulfilled that promise. There was very little actual magic but there were one or two reasonable effects mixed in. Perhaps the fault lies with the timing of the programme; between Derren Brown and 50 Illusions tended to infer that this programme was also about magic but in fact it was something way off on a completely different plane.

Having said that, if anyone can explain to me what is comical about the ongoing misery of African poverty, rolling joints, and inserting razor blades in prepacked convenience foods then I'd be grateful.

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Postby seige » Oct 7th, '03, 11:34

OK, narrowminded soapbox session about to commence...

I think what we're suggesting here is that the show was not everyone's cup of tea - and that in fact, some people may be quite offended by it if they thought they were going to be entertained by 'magic' - which is usually an art which has general family appeal.

The shock tactics used by the guys in the programme were, as I previously commented, and attempt at contemporary shock/dark culture meets magic - which is fine as far as it goes - but almost every 'effect' I watched in the show was portrayed as being either macabre, taboo or just plain bad taste.

The African child, the 'using magic to steal a car', the drug references, the asylum patient, the knife through arm horror...

Yes, it has it's audience. Yes, in a sense it was art. But in my opinion, it was a textbook display of 'the wrong thing at the wrong time' - i.e. sandwiched between two higher quality shows.

If this is the face of contemporary magic, then I'm afraid I'm not alone in being fairly disappointed.

Yes, Penn & Teller are sick - but it's done with humour. Indeed, Simon Drake has a dark side - but there's a deeper sense of showmanship and respect for the art.

What the show Magick did was dress some not too bad effects up into quite distasteful routines.

And before you comment that 'if you don't like it, switch it off'... that's exactly what myself and I imagine a good deal of others did.

If this is your cup of tea, then fine. And obviously, my opinion is my own - and I can't condemn this programme, as it would seem it must have it's 'niche' - but I'm sorry, I think I missed the point somewhere...

Last edited by seige on Oct 7th, '03, 11:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Mandrake » Oct 7th, '03, 11:35

Sorry, I can't agree.

If the butt of the jokes was supposed to be blokes with clip boards, then why not have a go at market researchers, folks who try to sell double glazing, plonkers with questionnaires in the High Street? No, there was no need to use African poverty and it simply isn't funny. Nor is it good television.

The sight of drugs being rolled suggest that this is an acceptable form of activity. Frankly, if folks need recreational drugs like that then there is something seriously wrong with their perceptions and attitudes. The fact that most young people have come across drugs says more about the methods of pushing than the youngsters themselves. Having survived 55 years without feeling to need to use drugs, I'd say it was probably more to do with standards and self control than naiveté.

The razor blade sketch had no magic at all. If the intention was to 'melt' one object through another then I'd be on the same lines but it wasn't shown, it was off camera and all that was actually shown was one package being 'exchanged' for another with a razor blade inside. If that's a nicely uplifting slant then please don't tell me what is considered extreme!

No, it wasn't magic, it was appalling and I have serious doubts about the folks who commissioned, performed and agreed to broadcast it.

(following bit missed off original posting!)

But then again, all that's only my opinion!

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