talkmagic.co.uk

Would defo like to see him if he is coming to Manchester - Might have to try and get myself a couple of tickets.

I thought it was a great show when I went to see it in Oxford, and would happily watch again. Much better than his last outing in my view

Rob

More dates on sale now. Confirmed schedule as follows:-

Theatre Royal Brighton 11th - 15th February
Wycombe Swan 17th - 22nd February
New Victoria Theatre Woking 3rd - 8th March
Belfast Grand Opera House - 17th - 22nd March
Southampton Mayflower 7th - 12th April
Milton Keynes Theatre 14th - 19th April
Bristol Hippodrome 21st - 26th April
Blackpool Grand Opera House 12th - 13th May
Newcastle Theatre Royal 2nd - 7th June
Manchester The Lowry 13th - 21st June

Cheers,

JS

Heh! Blackpool and Newcastle still not on DBs site.

Glasgow dates coming soon!

JS

Mandrake wrote:I saw the show last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. The first half started slowly but gathered momentum which was carried over to the second half very successfully. Lots of audience/volunteer involvement as usual and a, by now traditional, double whammy at the end.

Andy Nyman's influence is very apparent, the show is more dramatic than Svengali was and the set design even better than any previous shows. Magicians will probably spot how he did some of the effects but that will always be the case. The show is in Birmingham for two weeks which is twice the run of Svengali and, according to the ushers I spoke to each night has been an almost full house. The people behind me were heard to say that they only bought their tickets 6 days ago, and tickets were being sold on the night, but even so there were only a few isolated empty seats.

Obviously the content of the show can't be divulged but rest assured it's nothing like Derren's TV specials of recent times, it's not Dynamo, it's not Ben Earl, it's not David Blaine. What it is is entertainment of a high order and he really works hard to make it so. A quick scan of the audience during the show and the interval showed me that I was probably the oldest one there, I'd guess the average age to be mid/late twenties, but the whole show would appeal to a wide age range so it's not a young person's event by any means.

I thought that this was one of his best shows (narrowly beaten by Evening of Wonders) - it was DEEPLY personal and the whole set design and stage management made the show feel very intimate. At one point, there was a moment where the whole audience was almost in tears.
Derren Brown has always been one of my favourite performers and this show (the first my girlfriend had seen live) prompted her to buy both books and she is half way through 'Confessions of a Conjurer'.

As stated above, the Andy Nyman presence is very apparent and I'm really glad that he is working on this show - the poker routine (which is by now means a copy of ANYONE else's routine) blew me away - skilled card manipulation, amazing patter and (in true Brown/Nyman style) a kicker which knocks you for six.

The ending (no spoilers, sorry) was in true classic style and built up and up and up to then have a kicker which everyone saw coming, but no-one had any idea that it would ACTUALLY work.

Final thoughts - unlike a LOT of my layman friends, girlfriend included, who watch TV magic and have nothing left to say than 'well, its gotta be a camera trick', 'its gotta be a fake bottle', 'he is a stooge' or 'well, its obviously a trick, he must switch it somewhere' or other such explanation which casts aside any idea of 'real life magic', this show made Emma and my housemate's jaws hit the floor. Simply stating that he is the real deal; the idea of a stooge or fakery didn't even enter their heads or cross their minds. THAT is what a performer should be portraying and I think that there is a lot to be learned by watching a show like this live - much like another show where he gets a 20 min routine out of a TT/NW, this show will NOT disappoint and I wanna see it again haha.

Dan

I saw the show last night, and thought I would write a review......


It's amazing, go see it if you can!

Short and sweet, but there you go. I wouldn't want to spoil anything for people going, as Its full of some amazingly theatrical moments, Thanks mainly to Andy, as well as the 7 weeks in the same venue.

The Set, with some brilliant use of projections at the end of act 1, genuinely took my breath away.
In the second half, two things stood out that put all other versions of these things into the shade.

more I cant, or wont say, yo are just going to have to trust me when I say that the show flows, logically, and theatrically.

