I think his problem is he has tended to over-emphasise the psychology. The people on this thread are not the first to point out the slight hypocrisy in decrying psychics as fakes, but not being entirely honest with his own audience either.
Which is the misdirection (or my interpretation of).
Many years ago he did a trick where a guy went around a supermarket after about 5 - 10 minutes of psycobable. The idea being that he was going to be subjected to all sorts of subconscious signals and show that he didn't have true free will.
At the end a map of the store was revealed showing the direction he took. This was obviously drawn after the guy went round the supermarket. What was brilliant is how this was done and revealed. Remove all the psychology stuff and it becomes a basic magic trick - brilliantly done though.
And isn't a magician when [add your favourite illusion here] asking you to "believe his own little brand of BS"?
Isn't a singer in One Direction singing a love song asking you to "believe his own little brand of BS" that he is singing it just for you because he loves you and will marry you?
It's called entertainment and you are free you buy into it or not, yet many on here seem to think that Derren Brown must act differently from every other type of entertainment and tell you everything on demand. It really does all boil down to the fact that someone doesn't know who he does something and so has decided to slang him off until he supplies the demanding child with what they want.
It is this new generation of demanding children that is the problem here as you never used to get this with magicians of yesteryear as people just watched a woman being sawn in half, didn't know how it was done and just accepted it as a most entertaining thing. Then the hate-filled, childish tantrum, demanding generation came along and this is the result. The 'entitled' generation who demand to be given all the answers now or else they have a tantrum.
They just can't even grasp the whole concept that in this type of entertainment, you are not meant to know all the answers. They just can't cope with the whole concept.
And they're not at all. He may repeatedly tell you he's not psychic but I've never heard him once say that his suggestion-schtick is all bollocks. He needs you to believe in that, it's his USP and what has made him big.
The worse thing is that he catches out people who should know better - I don't particularly think he will have converted that many people who previously believed in psychics (they're a stubborn, mad bunch), but what he will have done is caught plenty of people who already knew psychics were a scam, and made them believe his own little brand of BS instead (that humans are controllable, readable, ultra-suggestible etc).
I think that has been Darren's greatest achievement - get people to believe that he can control their actions via suggestions and subliminal messages and build a huge story around it to mask a basic magicians technique under it all.
This is not a criticism. I think Darren is the best out there at the moment.
And isn't a magician when [add your favourite illusion here] asking you to "believe his own little brand of BS"?
Isn't a singer in One Direction singing a love song asking you to "believe his own little brand of BS" that he is singing it just for you because he loves you and will marry you?
It's called entertainment and you are free you buy into it or not, yet many on here seem to think that Derren Brown must act differently from every other type of entertainment and tell you everything on demand. It really does all boil down to the fact that someone doesn't know who he does something and so has decided to slang him off until he supplies the demanding child with what they want.
It is this new generation of demanding children that is the problem here as you never used to get this with magicians of yesteryear as people just watched a woman being sawn in half, didn't know how it was done and just accepted it as a most entertaining thing. Then the hate-filled, childish tantrum, demanding generation came along and this is the result. The 'entitled' generation who demand to be given all the answers now or else they have a tantrum.
They just can't even grasp the whole concept that in this type of entertainment, you are not meant to know all the answers. They just can't cope with the whole concept.
Eh... you appear to be the one having a tantrum and having difficulty grasping things.
Stage hypnotism is not real, your friend was playing along.
So just you knows better than all the people actually doing a professional stage hypnosis act and top professors in this field around the world? They can't agree and yet you know better than them what it actually is?
Let's have a look at how he "threw a frisbee" to guess this woman's dog's name then shall we?
Derren: [speech about how we're all the same] If you're a lady, put your hand up. If you're about 20, keep your hand up. If your name begins with ... ooh, F - totally random letter! ... keep your hand up. Okay, now stand up if your hand is still up. There's a few... any up there in the balconies? Ah yeah, there's one. You stay standing up, the rest of you can sit down. What's your name?
