Comments on: Derren Brown Interviews: The Guardian and The Times

By: ReliegiousMary

ReliegiousMary — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:36:21 +0000

While there might be some truth in what you say @lucy, …lol, really – thát´s nothing – But If you would manage to poke your index finger shortly into Derrens nose, he´ll start answering all questions in Japanese

By: Lucy

Lucy — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 09:42:42 +0000

I’ve always picked up that self-loathing off Derren on TV. I get the same feeling with Stephen Fry and that orange bloke who sells antiques.

People like that who are almost too clever to even have a normal conversation with an interviewer without going into the future and not being able to answer questions about themselves, I’d probably do the same thing.

I remember him talking about someone hitting him in the back of the head and being able to count really quickly as a result, things like that I think, you get these strange intuitions that relate to stress or emotional pain.

By: Raymond

Raymond — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:34:49 +0000

I got the book in today and started reading it, even though I am already reading 3 books in a cooperative multitasking fashion.

It’s in some areas almost pathetic in self hatred but also very educational (at least for performers when you read between the lines) and at times you laugh so hard that I actually sprayed the tea (I had carefully sipped between my perched lips into my mouth to enjoy the aroma over my table).

It was about his absent minded game if-you-had-to-shag-one-person-on-the-street-who-would-it-be. I always thought it was just me having those neurotic-erotic thoughts.

I am glad tells us that Derren he hates blue ink, that was always a question what I wanted to ask him…

But seriously the book is entertaining! Go and read it!

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 05:11:07 +0000

will eventually read it. Derren’s personality is a valuable and clearly a pioneer in his field. If somehow in a weird way people prove him as a fake, it would be a loss of inspiration for me.

Keep it up Derren, and keep us guessing.

By: tMaSa

tMaSa — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 03:26:05 +0000

tl;dr

By: Maisie

Maisie — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:28:50 +0000

…..wheres the *PROPERTY OF DERREN* Goatee beard that my best freind urges to tuch every day….. I’ve said too much…..

By: Berber Anna

Berber Anna — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:01:24 +0000

Raymond, were you the Dutch guy I talked to on my way to the foyer? I remember that (and the ‘nose dive’ was lots of fun — as my friend noticed, I managed to gracefully slump to the floor without letting my skirt do a Marilyn Monroe — that’s hypnosis for you! )

I like both sides of the character, but then I am a bit partial to trickstery evilness… The stage persona is a bit more ‘real’, I suppose you need that if you want your audience to cooperate.

The Events were all right — especially the sofa one — but it would’ve been nice if the actual proper ending to the 1st one had been shown (you can find lots of blogs of people who saw it at the taping if you google it, it was much better).

By: Raymond

Raymond — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:47:03 +0000

@Berber, I remember chatting to you briefly in the interval of An Evening of Wonders where you were the spectator as mindreader (you too a nose dive to the floor, remember?).

Your distinctions sum the two characters up very well. The TV Derren would not do well on stage, I think, nobody would dare to come on stage.
I like Derren’s stage persona so much more.

The Events were indeed a smutch on Derren’s reputation (though there were some very clever effects in there).

I am amazed though that Derren, Andy and Anthony Owen can still come up with great new effects which are entertaining after a whole decade! So they created a lasting persona.

By: Jules

Jules — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:12:02 +0000

I’d hardly consider myself obsessive, but if I’m a passenger in a car I quite often try to coincide twitching my toes with each lamp post as it goes by (preferably as it becomes parallel with my toes).

Good article, although she seems quite sceptical of how much someone could be able to manipulate a person’s (or even entire crowd’s) thoughts in a psychological manner, I mean it’s only been done for thousands of years, I’m sure there are a few good techniques out by now. Anyway, people are sceptical these days and tend to look for the trickery a lot more, very little is ‘new’, Derren is definitely NOT just the same old magician. Would be very interesting to read the book, is probably about time I drop the Sharp books anyway.

By: Berber Anna

Berber Anna — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:53:51 +0000

Raymond: Interesting way to look at it. I’d never really seen much of a difference between the tv and stage persona. I kind of saw them as two sides of the same character, with the tv version a bit more ‘trickster-ish’ (was going to say develish, but that sort of implies evil intent when even the tv version only pokes at people to see what they’ll do, not to hurt them). The stage version is a bit more cheeky language-wise, and a bit more vaudevillian and self-deprecating, but they never struck me as distinctly different characters.

Of course they ARE characters, it’s an act ffs. That’s why I find it so strange when people say they’re scared to ask Derren for an autograph for fear he’ll read their minds. Do they also expect traditional magicians to pull rabbits out of their baseball caps?