Derren Brown lately
- Thread starter Ste59w
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Any fans of Derren here?
Just finished watching his new show Infamous (spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it)
What do you guys think of him lately? I used to be a massive fan especially when he first appeared on the scene. Still love to watch his stuff but being older and wiser now certainly seems to spoil it a bit
I actually used to believe he was telling the truth when he said he didn't use actors or stooges in his shows and was happy to just believe there was some amazing explanation for most of his tricks that you just cant explain.
The finale in infamous sees derren get 8 members of the audience to roll a dice to produce a random 8 digit number. He then takes another number some other random audience member writes down and adds them together. He writes the new number down on a board and then speaks to a member of the audience (who he'd been speaking to throughout the show) and it happens to be her mobile phone number.
No actors or stooges, yeah right! No possible way that would ever work unless that audience member was a stooge and would say it was her mobile number no matter what he said. Not impressed really :/
Thoughts?
Don't really agree on the above comment, Derren does not use stooges at all on any of his live shows.
Being a member of The Magic Circle & semi pro performer (10 years now) I am privy to this information.
What I will tell you is the dirty work is done before the routine has even begun, this is what DB excels at plus his audience management is second to none.
Cheers all
Something wicked this way comes...
Its freaking hilarious! Amazing how you can lead people like that.
So i have now seen 2 of his shows
I just remembered ive seen this on DVD... At the end of that he plays back recorded material from the previous 90 or so minutes showing how he has pushed and guided people to making choices and responding in certain ways...
Its freaking hilarious! Amazing how you can lead people like that.
So i have now seen 2 of his shows
Respect, my uncle has been a member for 30 years. And no offense but you're not privy to how Derren Brown achieves all of his results, you'll have a better idea than most people of course.
As Derren says though, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so you won't convince me unless you explain how its done. But to be honest I already know there's a stooge in there. I thought the woman with the phone at first as then all the other variables wouldn't matter as she could just agree to any number. But after the comments I'm thinking it's probably the guy, he just needs to be good at maths
I'm sorry but what dirty work can be done before the show?
He gets the woman's phone number? possible. But then how does he get the guy to pick the number he wants mid show unless he's a stooge? There is no possible way to do this.
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The problem I find with him, as with the example in the OP, everything is too elaborate and so extraordinary that x person is an actor or x audience member is in on it. Too many variables in everything I've seen him do, mainly TV stuff never seen a live show and doubt I will.
I was impressed by the trick where he guessed what random word the guy was thinking. Think it was 'film'.
Got all the males to stand up if within certain age, wage bracket, and in a relationship over 2 years. Then through a frisbee. Audience sitting down passed to someone who was standing up.
Now even if there are stooges the frisbee could have gone to anyone as it's the audiences choice.
Unless he accurately threw it to a stooge who was sitting down, who passed it to another stooge who passed it to the one standing up..
Got all the males to stand up if within certain age, wage bracket, and in a relationship over 2 years. Then through a frisbee. Audience sitting down passed to someone who was standing up.
Now even if there are stooges the frisbee could have gone to anyone as it's the audiences choice.
Unless he accurately threw it to a stooge who was sitting down, who passed it to another stooge who passed it to the one standing up..
The only way for the phone number trick is to use one stooge (the guy giving the random number on the phone).
Doesn't he write it down and put it in an envelope long before the random 8 digit number is generated?
When he opens the envelop with his random 10 digit number isn't it then broadcast?
hahaha the old frisbee trick.
Derren Brown is the king of practice and repetition. I'm thinking you could be extremely accurate with a frisbee if you practiced it enough
He'd know where they were sitting also. So yeah when he needs to use a stooge i'm pretty sure he will do this, but other times when it doesn't matter it will be random, like when he gets the audience to throw the frisbee further for him. But as you suggested it is also possible there are multiple stooges throwing frisbee to each other. This would be rehearsed many times and as we know Derren goes to great lengths to make it appear that his tricks are genuine skill. Just to emphasize this further as well, many people will not want to catch the frisbee either, most would be too scared to stand up in front of an audience and be played with by Derren. I'm sure it is sometimes random but most certainly not when it is needed. He does have genuine skill in reading people as well.
