He's surely done everything he can possibly do! But no, while it's true that many of his tricks work on principles he's already established and shown (lessening their impact), there's still an abundance of clever ways for him to amuse, astound and sometimes anger...
Trick Or Treat returned last night for a second series. As you probably know, in this series Derren gives members of the public (ordinarily fans) the chance to have a "trick" or a "treat" played on them. The tricks are usually the most interesting and entertaining (for viewers, if not the "victim"), but this first episode concerned a treat. Glen was the subject, and he was given just 7 days to "speed learn" in preparation for a champion of champions Pub Quiz. Using a special technique Derren taught him (to scan-read thousands of books and rely on his subconscious taking all the information in), Glen set about pouring through an entire library of tomes.
It worked. At the competition, Glen sat alone (well, with his wife for moral support), and came joint-first! An amazing accomplishment for someone who ordinarily wouldn't know the answers (they seemed to bubble up in his mind, sometimes as visual clues), and astonishing considering all the other participants were in teams of 5 or more. Apparently, the technique only lasts for a short amount of time, before the mind actively forgets what has sunk into the subconscious.
Of course, you always have to look at Derren's work with a critical eye. Did this technique really work? I do find it difficult to believe the mind can digest that much information just by scan-reading books. A few things might sink in (visual drawings, mainly) but you're not properly reading and understanding the words, are you. Did Derren perhaps know what the quiz questions would be, and drop the answers into Glen's mind in other ways? Were most of the books rigged to have the quiz answers written into them? Who knows. Maybe the mind really is that clever. Students; take note next time you're trying to cram for an exam -- just drift your finger through your text books without trying to remember anything!
A very entertaining episode, as you expect and usually get with Derren Brown. His TV shows aren't as jam-packed with tricks as they used to be, but he always has interesting twists on old themes and ideas. And I chuckled at his sly allusion to the fact he's gay, when stating he's not used to "flicking the bean". Next week seems to be a trick-based episode about the power of negative suggestion, and already sounds twice as interesting. It's always more fun when Derren's "powers" are used in creepy, insidious ways...
2 May 2008
Channel 4, 10.00 pm
