talkmagic.co.uk

Derren says he never uses stooges because he doesn't need to. As far as I can recall, all the effects in that show could be done without the need for stooges and I'm sure Derren and his team know far more ways than I do.

Nothing jumped out at me as being stooged when I saw the show. I don't know how much it's changed since I saw it last year but it was a very very good and entertaining show.

Only minor aspects have been tweaked, still a fantabulous show!

Eshly wrote:Just a quick question:

Do you think stooges were used during the show?

Quick answer: No.

Edit:

IAIN wrote:i doesnt matter if he did or didnt...its the performance...

Bingo!
Method means nothing; affect is what it's all about!

IAIN wrote:do you think he used stooges? if so, is that cos you can't work out how some of it was done?

i doesnt matter if he did or didnt...its the performance...

I haven't seen the show. I was just asking

Method means nothing; affect is what it's all about!

Yeh, but if you CAN do it without stooges then you feel a bit more self-pride. Its like going that extra mile in my opinion

Mandrake wrote:Derren says he never uses stooges because he doesn't need to. As far as I can recall, all the effects in that show could be done without the need for stooges and I'm sure Derren and his team know far more ways than I do.

once or twice...(Thats all) Ive used stooges.

not because i need to.



( but because i wanted to )

he did back in the Chatham shows, but not in the normal nightly shows

Still confused about that white handbag...played no point...

Eshly wrote:

Method means nothing; affect is what it's all about!

Yeh, but if you CAN do it without stooges then you feel a bit more self-pride. Its like going that extra mile in my opinion

That's the equivalent of magical masturbation! You're doing it purely for yourself and not being considerate of your audience. This is not what magic is about, this is what juggling is about!

A lot of tricks I do use a R&S deck; I could do some without, but I'm not going to because a) it's a hell of a lot easier with one and b) the effect would be diminished.

Audience 1st. Method... about.... 7th or 8th?

I don't remember the handbag as it's been ages since I saw it, however, unless it was part of the method, my guess is that it could be for aesthetic reasons. There is no real reason to put the hypnotised girl in a white smock for when she wanders around, except that she looks very much like Sadako from Ring especially when she points at a random member of the audience. This all adds to the creepy feel of the piece and really really makes the audience feel that whoever she chooses is in for a bad time! It doesn't contribute to the actual working of the trick, but it does turn it in to a brilliant bit of theatre.

Seeing as it appears that he's not going to be taking his show anywhere near me anytime soon, I wish he'd get on with filming it for tv so I can experience it all again.

A J Irving wrote:a brilliant bit of theatre.

Sez it all for me!

A J Irving wrote:Seeing as it appears that he's not going to be taking his show anywhere near me anytime soon, I wish he'd get on with filming it for tv so I can experience it all again.

Doesn't he usually announce a couple of weeks somewhere in London at the last minute?

I've seen it twice and don't remember a white handbag! I'll have to look for one on my third go-round this June.

There was one effect where I suspected possible stoogery, but it could have been just very judicious audience selection, so I won't say any more than that. In the end, it doesn't matter.

No, I don't remember a handbag either. Perhaps Beardy went to see The Importance of being Earnest instead? (Cue Lady Bracknell: A handbag?????!))

The only participant I thought might have been a stooge was the chap that gets hypno-planked across the two chairs, but that would only have been for high vis tabbard reasons. Even then, you could do the effect "for real" but with someone you knew could physically take it and/or had agreed beforehand.

For me the stooge issue comes down to the performance of the stooge. If they convince then go for it. I think that's why, for all my stooge aversion, I don't have a problem with electric chairs. It's pantomime, so it's difficult for the stooges to overdo it. If you want someone to be shocked that you correctly guessed the card they are thinking of, then you're in much more demanding territory.

I'd say, though, that there's a world of difference between someone finding out that Dale used a stooge and someone finding out that Derren used a stooge.

didnt we have this conversation at Tab?

I think Derren chooses not to use stooges, not because he thinks its unethical or anything -he has openly stated it isn't- but because if he did and the press found out they could have a field day. Its not worth the risk I think.

The thing about Derren Brown television programs is that I've met loads of people who watch them, but none of them ever suspect a stooge even slightly.