Derren Brown is the king of practice and repetition. I'm thinking you could be extremely accurate with a frisbee if you practiced it enough
He'd know where they were sitting also. So yeah when he needs to use a stooge i'm pretty sure he will do this, but other times when it doesn't matter it will be random, like when he gets the audience to throw the frisbee further for him. But as you suggested it is also possible there are multiple stooges throwing frisbee to each other. This would be rehearsed many times and as we know Derren goes to great lengths to make it appear that his tricks are genuine skill. Just to emphasize this further as well, many people will not want to catch the frisbee either, most would be too scared to stand up in front of an audience and be played with by Derren. I'm sure it is sometimes random but most certainly not when it is needed. He does have genuine skill in reading people as well.
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So he says.
But you never see the number written down. So it's probably a blank bit of paper. He even makes a big deal of 'don't get anyone see what you're writing' and thats for the reason that he can then choose whatever number is needed.
Yes, but isn't the number shown on TV/ Projector behind him as he pulls it out of the envelope? This is from memory, could be wrong.
Soldato
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No, Derren Brown really is magic, its not like his tag line at the start of his shows is 'magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship'.
Nope, definitely magic.
Nope, definitely magic.
I honestly don't recall mate.
If it is shown on the screen then the number is switched before that point somehow, using misdirection.
If you think about it there's only 2 possible ways to do this.
1. The 8 random audience members and the 1 guy happened to give numbers that matched the womans phone number. The odds of this are so high that you wouldn't see it happen in 50 life times.
2. The woman with the phone is a stooge and agrees to any number given, or the man choosing the random number is a stooge and uses misdirection to get the number needed to match the phone number, which could have easily been acquired before the show.
Respect, my uncle has been a member for 30 years. And no offense but you're not privy to how Derren Brown achieves all of his results, you'll have a better idea than most people of course.
As Derren says though, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so you won't convince me unless you explain how its done. But to be honest I already know there's a stooge in there. I thought the woman with the phone at first as then all the other variables wouldn't matter as she could just agree to any number. But after the comments I'm thinking it's probably the guy, he just needs to be good at maths
I'm sorry but what dirty work can be done before the show?
He gets the woman's phone number? possible. But then how does he get the guy to pick the number he wants mid show unless he's a stooge? There is no possible way to do this.
The dirty work I was talking about was when the routine starts on stage, from DB'S point of view the trick is over before its begun.
I will not give out methods but what I will say is that DB has got toys to use in his shows that most magicians cannot afford.
He is a master at picking the right person for the routine from say 8 people selected with all fairness at random with the Frisbee thrown into the audience.
If you pick the right person they will agree to anything you tell them to do or say on a stage in front of 1500 or so people in a theatre, that's where DB is a master at truly reading people via body language etc.
Having seen all of his shows live the audience loves him and are almost queueing to get up on stage & take part which makes his life a lot easier, he really is a great showman & entertainer unlike certain current tv magicians who have hardly any character or personality.
Cheers all
I went to his show in Belfast and thought it was great
You have hit the nail on the head there its good entertainment
Cheers all
I completely agree, Derren is excellent at reading body language and choosing the right people for his tricks.
However in respect to the finale i'm still 100% it's a stooge.
The 8 random audience members that roll the dice are indeed random and the numbers generated by the dice are also random and fair. No issue there.
The 1 guy on his own choosing a 10 digit number however, no technology/toys or clever manipulation on Derren's part can make him choose the exact number he needs to match the phone number. Do you dispute this?
It's not a case of him 'agreeing' to anything, he needs to choose an exact number for it to work.
I will have to watch it again (got it recorded at home) I saw the show 9 months ago so I need a refresh etc. how does the guy choose the number?
But there are methods out there that would enable you to get the desired number.
Was he blindfolded?
Cheers all
But there are methods out there that would enable you to get the desired number.
Was he blindfolded?
Cheers all