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I have recently moved location at work due to a new job, as such people know little of me, and was sat in the staff room when the conversation turned to Mr Derren Brown.

The colleague in question turned to me and the following conversation ensued;

Him: Have you heard of Derren Brown.
Me: I might have encountered the name, yes.
Him: He has a new show on Quest at the moment some of the stuff he does is amazing. (I need to check this but from the description it is clearly Mr Brown's early stuff as I remember having seen it.
Me: Oh?
Him: Yeah there are two effects in particular but I think I have worked them out. The psychology and trickery he uses is brilliant.
Me: Okay...
Him: In the first one he got this couple and made the woman scream her partners name in her head, then he told her to arch her back and he touched her partner's back and she said she felt it, he then did something similar with her arm and then pinched her partner's leg and she felt it.
Me: Sounds intriguing...
Him: I think when he got her to arch she felt the chair against her back, with the arm I think she felt something in her hand when she stretched out and just said it was her arm and if somebody told you they were going to pinch you where would you say?
Me: Thigh?
Him: Yes! I think she was just playing along with that bit and convinced herself she felt it.

I smiled at his enthusiasm and encouraged him to keep watching as some of Derren's stuff is truly excellent. It was both interesting to hear his perspective and downright amusing to have him "educate" me about who Derren Brown was and the techniques he uses, even after I had told him I went to, and took part in, his live show and had a genuine interest and read thoroughly in to that area.

Heh, fun! For one of my seminars, I had my students watch The Gameshow (theme of the classes: drama and audience); some great reactions there and a VERY interesting discussion. I always enjoy hearing the points they pick up on, which are rather different from the things I (we?) look for, or the conclusions we draw.

A_n_t wrote:The colleague in question turned to me and the following conversation ensued;

Him: Have you heard of Derren Brown.
Me: I might have encountered the name, yes.
Him: He has a new show on Quest at the moment

I think your new colleague is a little confused. Derren is contracted to Channel 4 but Keith Barry is on Quest, Thursdays at 9pm and last week he did indeed do some PK touches stuff as well as giving a guy the choice of falling through one of four trapdoors. The guy chose the safe one and avoided spikes, saw blades, knives etc and in the process Keith reckoned it had given the guy far more confidence than before - so much so he managed to walk over to a girl in a bar and start a conversation - oh whoopee! Very similar to Derren's 'life enhancing' shows of recent times!

DId he also do the restaurant reformation around the woman thing?

I knew Derren was contracted to C4 I just assumed the rights to the older stuff had been sold off or hired out.

May have to check out Quest on Thursday!

Derren's programmes and repeats are always on C4 or C4 plus 1 etc. Yes, Keith did an effect, very Richard Wiseman, which was in the lead up to the finale I mentioned and was supposed to build awareness and confidence so he’d survive the trap doors thing. The guy was seated at a restaurant table talking to a girl, she excused herself for a moment and when she got back she'd changed from a black dress to a blue one and the guy didn’t notice. Next thing, she excused herself once more and on the return the dress was the same but the girl was different - again he didn't seem to notice. Keith then sat at the table explaining things and whilst he was speaking, several minions crept in and changed the decor and layout of the restaurant from Chinese to Mexican – or the other way round, I forget. The guy didn’t notice until Keith told him to look around. Not all that magical but more interesting than the other shows in this series. PS If you miss it, try Quest + 1 at 10pm!

Amusing! As I always say, What makes a good magician is not what he does but how he presents it. A good magician can take a "magic set" meant for an eight year old which sells at five pounds for twenty tricks and build a show which could be performed at Las-Vegas.