talkmagic.co.uk

He's always always always been accused of using stooges. It's practically a sign of growth as a performer if people assume you use them, because it means they've run out of ideas as to how else you can do what you do.

the reason it looked stooged, was simply that it was edited and cut to such a fine degree, that it looked too slick.
If this was to happen in real life, in real time, it would look rough around the edges.

That isnt to say that something felt odd. as i mentioned on facebook last night, i had the feeling i had seen at least one of the people before.

( and that statement was backed up by others). It could of been a case of someone having one of those faces.. or it could actually be somebody i have met before..


who knows?

( well, Derren and his team presumably .. but there you go. ours is not to reason why.. ect)

Eshly wrote:I'm not saying that I know for certain it was stooged.

Good, because that would be quite ridiclious.

Eshly wrote:But it deffinetly looked stooged, and thats just as bad.

Have to disagree, looked quite authentic to me. I'd actually expect the magical community, armed with our insight into dual reality and the nature of these shows to realise it wasn't stooged and is indeed plausible.

I wonder if that's the issue with this and many other shows/effects. A narrow minded magician can't work out how he might achieve something and therefore label it as stooged.

Jordan C wrote:

Derren Brown wrote:The challenge for us was fitting everything into a seventy-minute show. The changes were manifold and there was much more story to tell. What you see is obviously very trimmed and edited and squashed into the time allotment

*cough* DVD Extras *cough*

hey, maybe Im the victim of the next one, and the reason why I think ive seen them before, is that they have moved in near me, and are Stalking me.

and maybe that flat over the way from me, isnt a canabis farm as i suspect, but Derren H.Q.

If this is the case, next time you go into my place to have a rummage Derren, pop the hover over, and water the house plant

Cheers.

Mr_Grue wrote:

Jordan C wrote:

Derren Brown wrote:The challenge for us was fitting everything into a seventy-minute show. The changes were manifold and there was much more story to tell. What you see is obviously very trimmed and edited and squashed into the time allotment

*cough* DVD Extras *cough*

would ANYBODY want this on dvd?

Thats one issue with the no "Performance" shows..

they have little or no dvd value.

( or repeat / world distribution, considering the time thing at the end.. which wouldnt even work in the states, as they do the dates the other way around)

eshly - as you have trouble understanding peoples emotional reactions and interactions, and therefore body language, facial expressions and so on...are you really one to judge?

fair enough though, i think you've MORE than made your point that you think its stooged...good for you...but saying it repeatedly wont really do much...

where's your evidence? you always ask for some when others make 'statements'?

i enjoyed the show, though i got a few texts from people at work today saying they didnt like it...i think they were expecting an hours worth of tricks...

This is, I think, the first time that he's spent a whole show with one person. Even on The Sytem and the Trick or Treats he'd break things up a little. That's not meant as a criticism; overall I enjoyed last night's show too.

I was reasonably entertained and vaguely inspired by the show. It was more or less what I expected from the (few) ads I saw for it, and it seems to fit well with other recent DB television productions. On the other hand, it's not really the sort of thing I want to see much of, especially from Derren.

I'm sure Matt wasn't a stooge. He was more than willing to go along with practically anything, which is a function of his ingrained passive defeatism as well as any possible off-screen hypno sessions. It was clearly stated in the programme that he worked in a call centre, hence his choice of work clothes. I assume he wears the white hoodie as a jacket over whatever shirt he's wearing. Or it might be just a favourite item of clothing that gets a lot of outings.

His family and friends were no slicker on TV than would be expected on other reality shows -- most people nowadays know what's expected of a TV appearance and react accordingly. Their comments were also edited down to no more than a sentence or two at a time, which can make people sound much more polished.

The train interlude was certainly staged in some way for Matt's safety. If you recall, all we actually saw was an engine front end -- not necessarily an actual engine -- and it was approaching very slowly indeed. This doesn't mean Matt wasn't afraid at the time, since fear is based on one's perception of reality. And yes, the Davenports direction sheet was a nice touch of humour.

The ending was uplifting to the point of mawkishness, but it was suitable enough in context. We had just witnessed the remaking of a life.

I assumed the closing speech ("30 days starting now") was a metaphorical challenge aimed at the viewer -- Matt rebuilt himself in 30 days, what are you going to do? The whole point of the programme was about making the most of the time and talents you've got, not frittering them away, so you'd expect this sort of speech as a closer.

I didn't come away expecting a sequel. Is there definitely going to be one?

Yeah, there's definitely another one, Radio Times confirmed it.

While I wouldn't put anything past mr brown I do know that everything could have been done without stooging. I recognised lots of hypnotic states and the evidence for pre hypnotic work. To say this is all stooged and acted is a little neive and shows a distinct lack of hypnosis knowledge. No offence to specific posters here. Sorry if any is taken
I personally enjoyed this and spoke with Derren who genuinely sees this as his favourite tv show to date. Yes a departure from previous shows but I believe it's good to step outside your own comfort zones now and again. A lesson many performer could learn from

James brown

I think that the fact Derren has covered so many different areas in his last 5 or so shows that the public just didnt know what to expect.

When you watch Bruce Forsyth you know that you are going to get a song and a dance, a bit of flirting with a young lady and some innuendo (in your endo!)

With Derren lately people just dont know! I didnt really know what to expect as i sat down and started to watch it.

After the lottery prediction and the hammering he took over it, im sure that DB wanted to score a hit with 'Hero' (as the cool kids call it) and win back some faith from the gen public.

My thoughts on the show?.......

Im just not sure. Ive barely touched the surface of hypnotism but know that for certain people it works. for others it doesn't. Well Derren would have been very careful in who he chose, just look at his selection process for when he filmed roulette! We would have missed LOADS of pre-production stuff due to the edit.

I hope that the follow up to this is a killer. I more than most would love to see a spectacular event that will make new fans discover him and get to learn about his previous works too.

Ill be waiting expectantly for the next one, thats for sure!!

Alec

I am not going to read through nine pages. I will just say that I loved this show, my eleven year old son loved it, and my younger daughter enjoyed it. A return to form - and very welcome.
Derren doesn't need magic or mentalism routines. He makes this stuff into riveting TV.