5 Things you might not know about – Derren Brown
1. The man you have to initially blame/thank for the unstoppable rise of Derren Brown is Jerry Sadowitz. They first met in a magic shop in London and after swapping tricks soon became pals, with Sadowitz helping Brown get his first lecture gig for magicians and recommending him to production companies.
2. Brown claims to be flattered that Kenny Craig, the magic act in Little Britain (you know, ‘look into the eyes, not around the eyes’) might be based on him, considering Kenny to be better looking than himself.
3. He studied law and German at Bristol University, where he first took to the stage as ‘Darren V Brown’. V is for Victor.
4. Fellow magician Andy Nyman has been his working partner for several years, having co-created the likes of Russian Roulette and Seance. You may have seen Nyman being disembowelled and decapitated during Charlie Brooker’s Dead Set, while playing the outspoken telly producer Patrick.
5. Although there’s never any question that his helpers on the TV shows are not plants, he often becomes friends with those he has tortured. The guy who loaded the gun in Russian Roulette once accompanied Brown to a screening of Team America to the suspicion of many onlookers.
Published today on The List
Discovery – Mind Control
Here’s an old classic from 97. Today Derren still does this to us when he’s a bit bored.
‘We did not know that child abuse was a crime,’ says retired Catholic archbishop
Following up from the damning report on abuse of children by Catholic institutions in Ireland, we now learn that a retired Catholic Archbishop in the US is claiming in a soon-to-be-published memoir that he did not comprehend the potential harm to young victims or understand that the priests had committed a crime.
Said Rembert G Weakland:
We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature.
Weakland, who retired in 2002 after it became known that he paid $450,000 in 1998 to a man who had accused him of date rape years earlier, said he initially:
Accepted naively the common view that it was not necessary to worry about the effects on the youngsters: either they would not remember or they would ‘grow out of it’.
Scientology on trial in Paris
The Church of Scientology has been accused of manipulating followers into handing over their savings, in a trial that could see the church banned from France. The church’s main centre in France, the ASES-Celebrity Centre, its bookshop and six of its leaders were charged on Monday with organised fraud and illegally prescribing drugs.
One former church member claimed she had been psychologically pressured into paying thousands of pounds for lessons, books, drugs and a device called an “electrometre”, which the church says can measure a person’s mental state but which the prosecution said was “nothing more than a lure”.
The case, alleging organised fraud, including claims of illegally prescribing drugs, follows complaints from the country’s professional pharmaceutical association and two women who accuse Scientologists of causing their financial ruin.
Aude-Claire Malton was allegedly approached by Scientologists in a Paris street in 1998 and offered a personality test, which prosecutors described as “void of scientific value”. The Scientologists’ sole aim, they argued, was to “claim their fortune” by “exercising a psychological hold” over her.
The 33-year old was allegedly gradually persuaded to hand over around £20,000 on books, communication and “life healing” lessons, as well as “purification packs”. The church prescribed large amounts of vitamins and “interminable” sauna sessions, the aim of which was to plunge Miss Malton into a state of “extreme fatigue” and “submission”, they said.
The Church of Scientology said: “It’s a trial for heresy: this could only happen in France…Let people choose their own path.” The body’s lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, said that all organisations contained “lost sheep” – including the Catholic Church – but “the only question in this trial is: was there embezzlement – certainly not whether Scientology is a religion or not”.
Mr. Coops’ Eyebrow extraction
I know, 2009, but I found that and thought it was funny. So last night we had a lovely evening. The last week of shows have been terrific – Simon, our tour manager, is back with us in robust health, and his replacement for the week, Chris, was just lovely. Plymouth was delightful, and we headed to the beautiful Barbican area to take Chris out for a farewell lunch. The shows were great fun, as have been the last few nights in Northampton. Bank Holiday Monday brought us a lively, refreshed audience; last night, after the first day back at work, the auditorium was noticeably more tired. It’s fascinating how such things translate into reliable shifts in audience energy.
After the show last night we went over the road and were looked after royally by Victor at Cagney’s restaurant, just over the road from stage door. It’s always massively appreciated when a restaurant opens late for us, and it was a hugely welcoming place in which to to plonk ourselves down, tired and hungry. The steaks, Northamptoners, are rumoured to be the best in town, and I have to say that ours were sensational. Thank you Victor, and nameless lady chef for looking after us so well. Here’s Victor:
and you can see Jennie and Iain inside waving like the fools they are. Please be sure to say hello to Victor if you’re passing, and aside from the steaks, the garlic prawns are definitely worth the journey from wherever you are.
