THE MYSTERIOUS MR BROWN

Jack Phoenix met Derren Brown a few years ago and they have corresponded on and off ever since. Jack's interview with Brown appears in issue 185 of The Fortean Times (July 2004), the prestigious journal of strange phenomena which was established by Bob Rickard over thirty years ago. Here, in a companion piece to the interview, Jack reflects on the meteoric rise to fame (and infamy!) of one Britain's most exciting performers.

Russian Roulette

How did Derren go about choosing the guy who eventually loaded the gun for him? "We had about 12,000 people go to the website, fill out a form and apply. I went through those applications forms and picked out of those about 2,000 - it's a whittling down process basically - so we got in touch with them and got them to send in videotapes of themselves, and they had to talk about why they wanted to do it, show me their living space, and bits and pieces like that." Of those 2,000, Derren selected 100 and whittled them down to five through a series of games and tests. On the evening of the performance, DB chose the one who was most suggestible.

Was Derren worried that things might go wrong? "Most of the stuff I do I reckon has a 90 per cent success rate - it depends on the person I pick. So doing a one-off, I'm happy with that. Obviously it could all go wrong, but I think it's very, very unlikely. It's all about picking the right person - if I'm slightly out in my choice, suddenly it's about fifty-fifty. But I'm reasonably confident, provided I don't freak out about the fact that it's a gun."

During the performance, the chambers of the gun were numbered one to six, and the chosen member of the public was supposedly given a 'free' choice as to which chamber he put it in. The trick was that Derren heavily influenced that choice by emphasizing the word "one" in his instructions, and of course, because the guy was very suggestible, he chose the right "one". Derren then checked this by asking him to count from one to six, and deducing from changes in his voice whether or not he had done as suggested. He then risked his life by betting that he was correct.

Derren has not ruled out doing something as flashy again, but admits it is atypical of his work: "I can't think forward like that. I'm not a big, flashy type of performer anyway, and at the moment, I've got enough to think about."

At the time Derren did his stunt, his friend and admirer, David Blaine, was starving himself to death in a perspex box by the Thames. What did Derren think of Blaine's stunt in comparison with his own? "Well, I guess mine's over a lot quicker and doesn't involve as much weight gain beforehand." Source But what did Blaine think of Derren's stunt? He seems to have had his reservations: "He's a nice guy, but I told him not to do it, said he'd get found out. I thought maybe he should have done it with another magician, each taking a real loaded gun and pointing it at their hands. That way, you could really lose a hand. I wanted people to think about the consequences of that." Source Blaine seems to doubt that DB was in any real mortal danger. I think he's wrong, but we'll examine that below.

The stunt took place secretly at Francheville Farm, Grouville on the Channel Island of Jersey. Statements issued by the Jersey police claim that Derren was never in any danger: "There was no live ammunition involved and at no time was anyone at risk," said Lenny Harper, Detective Chief Officer for the States of Jersey police. "A prop company brought a number of props to the island and they included a quantity of blank ammunition. There is absolutely no way that the States of Jersey police would allow anybody to put themselves at risk and shoot themselves dead." Having examined how the stunt would work, they were satisfied it would not break any of the island's gun laws. Asked if he had been concerned that somebody was going to fire a loaded gun at their head, he said: "If what was portrayed on TV was going to happen, then we did have concerns. So a senior officer contacted Channel 4 and then we found out. We were absolutely satisfied that, firstly, there would no offences committed in Jersey in relation to any laws at all and secondly, that no-one was in any danger whatsoever." The stunt was filmed in Jersey because handguns are illegal in mainland UK.

Channel 4 issued the statement: "In making and broadcasting this programme, Channel 4 was very mindful of its responsibility to ensure the safety of all involved and liaised with the Jersey police in advance of filming there to ensure that no offences were committed." Source

However, Derren's co-writer and director, actor and magician Andy Nyman insists that Derren's life was in danger during the Russian Roulette stunt. "[The stunt took place during] Kol Nidre," said Nyman, "and it was remarkably daunting. I was like wow, not only do I feel remarkably guilty about missing Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur but Derren could potentially kill himself, which felt very strange." Source

Derren has said more recently (Independent) that he cannot discuss the stunt and it's 'reality' due to the threat of legal/criminal investigation. Of course, this may be yet another 'lie', but my own hunch, knowing Derren, is that he did use blanks, which, fired at point blank range, could easily have killed him had he made a mistake. Also, knowing Derren, I am convinced that he was never in any 'real' danger in the sense that, as an incredibly intelligent and clever performer, he made sure that all the circumstances were exactly right in order for him to perform the stunt successfully. The main feature of this was the selection of the most suggestible, manipulable, person with which to perform the stunt - and this was probably the most interesting, educative, and revealing part of the show for me.

