Dear Jedi and Hack Monkey,
Derren neither is nor was a con man.He's just a nice guy from Bristol that got his break from meeting Jerry Sadowitz in International Magic(so Jerry tells me)and hooked up with a really smart producer called Antony Owen who has just incidentally won a Bafta...oh ofcourse...the jewish chap who has brought out a video and is one of his advisors is a guy called Andy Nymann.

Derren never uses his skill to con bookies out of money.You know us mentalists,we often talk alot of tripe.Just because we say we did so and so or can do such and such,it probably amounts to just another red herring.
Did you ever read the corrinda 13 steps to mentalism?Corrinda strikes me as another British pre-curser to the Derren sophistication.

I was fortunate enough to see Derren work one of his first demonstrations,unfilmed upstairs in a little pub in Clerkenwell back in 1998.He was selling pure effect in spiral bind,it had an extra chapter about a trick called REMINISCENCE-it was a killer...and I sat and listened as he gave to my knowledge,the only ever verbal explanation of it to a crowd of magicians.
I have told him myself and firmly believe that his witt,eloquence,intellectual/scholastic delivery will agur well for his future and when he hits the states...believe me,magicians wont want to be Blaine anymore!!

Dare I say it,mr Blaine will have his work cut out to maintain his cudos at the hands of Derren's sophisticated PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH.In Derrens Wisdom,he will not even market himself as a magician!!There will be no talk of magic or tricks or using 5 senses to give the illusion of a 6th,or mind reading or psychic phenomina.Its going to be all about Neurolinguistic programming,Kinaesthetic responses and behavioural patterns that are discernable to someone who knows how to hook in and manipulate them.The whole darn thing is so water tight that people don't even look for an explanation as to how he does what he does because they THINK THAT HE HAS ALREADY PERFECTLY EXPLAINED TO THEM THE REASONS THEY ARE ACTING AND RESPONDING IN THE WAY THAT THEY ARE....Hes a clever boy alright,and,such a brilliant actor that his psychological antics are impeccably undergirded with the utmost plausability.All the best to him.He's a good lad.

Hi Max, you and I both know that Derren talks a lot of tripe. He may say he is using muscle reading and PSYCHOLOGICAL stuff but a lot of it is tricks using three way force decks and so on. He is a good actor and great at chatting nonsense.. I liked that OXO trick you showed me the other night, maybe we should sell the rights to Derren.

I've seen two of the Mind Control shows and one of Derren's card tapes. Watch out America!! Prepare to be amazed.
Greg

I'm still looking forward to seeing the first Greg Arce special, you totally fried me at the convention


For those that don't know, Greg is a killer performer.

Okay, Ich, for that comment I need to know where I can send you a check. Thanks. By the way, I've spoken with Gordon Bean, who puts out the Penumbra magazine, and I will be putting my take on the Kollassal Killer (with no outs) in one of the following issues. I'll keep you guys posted since a few have PM'd about the specifics.
Greg

Cool! Now, where can I get a copy when it comes out?

Derren is great by the way.

With reference to the comments about well-known UK magicians being unknown in the States, I asked half-a-dozen lay people (in the UK) if they'd heard of Dai Vernon. None of them had. If you get an opportunity to see Derren Brown perform, don't miss it. And I highly recommend his video "The Devil's Picturebook". Derren is a very talented card worker. If you see his video bear in mind that this is the stuff he has moved on from.

"Derren Brown is a pretty big guy in England, and he is going to hit the States soon. You will all know him in 6 months from now."

What is this meaning? How is he going to "hit" the states? Is he going to do a TV special here in the US?

As I have heard it, that is the plan.

--Christopher Carter

They have been talking about his American TV special for well over a year. Hopefully, they will actually get it going. Especially since his Mind Control shows will not be shown in the US and are still unavailable to buy.