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I'm loving this too!! Thanks so much for posting

As I (and others have said) I am positive that we haven't heard the last of the Lottery stunt.

Mssrs Brown and Nyman won't let us down, I'm sure!

Thanks "time" thats a very interesting post, I had forgot about the bus footage with the children on board.

Wonder if that will appear over the next three friday shows

I liked the show on Wednesday but I thought the one on Friday was confusing.

The Morrigan wrote:I liked the show on Wednesday but I thought the one on Friday was confusing.

it was supposed to be

I rewatched it last night and with hindsight, I did enjoy it more the second time round. The amount of misdirection and confusion that team Derren have been involved in during the running up to the events certainly implies to me that there is certainly a lot more going on than we're aware if at this point in time so I'm looking forward to seeing how it all develops.

It could end up with the moral: 'just because some guy said something on tv, you shouldn't take his word for it. Apply some critical thinking, especially when listening to explanations from deceptive imps like Mr Brown'. From the rumours I've heard, Derren did recently join the board of The Skeptic magazine so it wouldn't be out of place for him to have an underlying message of: think for yourself.

can i hear people back-tracking already?

Ohh, as a non UK Resident I did not know that the lotto stunt was just one of four when I wrote the blog post.

I agree It would be great if he he really set up all this to reach a higher goal. The Skeptics Idea would not be far away as his scientic nonsense is exactly the sort some people use to proove impossible scams.
Best
Tom

IAIN wrote:can i hear people back-tracking already?

Clearly!

IAIN wrote:can i hear people back-tracking already?

Sounds like it's turning into a stampede. Assuming it's possible to stampede backwards...

Mandrake wrote:

IAIN wrote:can i hear people back-tracking already?

Sounds like it's turning into a stampede. Assuming it's possible to stampede backwards...

You probably could but it would be very easy to trip up.

Not 100% related to the main thrust of the thread but still very interesting: http://itricks.com/news/2009/09/derren-brown-to-host-web-series-debunking-paranormal-phenomenon/

tbh i hope there is (alot) more to these 'events' because if there is one thing fridays wasnt, and thats 'eventful'

I have enjoyed the Cloverfield style marketing and give his team credit for this, but as i said to Andy Nyman after watching Enigma (at preview stage) are you running low on material? as it was a bit weak.

lets face it too much misdirection and you end up lossing your way!

I don't care if there was a special meaning to the show, or something being set up for the future, the fact remains that is was a poor poor hour show.

the real question has never been how the trick was DONE (it's a split screen ) but rather what the trick MEANS in relation to the other forthcoming Events...and if I'm right about the following then the pay-off is going to be superb.

so here goes with my theory

derren has already told the audience what he's doing. however he's been very very sneaky and very stylish about it.

it's all out in the open but kind of hidden in plain sight.

the first thing to note is the main ad that ran for the show--the one in which derren walks across the busy road narrowly dodging the traffic. the key point is that the ad only made sense if you played it BACKWARDS. you had to start at the end and go back to the beginning to understand what was going on...which is exactly how he's structured The Events! you'll only get it once all five shows have finished. then everything will become clear when reversed. of course, this point also includes the use of these adverts...including the one which uses a CAMERA TRICK to make it appear that derren is upside down standing on his hands

secondly the ads show computer generated effects and the manipulation of film as a central feature. do you see? he's just shown you how he did the lotto effect!!! it's right there in front of you--completely clear in the flamin' adverts while he's casually juggling some CGI lottery balls. and when looked at in retrospect it shows that he cheekily hid nothing.

thirdly, derren described each Event as being purely about misdirection. so all this stuff is designed to get you confused and throw you off the scent. that way when the final show goes out (more about that in a minute), you'll be left kicking yourself for not having put the bigger picture together.

the fourth and final sneak is that last show has been described as containing a twist. well, i'd put money now on that twist being simply that none of the final show is about taking down a casino. what it's really going to be about is taking down the audience with total nonsense. that's almost...nearly...the whole point of the series but there is one more thing to note.

i think derren will use all of this to push the skeptic/atheist/anti-woo position beloved of dawkins, randi and so-on. he'll talk about the way people are deceived by pseudo-science--i.e., such as the wisdom of crowds used in a way that it never could be. likewise this will be the same theme that carries through the subliminal show this friday and the psychic spy show with it's silly remote viewing experiment.

along the way he'll also talk about how the media manipulates people and how we need to think carefully about the images and ideas we soak-up. my bet is that the final show will include footage of all the forums, you-tube and bits of the press that lit-up after the first show (and probably also the others yet to come). he'll then applaud the really perceptive viewers while taking the mickey out of those not thinking hard enough.

so there ya' go!

consequently The Events will be seen as one of the most spectacular demonstrations of mentalism and showmanship ever seen on tv, while also dealing with some very serious issues.

ofc, the other thing it will do is pave the way for derren's new show (listed at C4) in which he sets-out to debunk psychic phenomena lol.

nice one derren--all the way round!

it's so brilliantly devised, constructed and executed

who WAS the first person to sugest a split screen?

Looking at the programe as a whole, there is a far more obvious, and infinatly better camera technique than a split screen that may of been used.