Having said that, although I enjoyed watching the selection process, and Derren's consummate showmanship, I did have some qualms about the stunt. But as I have said in the FT article, I think it was atypical of Derren in its scale and flashiness, and I doubt he will ever do anything quite like it again.

What was it like for DB to perform? "It was exhilarating," says Derren. "I looked quite calm about it, but my leg was just shaking all the way through it. I remember that vividly. I was trying to get it right, but trying to balance that with a sense of drama, and what would look good on television. Yes, it was an incredible experience." Source

Critical reaction to the stunt was predictably hysterical. The media frenzy and controversy over the stunt was predictable and useful to Derren in the sense of the old dictum that 'no publicity is bad publicity'. All of it worked as advertising for Derren Brown as a brand, helping make him one of the most sought after performers in the country. Particularly hysterical and hyperbolic in his views was arse-faced arts critic Mark Lawson, who, in an article for the Guardian linked the stunt to the alleged broadcast of a suicide at a Hell On Earth gig.

Lawson claimed Brown was engaging in an act of "landmark depravity" because viewers would be tuning in to see whether or not Brown's head would explode on their screens. As others have pointed out, though there might have been an element of this (just as there is in watching Formula 1 races, boxing, or other dangerous 'sports'), the craft of the magician is one of establishing a possible risk, and balancing that with a sense of control and professionalism. How worried has anyone been recently (or ever) by ladies being 'sawn in half' by magicians? Surely there is something much more sinister in that piece of traditional ghoulish misogyny than in DB's roulette stunt? Derren assured the viewers that he would not pull the trigger unless he was 100% sure of the outcome. The joy of the event is in the skill with which it was performed. Derren played with our ghoulish expectations and gave an astonishing performance.

Lawson returned to comment in the Guardian the day after the broadcast. Lawson accused Brown of glorifying suicide - though how this was the case when Brown's intent was precisely NOT to kill himself, Lawson does not explain. Lawson went on to compare Brown with DB's friend and admirer David Blaine, and to describe the pair as 'reckless'. To me, Brown is a modern Houdini - sceptical, intelligent, an excellent showman - whereas, although he has skills in common with Blaine, the latter is more akin to medieval 'saints' (flagellants, anchorites etc) with his bizarre, messianic stunts of endurance.

Lawson was upset by the juxtaposition between a documentary on the suicide of scientist David Kelly, an advert for the Samaritans, and the broadcast of Brown's roulette stunt. This was admittedly an unfortunate collision, and had Kelly actually dispatched himself with a revolver, it would have been appalling. Lawson also felt that the stunt lowered standards on TV. He said: "Some moralists said the stunt would hasten armed lawlessness on Britain's streets but I doubt that Brown's stunt would much interest gangsters who tend to fire all six barrels without holding word association trials. The real risk is that by nudging television's barriers of taste a little further back, the show encourages ever more ruthlessly gruesome self-publicists. In this slick but sick entertainment, Channel 4 shot television in the foot." I have some reservations about the stunt, but feel that in the skill and intelligence with which it was done, it was in no way as sick and tasteless as other Channel 4 offerings, such as the self-mutilation show 'Dirty Sanchez' or the ghastly 'extreme gameshow' 'Distraction' in which contestants are invited to humiliate and torture themselves for our entertainment. That people should be prepared to do this in search of the status of the 'almost famous' or for material prizes is a sad indictment of them as human beings, and of Channel 4 and the host of the show in participating in such mind-eroding rubbish. Source

Another Guardian writer, Alok Jha, in realising that Derren was performing a 'trick' , concluded that Derren had manipulated the selection process to produce five 'stooges'! What a pointless rigmarole that would have been. Source

What did Derren himself think of all the hoohah? "I think that [it] was expected. The nature of the fact that it was live meant that people commenting on it hadn't seen it, so there was a certain amount of inaccurate speculation about what it was going to be. First of all, there was an outcry at the possibility of seeing a man kill himself on television, which was never going to happen because we had enough of a time delay that, if it had gone wrong, the screen would've just gone blank. So then, bizarrely, we started getting stick from a lot of other journalists saying, 'Well, it's ridiculous, they're just going to go to black screen, so we're not even going to see anything if it goes wrong'! I didn't really know how to win that one! As regards it being sick and glamorising guns, I think that was wrong. The show was always going to be controversial, and to be honest that was part of the idea, bit there was nothing glamorous about the gun part of it.

"The rest of the show was hopefully fun and interesting, but the final part with the gun couldn't have been any more serious. And I think that, far from desensitising people about guns, if anything it might have re-sensitised a few people. When you compare it to the huge level of violence in soap operas, dramas and films, one gun, one bullet, and as much seriousness as possible didn't really feel like it was glamorising or trivialising the issue." Source

Anyone who shoots themself as a result of seeing Derren's show should qualify for an immediate Darwin Award for eliminating their stupidity genes from the human gene pool. Source Buy Darwin awards from Amazon.co.uk:

Darwin Awards 1; Darwin Awards 2; Darwin Awards 3.