After our meal, we headed back to the hotel, where a momentous event occurred. For some time, Coops has flaunted an eyebrow hair which has grown to massive proportions. The rest of us have tried any number of ruses to pluck it from his head, including rugby-tackles, hypnosis and pornography, but he has been quick to protect it and rendered all attempts useless. Last night, however, a little softened by Victor’s beers and fine Italian food, he agreed to allow Jennie to pluck it from him. I filmed the event and am posting it here for posterity. Best to ignore the background dialogue, which is a confused late-night stream of show-related in-jokes that will make no sense to you. Also, enjoy how Coops looks when he’s drunk.
There you all are. I’m going to have to toss a coin on the race/cake issue. Thank you for your thoughts.
x
Kindness competition entries
Thank you all for sending us your entries for the rubbish souvenirs from Alton Towers. Aside from those people who completely misunderstood the basic premise, were several who had done some lovely things. A thank you to the lady who has set up the site allowing people to donate to the Parrot Zoo, that’s very good of you.
I have two personal favourites:
i decided to run the race for life this year after finding out my aunty has cancer.since i dont have the cure, i thought this would be the most kindest warmest thing i could do for her and others alike.hopefully completing this will be a small help.i would like you to give me the keyring now and some mind-benders to help me get over running 3 miles.i wouldnt normally run for anything – and I wasn’t going to do this anyway. i really did enter this in order to try and win.
M.
and:
“I made this cake for my grandmother” – it wasn’t her birthday and she wasn’t ill.
Do I win?
G.
One worthy cause, one simple touching gesture (the cake entry had no proof of baking date, which technically could disqualify it – though I’m happy to let it pass because it looks amazing). But I can’t decide between the two. Let me know your thoughts, and then I might toss a coin if I can’t decide.
Meanwhile, I have just taken a genuine spirit photograph. I know I’ve always been sceptical of such things, claiming that we’re just finding patterns in randomness etc, but I just picked up my drink of Diet Pepsi in the bar of this Northampton hotel, which I had no idea was haunted, to find the face of a ghost appearing in the moisture that had formed beneath the glass. I shall show the picture to the staff, as it may be the face of someone who perhaps worked and was murdered here in a previous century. Alternatively, some of you may think that it is the face of Christ himself, and that I have stumbled across something of enormous religious significance. If this is the case, Northampton should brace itself for annual pilgrimages to mark the day of this miracle. Either way, I’d like to hear those closed-minded Western atheist sciencey-types explain this one:
Right, on with the book. I’m paying fifteen pounds to use wi-fi here! Fifteen! This upsets me.
Please continue.
x
Suicidal man shoved off by annoyed passer-by
Beijing – A Chinese man was pushed off a bridge by an angry passer-by after his threat to commit suicide held up traffic for five hours, Chinese media reported yesterday.Retired soldier Lai Jiansheng, 66, broke through a police cordon and reached out to shake the hand of would-be jumper Chen Fuchao, before shoving him off the Haizhu bridge in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Thursday.
Mr Lai made the shocking move after police turned down his offer to persuade Mr Chen to come down, said reports.
‘I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interests,’ Mr Lai was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper. ‘They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities’ attention to their appeals.’
Do you believe in conspiracy theories?
Shortly after terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center and mangled the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, conspiracy theories blossomed about secret and malevolent government plots behind the tragic events. A report scheduled to appear in an upcoming Applied Cognitive Psychology offers a preliminary psychological profile of people who believe in 9/11 conspiracies.
A team led by psychologist Viren Swami of the University of Westminster in London identified several traits associated with subscribing to 9/11 conspiracies, at least among British citizens.
These characteristics consist of backing one or more conspiracy theories unrelated to 9/11, frequently talking about 9/11 conspiracy beliefs with likeminded friends and others, taking a cynical stance toward politics, mistrusting authority, endorsing democratic practices, feeling generally suspicious toward others and displaying an inquisitive, imaginative outlook.
An Evening Of Wonders DVD
An Evening Of Wonders is now available on DVD which includes an interview with Derren and Deleted Scenes. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy it’s available from all the usual stores, and of course online at:
For Gods sake please vote.
Let’s not try to put it past this lot, it would give them the press they want – but let’s face it, this is funny. Do me a favour – find a BeeNPee fan and show them why them their party is at least quite, quite silly.
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