I wasn't overly impressed by this show, but Derren was obviously under the weather and was struggling with his voice.

Sections were totally unconvincing, particularly in the second half after the psychic surgery. Not even the on-stage audience looked particularly impressed or surprised at what he was doing, in fact they looked bored, almost puzzled.

Performance wise, Derren was definitely was under the weather on this night. Power to him though, he still went ahead with the show and didn't cancel the performance. It was a hot day and the theater was sweltering. Even Derren's stage clothes were looking tired and worn. Wardrobe could have pressed his trousers and polished his shoes at least....

I was disappointed with his ACAAN, for us well read and knowledgeable the item and method was telegraphed from the start. With the money spent on the show, I would have thought that he could have at least treated us magic type people to actually seeing the jukebox method!!!

The show on the whole was OK, but far from his best. Mainly disappointed that there was nothing in the show for me to think about afterwards.

This wasn't the first time I have seen Derren struggle in a show, I saw the Svengali show at the Waterfront in Belfast. Here Derren had trouble with a spectator insisting on indicating exactly where he felt a touch during the PK section with the Svengali doll, regardless of where Derren was touching the doll. Then he missed with one of the numbers on the number blocks section at the end.

There are no doubts about Derren's showmanship and performance abilities, they are world class. However, I have been unlucky to see two consecutive performances that were under-par.

why would Derren treat us magic types to a complicated method?

That theatre seats at least 2000 people, and every seat was full. There would of been a hand full of magicians, the rest lay audience members who quite frankly dont care about the methods, which is why he had 2000 people up on their feet Friday night, with an amazing ovation.

Let's face it, if professionals had to rely on amateur magicians buying all the tickets they'd starve within weeks! Derren usually includes a couple of in jokes or wink wink type comments for the magicians in he audience but everything else is for the lay people who just like seeing what he does.

I knew from a reliable inside source back in 2011 that he was going to be dong an ACAAN in this show, and another version of it that is incredible was being looked at. Unfortunately that method wasn't used, just personal disappointmanet that it wasn't as it is a version that is a real mind-blower as the named card is reversed at the chosen number.

Take away the over-bearing sound and the visual effects the show was average. I have seen Graham P Jolley and Quentin Reynolds do better, and more entertaining shows. This show was not Brown at his best.

I disagree. Having seen all of Derren's live shows I felt that they had become formulaic and overly reliant on certain methods, but Infamous is a refreshing change. OK so Derren may not have used the most cutting edge and technically advanced methods but his strength has always been in his presentation and his ability to work the audience.
I am not a magician but I do have more knowledge than the layperson and I thought this show was his best since Something Wicked.
As a previous poster mentioned, you can't write a show for magicians, you have to write for the general public and it's the emotional connection he makes with the audience that sets him apart from other performers. If you go as a magician, purely to study the methods you will be disappointed but if you go as a punter and watch the show from that perspective you will understand why Derren is still packing out theatres after 10 years of touring.

JS

Something Wicked was the last of Derrrens Shows I truly enjoyed. I really hope I can get to see this.

Bumpety bump!!

The TV version filmed at the Grand Theater Leeds is on Ch4 at 9.00pm on Monday September 21st. - also on at other times later on and probably on 4oD at some point.

Thought youd all like a heads up. just seen the trailer.
Also I will feature too I was in the audience that night and was also in the onstage group.
if you've seen the show you will understand. that will be 3rd time this year ive been on tv.
Granted in a audience or background crowd LOL!!!

spectacular, and going by the reaction of a mate who had not seen the show live, one of his best. The television edit had a few pieces missing, in particular his poker deal/ acaan routine. which played well live, but I suspect may of been difficult to shoot. I also noticed a few tweaks TO routines from the London season last year. Again, possibly to tighten things up on screen. Its a great record of a great show, performed by a great show man.