Woman: Faye
Derren: How old are you?
Woman: 20.
:rolleyes:
Is this the first time you've seen him or something (assuming you even saw this one)? That's just one trick in one of his shows. (Did he even use the frisbee in that bit? I can't remember.) He doesn't go through that every single time. It usually really is a case of turning his back to audience, chucking a frisbee, or sometimes a teddy bear, into the first few rows, then getting them to throw it around a few times. There is absolutely no way he can arrange for it to end up with a person of his choosing.
You're spot on. Yes he repeatedly says "I'm not psychic", but a large proportion of his audience buy tickets because they think they're seeing this:
No, I don't believe they do. People go to see him 'read minds', sure, but not because they think he's psychic. They go just to be amazed at however he does do it.
And they're not at all. He may repeatedly tell you he's not psychic but I've never heard him once say that his suggestion-schtick is all bollocks. He needs you to believe in that, it's his USP and what has made him big.
Why would he? Let's assume that he's not double-bluffing us and he really isn't psychic. So, he's got to have some sort of explanation for how he does it, so he comes up with what you call his 'suggestion-schtick'. Now, if that's his story, of course he's going to stick with it. It may not actually be true - maybe he really is psychic, but knows that to admit it would be very damaging - but of course he's not going to suddenly tell us that the methods he freely admits to using are, themselves, bollocks. Getting us to buy into them is all part of the act.
The worse thing is that he catches out people who should know better - I don't particularly think he will have converted that many people who previously believed in psychics (they're a stubborn, mad bunch), but what he will have done is caught plenty of people who already knew psychics were a scam, and made them believe his own little brand of BS instead (that humans are controllable, readable, ultra-suggestible etc).
But we are! Countless experiments and studies have proven this conclusively. At, perhaps, its most basic and relatable level, advertising is simple control and suggestibility. If it could be proven that it didn't work, it would have been long ago. The only reason we still have them is because we are '...controllable, readable, ultra-suggestible...'. Like I say, whether or not the methods he claims to use are really what he's doing is impossible to know for sure, but they are valid, proven 'mind control' techniques.
as a few people have said its easily explained by research, actors (stooges) and social media. within 1 hour I can find out just about anything about any uk individual including how much they are worth and have in their bank, credit ratings, family history. all strewn together it makes it look good. but with these places you book in advance and give your name and address. its easy for a researcher to go to that womans house and get her number as part of a sensus or energy swap then base the entire routine around that number knowing she will be in at that date. always having a backup in case of illness.
also if you were to visit the same show in three different venues you would see how most is done
Is this the first time you've seen him or something (assuming you even saw this one)? That's just one trick in one of his shows. (Did he even use the frisbee in that bit? I can't remember.) He doesn't go through that every single time. It usually really is a case of turning his back to audience, chucking a frisbee, or sometimes a teddy bear, into the first few rows, then getting them to throw is around a few times. There is absolutely no way he can arrange for it to end up with a person of his choosing.
Wow, calm yourself. "Assuming you even saw this one" - I just transcribed (practically verbatim) how he "randomly" selected the lady whose dog he named. And you think I didn't watch it? Inspiration specifically asked (in response to somebody saying that he already knew the dog's name) how he possibly ends up with such a person when they're randomly selected.
Funnily enough, in addressing that, I wasn't explaining how he might do every trick ever. I'm well aware he chucks a frisbee out sometimes. And guess what - this is when it doesn't matter who the volunteer is.
In this particular instance he systematically chose that particular lady because he already knew she had dogs, and what their names were. Do you contest this?
Like I say, whether or not the methods he claims to use are really what he's doing is impossible to know for sure, but they are valid, proven techniques.
Well, no, they're not. And this illustrates the problem some of us have with Derren's misdirection. People really believe he's on the level, because he seamlessly mixes fact with nonsense. And they come away with a load of ridiculous beliefs about what is real - very similar to beliefs (e.g. in Psychics) that Derren supposedly rails against.
as a few people have said its easily explained by research, actors (stooges) and social media. within 1 hour I can find out just about anything about any uk individual including how much they are worth and have in their bank, credit ratings, family history.