"A professional liar tells us that he is telling the truth and we can trust him; and it when it turns out that this was also a lie, we are all  really, really disappointed. 'Russian roulette stunt was fake' snarl the headlines. And in other news: Paul Daniels didn't really cut Debbie McGee in half." Source

Simon Singh

Science writer Simon Singh has taken quite a swipe at Derren in the pages of The Daily Telegraph, and on his own website. His argument seems to be largely that Derren misrepresents some of what he does as 'psychology' when in fact it is more to do with conjuring and stage magic. Singh objected to Derren's misdirection during a game of poker: "The truth is that it is nothing to do with psychology or body language. Instead it is a magic trick. Derren selected his ten cards very carefully - three aces, three kings, three sevens and a queen. This combination ensures that whoever has the queen will always lose the game. Imagine you have the queen - the best hand you can possibly have is three of a kind (three aces, a king and the queen). Not bad, but you will still lose because Derren will have three of a kind and a pair (3 sevens and 2 kings). At the start of the game Derren merely has to deal the queen to his opponent, and then he will win no matter what cards his opponent chooses."

Singh has really shot himself in the foot here. Derren claims to be doing some reading of their body language, but in fact this is largely a 'misdirection' and he is doing some card 'magic'. But, isn't getting people to believe in something that's not true (body language reading) a form of mind control or psychological illusion? So in the end, Derren is using psychological skills in tricking the players and audience, and showing something interesting about human psychology (our gullibility and desire to believe). Singh fulminates: "This is nothing to do with psychology. It is a magic trick. In fact, exactly the type of trick that Derren denied using at the very start of the show."

Another item Singh objects to is the 'boxers' sequence where DB challenges some boxers to lift up a girl and appears to 'hex' them in some way so that they can't. Singh objects that what is actually going on can be explained by elementary physics: "If the woman stands 4 inches from the boxer, then the boxer can lift her. If she stands 8 inches away, then the force required to lift her doubles. It is the physics of levers. Nobody notices that she moves a few inches back or forth, but the results are very dramatic. Once you know what to look for, it is obvious." Singh goes on to say that he thinks that it is 'pernicious' of Derren Brown to claim that this is a "genuine psychological effect" when in fact " the vast majority of the demonstrations are based upon well-known magic tricks."

Singh objects that (1) Derren breaks his contract with the audience by misleading them with bogus psychological explanations or attributions: "Viewers are left with a false understanding of psychology and an exaggerated idea of what is achievable through the power of the mind." (2) Derren's misdirections on the issue of psychology "taints the science of psychology. He makes statements about psychology and what can be achieved with the human mind, but they directly contradict scientific knowledge. Professor Chris French, a psychologist at Goldsmith College, says, 'If Derren Brown really has successfully developed techniques to discern the contents of people's minds in the way that he claims, he has single-handedly achieved more than the collective attempts of psychologists over many decades. It may be of some relevance that Brown already had a pretty successful career as a conjurer before he started claiming that he was producing his effects in a different way.'" (3) Singh claims "the third and most serious problem is that this programme taints factual television. Channel Four makes dozens of brilliant factual programmes each year, but this series misleads and appears to elevate magic to the level of science." Singh concludes by betting that Derren can't read his childhood thoughts and replicate a drawing that he makes. If Derren accepts the wager and succeeds, Singh says he "will happily donate £1,000 to charity."

Derren did not take up Singh's challenge. In response, Channel 4 removed their Mind Control site from the science section and put it in the entertainment one. Derren makes a much more clear statement at the beginning of each edition of his latest series 'Trick of the Mind' about what he is doing, and that it is a mixture of misdirection, conjuring, stage magic and psychology. It's a pity that, although Singh recognizes what a brilliant performer Derren is, he does not praise Derren for making it clear that he is not a 'psychic' and that no 'paranormal' powers are involved. I think this is why Derren chose to stress his knowledge of psychology as a resource he uses, rather than claim to be a 'real magician' or 'psychic'. Having said that, I agree with Singh that many of Derren's explanations are somewhat misleading if not outright misdirection. However, I do not agree that the 'science of psychology' is really under any threat from what Derren does or says, or from his immense popularity. In spite of Derren's clear statements to the contrary, stupid and sometimes rather desperate people still believe he has 'special paranormal powers' and are happier to invent paranormal explanations rather than be left with the insecurity of having no realistic explanation for Derren's tricks. For the rest of us, I suspect that Derren has opened up new areas of inquiry, research and investigation into how he achieves what he appears to achieve. That is, Derren Brown has stimulated my own inquisitiveness and scepticism and I think that's a positive outcome. I think Simon Singh's article was overstated and somewhat ill-judged. Where his criticisms were justified, both Derren and Channel 4 have responded positively by making some changes.

