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abraxus wrote:no, it wont teach you "proper" psychological tricks as such, it will nudge you into that area of study...

buts its not really a "d-i-y instant derren brown" if thats whay you mean...

ok you got what i meant to ask (but i got not a perfect english ehehe).
Maybe derren's dvds would be more appropriate to me..

merlino750 wrote:

abraxus wrote:no, it wont teach you "proper" psychological tricks as such, it will nudge you into that area of study...

buts its not really a "d-i-y instant derren brown" if thats whay you mean...

ok you got what i meant to ask (but i got not a perfect english ehehe).
Maybe derren's dvds would be more appropriate to me..

Look if you like Derren Brown then I suggest you just get it. You will enjoy it.

Mahoney wrote:
Look if you like Derren Brown then I suggest you just get it. You will enjoy it.

ok i will then thx for your suggestion

abraxus wrote:buts its not really a "d-i-y instant derren brown" if thats what you mean...

... for that you need NLP!!!
"Become a psychological mastermind genius in UNDER 10 minutes!!!!! ABSOULTLEY REAL, INCludeD in this ebook are all the amazing tips to make
you better than DARREN!!!!! BUY IT NOW FOR £100 ! an AmAzIng price!!!"

er...yes.(I should mention that's not a real advert, for any of those who are considering suicide) Anyway, please excuse my rant - this was origionally a post to say: 'It's called Derren Brown TRICKS OF THE MIND!!!'
that's all

ian69 wrote:Anyone else think that his bit on muscle reading in a mass market book constitutes exposure?

It may be basic stuff to him (although he still used it in a TV episode recently) but it's a pretty impressive trick for some of us.

When he's done it on TV, though - if I remember correctly - he's essentially said what he's doing. He doesn't say, 'This bloke has hidden a thing, and I will find it... BY INTERCEPTING HIS BRAINWAVES!' I think most of those who do it nowadays, say what they're doing. It's such an impressive skill that pretending you're doing something else can't really make you look better than it does anyway. And it strengthens everything around it, doesn't it? If a chap can read the tiny, unconscious clues of your body by holding your wrist, then he probably did know what card you'd pick because he directed you to it with psychological suggestion so subtle you didn't even notice it, right?

Hi there Im hopping to get this book for christmas, I like the sort of magic that Derren does and its the type that I want to get into and do more of rather than just plain card tricks and magic tricks I want to get into the phycological side of what Derren Brown does

Does Anyone else recomend this book, as Ive seen Derren Brown perform live 2 time's at the Corn Exchange in Kings Lynn.

Ive been performing magic for the past 5-6 years and havent tryed the sort of magic that Derren Brown does, I do know how to do the main card slights like, the DL, The Pass, The Glide, The Glimpse, The Palm etc.

P.S Is there anyone that can help me out with a trick called the water pull never performed it to an audeiance before any help while be aprishiated thanks again

Matt

Will hopping from now till 25th Dec not wear you out?

I finished this book last week, it's an excellent read with some really useful information and great anecdotes.
The way Derren writes is superb too. Clear and descriptive and tells some great anecdotes.

I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Derren, mentalism or psychological quirks.

matt1 wrote:Ive been performing magic for the past 5-6 years and havent tryed the sort of magic that Derren Brown does

I bet you have. That's one of the things that makes him so clever, his use of old things in new and interesting ways - so you don't even realise that that are the old things.

But anyway, Brown gives a sufficient intro to muscle reading in this book. (Sufficient because the main thing, after you've been told the basics, is surely a terrifying amount of practice.) Elsewhere, one of Banachek's DVD series deals with it, I'm pretty sure, but I can't remember which one. Actually, isn't it in Corinda too? Even if it isn't, if you want to, um, get more Brown-like, then 13 Steps is pretty much a must.