No, you can't, certainly not legally anyway. Are you suggesting Derren Brown uses illegal techniques on every single person who sees every one of his shows? That's a bold claim.
all strewn together it makes it look good. but with these places you book in advance and give your name and address. its easy for a researcher to go to that womans house and get her number as part of a sensus or energy swap then base the entire routine around that number knowing she will be in at that date. always having a backup in case of illness.
also if you were to visit the same show in three different venues you would see how most is done
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Obviously you'll do this if they're sent to you, but not generally for box office purchases. Why would they need your address? Even if they asked, what's to stop you giving a false name and/ or address if you're the paranoid type who believes, for e.g. that's how Brown operates? You're not ordering a pizza; the theatre doesn't cross-check the details before giving you the tickets. Swing and a miss there, I'm afraid.
They just can't even grasp the whole concept that in this type of entertainment, you are not meant to know all the answers. They just can't cope with the whole concept.
I once watched a trick where a woman kept making a handkerchief disappear into her hands then kept brining if out of her cloths. Each time she removed an item of clothing until she was starkers.
Those of you know know about magic will know immediately how it was done. As someone who did not know the routine and illusion was brilliant.
I did a bit of Google searching to find out how it was done.
Once I found out how it was done I felt deflated.
Moral: I don't want to really know how tricks are done as I prefer to feeling of being amazed...
The original video is below - warning it's a bit rude - you have been warned...
Wow, calm yourself. "Assuming you even saw this one" - I just transcribed (practically verbatim) how he "randomly" selected the lady whose dog he named. And you think I didn't watch it? Inspiration specifically asked (in response to somebody saying that he already knew the dog's name) how he possibly ends up with such a person when they're randomly selected.
Funnily enough, in addressing that, I wasn't explaining how he might do every trick ever. I'm well aware he chucks a frisbee out sometimes. And guess what - this is when it doesn't matter who the volunteer is.
In this particular instance he systematically chose that particular lady because he already knew she had dogs, and what their names were. Do you contest this?
Apologies if that came off harsh. I was just surprised you used that as an example to 'de-bunk' the frisbee thing. I can't recall the specific trick you're describing to be able to contest it or not. I don't think it involved a frisbee though, did it?
Well, no, they're not. And this illustrates the problem some of us have with Derren's misdirection. People really believe he's on the level, because he seamlessly mixes fact with nonsense.
Ah, possibly I've mis-understood the line of discussion you're comment was part of. Surely you've heard of techniques such as NLP, mnemonics, subliminal suggestion, memory journeys, body language (mirroring of) etc? These are the sort of techniques he claims to use. They've been around for years, decades. He hasn't invented them himself.
as a few people have said its easily explained by research, actors (stooges) and social media. within 1 hour I can find out just about anything about any uk individual including how much they are worth and have in their bank, credit ratings, family history. all strewn together it makes it look good. but with these places you book in advance and give your name and address. its easy for a researcher to go to that womans house and get her number as part of a sensus or energy swap then base the entire routine around that number knowing she will be in at that date. always having a backup in case of illness.
also if you were to visit the same show in three different venues you would see how most is done
Ah, possibly I've mis-understood the line of discussion you're comment was part of. Surely you've heard of techniques such as NLP, mnemonics, subliminal suggestion, memory journeys. body language (mirroring of) etc? These are the sort of techniques he claims to use. He hasn't invented them himself.
Yes, and they're mostly bollocks/of very limited effect in reality. Nothing like the ridiculous degrees Derren claims. Sorry, he's fibbing to you.
But we are! Countless experiments and studies have proven this conclusively. At, perhaps, its most basic and relatable level, advertising is simple control and suggestibility. If it could be proven that it didn't work, it would have been long ago. The only reason we still have them is because we are '...controllable, readable, ultra-suggestible...'. Like I say, whether or not the methods he claims to use are really what he's doing is impossible to know for sure, but they are valid, proven 'mind control' techniques.
