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Summary: A master showman's finest hours
Comment: How does he do it?
There is a bit in Derren Brown's book where he makes a point often made by magicians, illusionists, mentalists - call them what you will: you don't really WANT to know how it's done. Usually the trick is so simple and straightforward that it's profoundly disappointing to know the secret. The real trick, of course, is the breathtaking showmanship with which it is executed.
All the same, I really WOULD like to know how he did these! These are some of his most audaciously-executed one-offs and fans have been waiting for them to come out on DVD for some time. His Russian Roulette stunt got the whole country talking. Some people seemed genuinely surprised that there was any element of trickery involved at all ('What, so he was never in any real danger of blowing his own head off? Aw!') but whatever your perspective, it plays brilliantly with your expectations and creates real tension.
As for The Seance, despite the fact that he TOLD everyone it was trickery and nothing supernatural was going on, it became one of Channel 4's most complained-about programmes because loads of people thought he was meddling with dark forces. This reveals just how convincing his stunts are.
I was once asked, in my capacity as a psychologist, to be in the audience of one of his other specials, The Gathering, but it wasn't one of his classics. How I wish I'd been in one of these four instead! Mesmerising stuff!
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![Derren Brown - The Specials [2008]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51w03tpQnvL._SL160_.jpg)