I couldn't agree more. Muscle reading is indeed in Corinda and takes an awful lot of practice to get it right. It's worth the effort though as to the layman, it's an amazing effect.
13 Steps is an essential book for anyone even slightly interested in this area of magic. There is so much in it that you will find yourself going back to it and finding things you overlooked or didn't pay that much attention to first time round and being consistently inspired by it.
Hopefully, anyone else who reads it will find it inspires them to create their own routines and variations rather than copying the book off pat.
That's what I am sure Derren did.
I've had it for a while and still dip into it and re-read sections I thought weren't useful to myself at first and finding a twist I can add and build on it.

I loved this book. I read it weeks ago and I can still remember ...

Telephone
Sausage
Monkey
Button
etc.

For all the great content, I think it was bordered by a couple of over stretched rants; one about Christianity and one about psychics. I wish he'd slimmed them down and expanded some of the stuff in Final Thoughts.

Overall, I think the book is about 80% of what it could have been, but it's still a great book.

smarvell wrote:I loved this book. I read it weeks ago and I can still remember ...

Telephone
Sausage
Monkey
Button
etc.

Same here. Even more worrying, when the book's come up in conversation, and it turns out that the person you're talking to has also read it, there seems to be an overwhelming urge for you both to begin reciting the list to each other. This is probably how the Masons began.

smarvell wrote:For all the great content, I think it was bordered by a couple of over stretched rants; one about Christianity and one about psychics. I wish he'd slimmed them down and expanded some of the stuff in Final Thoughts.

Tomo suggested something similar, but, personally, I enjoyed those rants as much as the rest of the book. Impassioned and (reasonably - you could fill a shelf of books with this) extensive, yes; but it's a big area and a tremendously important subject so passion and fullness are appropriate - and, that aside, I never thought it dipped below any threshold demanded purely by entertainment anyway.

Yes, Derren covers a lot of topics in this book and although a lot of them are basic introductions to things, it will inspire the curious reader to investigate further. He also has a handy list of recommended books on the various subjects.
I enjoyed the "rants", it always good to find out what makes people tick and as ever, the book is well written.

i thoroughly enjoyed the book - read it three times now...

i dont agree with absolutely everything written within it, but its all very interesting and rather refreshing to think one of the most original home-grown magic makers has been so honest in a book he didn't have to write...

he recommends in the back (of many) Bertrand Russell's "why i am not a Christian" essays...i bought that the other week, i found that very thought-provoking too as a non-religious type...

A typically smug, smirking and self-aggrandizing review in this Saturday's Graun
http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1972885,00.html
Mantel must be hugging herself with pleasure.
"If the techniques and thoughts in this book are new to you... you are either aged nine, or a Martian." So, 'I, Mantel know everything - and always have done; it's wearying how long I've known everything. Let me prove this by saying I believe only the childish or grossly ignorant will find anything new in this book. See how cleverly I did that?'
For another example - and, as a writer, I have to give her points for the construction here - "He [Brown] wants to be seen as thoughtful, ethical, and self-deprecating, and is certainly the latter." Let's unpick that, everyone.
"He wants to be seen as thoughtful, ethical, and self-deprecating, and is certainly the latter." That's to say, it's questionable if he's the former. So, she suggests (on what basis let's not trouble our childish, grossly ignorant heads) that Brown is possibly not thoughtful or ethical. But, at least she acknowledges he's self-deprecating, yes? Yes. Yes... except she carefully negates any implication of modesty that might bring by being careful to say that he wants to be seen as it too.
Can any of you identify the funny, highly readable and solidly intelligent book we've read in Mantel's review? Yet hers is the Graun review, and thus, many will believe, the authorative voice.
Man, book reviewers (or novelists reviewing books as a means of fluffing themselves up) really ought to be made to take on the more useful role of landfill.

Ooooo - I'm angry. The casual injustice of it stings me. I wish I could write to Mr Brown to assure him that he did a very good job with that book, and that Mantel is clearly a buffoon.

And before anyone says it, 'No, it's not personal bitterness.' My novels have, far more frequently than not, had very good reviews. And even the good reviews often made me think, 'Good Lord. You utter moron - you really didn't understand anything did you?'

Why is a pulp fiction writer reviewing it for the Graun? Why not someone who can actually understand it?