This is my take on this.
Yes, suggestibility really is true and effective to differing degrees.
Darren uses the fact that we know this to suggest that is how he is doing it (misdirection).
The problem is, a stage act has to work each and every time. A magician cannot allow for too many random variables. He, like all other magicians, sometimes pretends it is going wrong to add to the illusion.
So, he is using some other technique and shrouding it in all this psyco-speak.
Yes, and they're mostly bollocks/of very limited effect in reality. Nothing like the ridiculous degrees Derren claims. Sorry, he's fibbing to you.
Ah, you're saying that in your opinion the techniques themselves are bollocks. Sorry, I inferred that you were saying that Brown's claims that he uses them was bollocks.
So just you knows better than all the people actually doing a professional stage hypnosis act and top professors in this field around the world? They can't agree and yet you know better than them what it actually is?
I bow to your superior knowledge.
No see, that's the thing...they all know it too. Rather than getting overly sarcy, why not just have a look into it for yourself? Stage hypnotism is complete fabrication. The only people in the field who say otherwise are those with an interest in keeping up the deception, there have been a great many "defectors" who previously practised then came out and admitted it was all fake.
Apologies if that came off harsh. I was just surprised you used that as an example to 'de-bunk' the frisbee thing. I can't recall the specific trick you're describing to be able to contest it or not. I don't think it involved a frisbee though, did it?
You are absolutely correct, it did not involve a frisbee. As I said, I was responding to somebody who specifically asked how he "ensure the frisbee ended up with this person" when it was suggested that he already knew the lady's dogs.
It's actually a fantastic example of something else magicians rely on a lot - false memory. We see a frisbee chucked around to select some people (i.e. when all we need is "a volunteer", nothing specific), and we're happy that it seems random enough. Then when we look back on it and tell our friends what happened, the lady in question was picked randomly - when in reality she was very systematically chosen.
A good example of frisbee "forcing" was also evident in Infamous though - our lady whose phone number was the big reveal in the finale is there with a frisbee in her hand when she's asked to write down her phone number. But how can this be, she could therefore be anyone, how could he possibly know her phone number in order to ensure that the random numbers add up to it at the end? Well, go back and watch the segment again. He doesn't just toss the frisbee out - he says he's "looking for a lady on or near the aisle" (er, why?) and chucks the frisbee out. The camera then cuts to that section of the audience and he says "yeah, there's one" and an usher from the aisle (probably the same one who is able to hand her a pen & paper seconds later) is practically wrestling the frisbee off others to get it to her.
Yes, suggestibility really is true and effective to differing degrees.
Darren uses the fact that we know this to suggest that is how he is doing it (misdirection).
The problem is, a stage act has to work each and every time. A magician cannot allow for too many random variables. He, like all other magicians, sometimes pretends it is going wrong to add to the illusion.
So, he is using some other technique and shrouding it in all this psyco-speak.
So you're suggesting that he's developed an entirely new branch of psychology, or science, or 'magic' or whatever you want to call it, whereby the sort of results that can be obtained from long standing methods such as NLP and memory/ likeability techniques etc can be obtained in ways currently known only to Derren Brown? I can see why he's keeping quiet about it. Holding it back for the lecture circuit when he's too old for the stage stuff.
So you're suggesting that he's developed an entirely new branch of psychology, or science, or whatever you want to call it, whereby the sort of results that can be obtained from long standing methods such as NLP, memory tools etc can be obtained in ways currently known only to Derren Brown? I can see why he's keeping quiet about it. Holding it back for the lecture circuit when he's too old for the stage stuff.
So you're suggesting that he's developed an entirely new branch of psychology, or science, or 'magic' or whatever you want to call it, whereby the sort of results that can be obtained from long standing methods such as NLP and memory/ likeability techniques etc can be obtained in ways currently known only to Derren Brown? I can see why he's keeping quiet about it. Holding it back for the lecture circuit when he's too old for the stage stuff.
