Derren Brown: Trick of the Mind

I think that the spell/trick/cheat with the woman who lifts the muscleman, but, after Derren’s intervention can’t pick him up anymore is a perfect example of how to approach Derren. Either you take it that they set this up or you believe in Derren’s strength of character and/or you play it over again and find that this is basic physics (load distribution in different positions, levers etc.) and that applies to everything here. Yes, it is primarily suggestion, manipulation and a perfect example of putting body language and psychology into practice. The problem with this show is that it tries to present Derren as something that he is not - a faultless magician. That’s why his later shows (and articles and books) are much more interesting, giving you the chance to see behind the scenes (i.e. a mixture of hard work, trial and error, cheating, illusion, tricks etc.). But this show still tries to give the impression that none of the aforementioned apply. Which is a fundamental mistake. And when you play this over again, you can often see “how he managed it". That is, if you watched the English language version, because Derren works with words, tone and voice rhythm, similarity of word endings, unconscious visualization of separate words etc. in a way that takes your breath away. The Czech dubbing completely kills this, making everything into “real magic" where is impossible to tell how it was done, even if you were Sherlock Holmes’s cleverer twin. (02/04/2011)