How Did it All Begin?

Derren has said that he was a charming fantasist and a convincing storyteller as a child. He liked to enchant people with fantastical tales. So you could say that he was already trying to manipulate other people's 'realities' as a small child. All children attempt to control and manipulate their environment to their own advantage - those who are more imaginative and seductive about it go on to become artists and philosophers. The more dogmatic and forceful ones become scientists, politicians and religious maniacs.

Derren has also thanked his parents for their support in choosing a career: "They always took the attitude that whatever I wanted to do, they would back me. They never pressured me to take one particular line. So I left the family home in Croydon and went off to Bristol university to study Law and German. Then I discovered that I didn't really fancy becoming a lawyer - or a German for that matter. And around that time, I went and saw a [stage] hypnotist, and started getting into all of that. And I also developed an interest in close-up magic, and in the psychology that it involves. So I ended up just marrying the two together and came up with a form of magic that reflected my interest in suggestion."

Derren was approached to do the Channel 4 Mind control specials after Andy Nyman, who now works as an advisor on the show, turned the job down due to acting commitments. Magician/comedian Gerry Sadowitz knew Derren Brown's work and recommended the production company use the mysterious Mr Brown. Nyman became an advisor, script-writer, and collaborator in devising the series and stage shows. Source

Derren has to switch off conscious application of his skills in order to experience a genuine emotional life: "I used to use them when I met women in restaurants. Or I'd go into casinos and come out with pockets full of money. But that's not the kind of thing I would do now. Priorities change. It would be disastrous to be constantly examining how people act, analysing their behaviour patterns. Obviously, I absorb some of these skills at an unconscious level, but on the whole, it's pretty easy not to apply them. It's all about playing psychological games which take an enormous amount of effort and planning, so while it may look relatively simple, it's hard work. I couldn't do it all the time, and I wouldn't want to." However, his skills can come in useful in helping others at times of need: "Obviously, sometimes with friends, having a knowledge of human behaviour can be helpful. If I've got a friend who's upset or depressed, I can hopefully be more effective than the next person at helping them out. But that's the only time I'll use these things with friends. It's what separates proper friends from other people - using the techniques I do on the show just isn't relevant with them. You know people on a different level. It wouldn't be appropriate. Sometimes, when you're trying to get to know someone and eager to find out about them, it might give you a little bit of added insight, but when they become friends, you get beyond that stage."

Derren starts building an impression, a mental map, of participants in his games as soon as he can: "When I meet guests for the show, I immediately build a rough psychological profile of them. Obviously it's not a complete understanding of their personality by any means, but it helps me to find triggers, to know which buttons to press. It allows me to know how to worm my way into their perceptions. Obviously, when I can, I pick those who will make the best subjects. People who are very open to the whole idea, 'responders', make very good subjects. But interestingly, the ones who are even better are the 'challengers', those who push against the whole idea of what I do, who are cynical and want to catch me out. Women tend to be more open and interested in the whole thing, whereas men see it as something of a competitive issue. What's important is that you adapt your act to fit the subject in question. I always tailor my material according to what kind of profile I put together on them. The worst people are those who are interested, but in a detached way, who don't get emotionally hooked. Like me ­ I'd be absolutely dreadful!" Source

DB Trivia Corner: Derren likes marmite and muffins. Source He also likes Bach, but the first record he bought was the Spitting Image 'Chicken Song.' To drink he likes single malt whisk(e)y. Although he has never been arrested, he did do a lot of shop-lifting at one point, stealing mainly "80s nick-nacky gadgets things. Like Rubikıs cubes and those pin things you pushed your face into. I nearly got caught once in Harrods. Thatıs when I stopped." Although he has never been in a fight proper, he says he once "got a little bit punched wearing a posh school uniform in a rough part of town." He says he got into mind reading and magic because he "was always an imaginative kid. Bit of loner. I saw a hypnotist at University and that was it." The magician he rates most is Chan Canasta. Source

The Best Dinner Party Guest In History?

The Guardian once described Derren as 'either the most brilliant dinner party guest in history, or Britain's scariest man.' So which does DB himself think is closer to the truth? "I'm a bit of a rubbish dinner part guest," he opines, "because I'm such a fussy eater. And I wouldn't say I'm particularly scary. The scariest thing about me at the moment is that I'm wearing a corduroy suit. Frankly, I think I'm just a balding, goateed show-off!" Source

Simon Singh's Derren Brown FAQ

Since 23rd May, 2004