No. I'm suggesting that he is using a combination of basic standard margician's tricks.
I bet every magician out there knows 1) how he did it or 2) knows how he could be doing it.
No see, that's the thing...they all know it too. Rather than getting overly sarcy, why not just have a look into it for yourself? Stage hypnotism is complete fabrication. The only people in the field who say otherwise are those with an interest in keeping up the deception, there have been a great many "defectors" who previously practised then came out and admitted it was all fake.
Ha Ha and off you go again speaking for everyone in a field you seem to know nothing about and without even knowing a thing about me.
You carry on! Don't let anything stop you.
(And there you are: Another person throwing around the word fake, without any meaning even to your own misguided claptrap. If the Stage Hypnotist asks someone to do something and they do, (Even just to play along, as in your mindset of things) then that is what people see happening in a hypnosis show! Where is the fakery? So all in all just a negative word to throw into posts, as so many others here have done, just to back up the negative mindset they arrived with in the first place.)
No. I'm suggesting that he is using a combination of basic standard margician's tricks.
I bet every magician out there knows 1) how he did it or 2) know how he could be doing it.
But surely such 'mind control' techniques are part of the standard magicians tricks, at least if you want to develop beyond simple card tricks? It's about knowing how and when to mis-direct, how to get people to look where you want them to look at a given time, being pretty sure how a person is going to act or re-act, getting them to behave in a certain way, 'hypnosis' etc. I think we've been debating two sides of the same coin. I've always considered these techniques to be fairly standard in the industry. Brown's just dispensed with the sleight of hand stuff and focused purely on that side of it.
ETA - in that case, how is he misleading anyone? Every magician/ illusionist learns and uses the same techniques he has, or they'd have to invent new ones. They just don't all use them as much as Brown does is all and he just explains how he and similar illusionists do it.
I went to see Infamous (the whole show was not shown on TV) and there are undoubtedly parts which can be explained. I spotted one not so random bit myself. I also spotted a couple of other things, and put two and two together to come up with a way certain things were done. There were other parts which completely baffled me and still do; but I know that not everything was as it seemed. Just the same as any magic show.
Derren Brown presents his show in a particular way, one which appeals to me. I know that he can't really do magic, isn't psychic, can't speak to the dead and can't pull tumours out of bodies with his hands. I know that he uses tricks and misdirection, and I don't care. His delivery, for me, is ace. He has a huge amount of charisma and does what he does very well. It's entertaining, and that is what I wanted to be, entertained.
I'm not entirely sure why people try to explain, or perhaps expose is the right word, everything that he does, it seems pretty joyless to me, but if that's their bag so be it.
I'm not entirely sure why people try to explain, or perhaps expose is the right word, everything that he does, it seems pretty joyless to me, but if that's their bag so be it.
Personally I don't care how he does it, just that people understand how he doesn't do it. As I said, a lot of people have a lot of ridiculous beliefs about subliminal consciousness, suggestibility, readability, controllability, all that garbage because of him. That's what irks me. I'm saying the same things that I would say to people who believe in psychics, ESP and all other manner of supernatural plop. And funnily enough, Derren would say the same as me on all those other subjects too... that's what really grates.
Comments
Which is the misdirection (or my interpretation of).
Many years ago he did a trick where a guy went around a supermarket after about 5 - 10 minutes of psycobable. The idea being that he was going to be subjected to all sorts of subconscious signals and show that he didn't have true free will.
At the end a map of the store was revealed showing the direction he took. This was obviously drawn after the guy went round the supermarket. What was brilliant is how this was done and revealed. Remove all the psychology stuff and it becomes a basic magic trick - brilliantly done though.
Isn't a singer in One Direction singing a love song asking you to "believe his own little brand of BS" that he is singing it just for you because he loves you and will marry you?
