Sundays 9 p.m, Channel 4I'm a huge fan of Derren Brown, so I'm obviously glued to the TV every Sunday night at 9 p.m now his Trick Of The Mind series has returned to Channel 4. Brilliant, brilliant stuff. I'm sure everyone knows who Derren is (certainly if you live in the UK -- not sure if he's gone international yet...), but if not, well, he's basically a psychological illusionist. Or "mind reader".
However you categorize him, he's been making magic/hypnosis cool again in recent years. Yes, David Blaine pioneered "street magic" to phenomenal effect, but his increasingly surreal and pointless endurance stunts have become old very fast. All exemplified by the "living in a box" debacle above the River Thames! Watching Londoners turn his stunt into a living hell was pure TV gold...
But I'm not dissing Blaine, really, as he's clearly very talented and still an interesting performer, but at least Derren Brown is personable and, for my money, has a brand of magic streets ahead of Blaine and co in terms of interest.
Last night's Trick Of The Mind was particularly good. In one standout, a volunteer was blindfolded at a train station, driven across town in a taxi playing classical music, told to get into some pyjamas, quickly (and bizarrely) shown subliminal messages on a projected screen, then told to go to sleep. Simple.
However... the fun began when it became clear Derren had been able to plant ideas into the guy's mind and prompt his dream! At one point, Derren woke the sleeper and was told he'd been having a dream about a "hospital", an "old woman", "sheep", "grass", "snow" and other dream-like oddities (all predicted by Derren on a board).
Then came the masterstroke: the sleeper's bedroom was slowly altered during the night to resemble his dream! The poor bloke woke up to find himself in a snow-covered grassy hospital full of sheep and a creepy old lady lying in bed! Bizarre. Very strange to see the poor lad wander around, acting as if this was still the dream, before being told by Derren (via intercom) to head back to bed...
Fabulous stuff. If you're new to Derren's work, check out his own website and the CH4 microsite for more information, DVD's, tour dates, and other goodies!