It's called entertainment and you are free you buy into it or not, yet many on here seem to think that Derren Brown must act differently from every other type of entertainment and tell you everything on demand. It really does all boil down to the fact that someone doesn't know who he does something and so has decided to slang him off until he supplies the demanding child with what they want.
It is this new generation of demanding children that is the problem here as you never used to get this with magicians of yesteryear as people just watched a woman being sawn in half, didn't know how it was done and just accepted it as a most entertaining thing. Then the hate-filled, childish tantrum, demanding generation came along and this is the result. The 'entitled' generation who demand to be given all the answers now or else they have a tantrum.
They just can't even grasp the whole concept that in this type of entertainment, you are not meant to know all the answers. They just can't cope with the whole concept.
I think that has been Darren's greatest achievement - get people to believe that he can control their actions via suggestions and subliminal messages and build a huge story around it to mask a basic magicians technique under it all.
This is not a criticism. I think Darren is the best out there at the moment.
Eh... you appear to be the one having a tantrum and having difficulty grasping things.
So just you knows better than all the people actually doing a professional stage hypnosis act and top professors in this field around the world? They can't agree and yet you know better than them what it actually is?
I bow to your superior knowledge.
No, I don't believe they do. People go to see him 'read minds', sure, but not because they think he's psychic. They go just to be amazed at however he does do it.
Why would he? Let's assume that he's not double-bluffing us and he really isn't psychic. So, he's got to have some sort of explanation for how he does it, so he comes up with what you call his 'suggestion-schtick'. Now, if that's his story, of course he's going to stick with it. It may not actually be true - maybe he really is psychic, but knows that to admit it would be very damaging - but of course he's not going to suddenly tell us that the methods he freely admits to using are, themselves, bollocks. Getting us to buy into them is all part of the act.
But we are! Countless experiments and studies have proven this conclusively. At, perhaps, its most basic and relatable level, advertising is simple control and suggestibility. If it could be proven that it didn't work, it would have been long ago. The only reason we still have them is because we are '...controllable, readable, ultra-suggestible...'. Like I say, whether or not the methods he claims to use are really what he's doing is impossible to know for sure, but they are valid, proven 'mind control' techniques.
also if you were to visit the same show in three different venues you would see how most is done
Wow, calm yourself. "Assuming you even saw this one" - I just transcribed (practically verbatim) how he "randomly" selected the lady whose dog he named. And you think I didn't watch it? Inspiration specifically asked (in response to somebody saying that he already knew the dog's name) how he possibly ends up with such a person when they're randomly selected.
Funnily enough, in addressing that, I wasn't explaining how he might do every trick ever. I'm well aware he chucks a frisbee out sometimes. And guess what - this is when it doesn't matter who the volunteer is.
In this particular instance he systematically chose that particular lady because he already knew she had dogs, and what their names were. Do you contest this?
Well, no, they're not. And this illustrates the problem some of us have with Derren's misdirection. People really believe he's on the level, because he seamlessly mixes fact with nonsense. And they come away with a load of ridiculous beliefs about what is real - very similar to beliefs (e.g. in Psychics) that Derren supposedly rails against.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Obviously you'll do this if they're sent to you, but not generally for box office purchases. Why would they need your address? Even if they asked, what's to stop you giving a false name and/ or address if you're the paranoid type who believes, for e.g. that's how Brown operates? You're not ordering a pizza; the theatre doesn't cross-check the details before giving you the tickets. Swing and a miss there, I'm afraid.
I once watched a trick where a woman kept making a handkerchief disappear into her hands then kept brining if out of her cloths. Each time she removed an item of clothing until she was starkers.
Those of you know know about magic will know immediately how it was done. As someone who did not know the routine and illusion was brilliant.
I did a bit of Google searching to find out how it was done.
Once I found out how it was done I felt deflated.
Moral: I don't want to really know how tricks are done as I prefer to feeling of being amazed...
The original video is below - warning it's a bit rude - you have been warned...
Ah, possibly I've mis-understood the line of discussion you're comment was part of. Surely you've heard of techniques such as NLP, mnemonics, subliminal suggestion, memory journeys, body language (mirroring of) etc? These are the sort of techniques he claims to use. They've been around for years, decades. He hasn't invented them himself.
Yes, and they're mostly bollocks/of very limited effect in reality. Nothing like the ridiculous degrees Derren claims. Sorry, he's fibbing to you.
This is my take on this.
Yes, suggestibility really is true and effective to differing degrees.
Darren uses the fact that we know this to suggest that is how he is doing it (misdirection).
The problem is, a stage act has to work each and every time. A magician cannot allow for too many random variables. He, like all other magicians, sometimes pretends it is going wrong to add to the illusion.
So, he is using some other technique and shrouding it in all this psyco-speak.
You are absolutely correct, it did not involve a frisbee. As I said, I was responding to somebody who specifically asked how he "ensure the frisbee ended up with this person" when it was suggested that he already knew the lady's dogs.
It's actually a fantastic example of something else magicians rely on a lot - false memory. We see a frisbee chucked around to select some people (i.e. when all we need is "a volunteer", nothing specific), and we're happy that it seems random enough. Then when we look back on it and tell our friends what happened, the lady in question was picked randomly - when in reality she was very systematically chosen.
A good example of frisbee "forcing" was also evident in Infamous though - our lady whose phone number was the big reveal in the finale is there with a frisbee in her hand when she's asked to write down her phone number. But how can this be, she could therefore be anyone, how could he possibly know her phone number in order to ensure that the random numbers add up to it at the end? Well, go back and watch the segment again. He doesn't just toss the frisbee out - he says he's "looking for a lady on or near the aisle" (er, why?) and chucks the frisbee out. The camera then cuts to that section of the audience and he says "yeah, there's one" and an usher from the aisle (probably the same one who is able to hand her a pen & paper seconds later) is practically wrestling the frisbee off others to get it to her.
No, he's suggesting quite the opposite.
No. I'm suggesting that he is using a combination of basic standard margician's tricks.
I bet every magician out there knows 1) how he did it or 2) knows how he could be doing it.
Ha Ha and off you go again speaking for everyone in a field you seem to know nothing about and without even knowing a thing about me.
You carry on! Don't let anything stop you.
(And there you are: Another person throwing around the word fake, without any meaning even to your own misguided claptrap. If the Stage Hypnotist asks someone to do something and they do, (Even just to play along, as in your mindset of things) then that is what people see happening in a hypnosis show! Where is the fakery? So all in all just a negative word to throw into posts, as so many others here have done, just to back up the negative mindset they arrived with in the first place.)
ETA - in that case, how is he misleading anyone? Every magician/ illusionist learns and uses the same techniques he has, or they'd have to invent new ones. They just don't all use them as much as Brown does is all and he just explains how he and similar illusionists do it.
Old Endeavour, in the past you have been:
Caliban's Dream
Ginger Geek
Benry Gale
Am I right?
Derren Brown presents his show in a particular way, one which appeals to me. I know that he can't really do magic, isn't psychic, can't speak to the dead and can't pull tumours out of bodies with his hands. I know that he uses tricks and misdirection, and I don't care. His delivery, for me, is ace. He has a huge amount of charisma and does what he does very well. It's entertaining, and that is what I wanted to be, entertained.
I'm not entirely sure why people try to explain, or perhaps expose is the right word, everything that he does, it seems pretty joyless to me, but if that's their bag so be it.
Personally I don't care how he does it, just that people understand how he doesn't do it. As I said, a lot of people have a lot of ridiculous beliefs about subliminal consciousness, suggestibility, readability, controllability, all that garbage because of him. That's what irks me. I'm saying the same things that I would say to people who believe in psychics, ESP and all other manner of supernatural plop. And funnily enough, Derren would say the same as me on all those other subjects too... that's what really grates.