4 ms·

Surprisingly little actual information in here, so if anyone is wanting more, I'll just point out that a ton of of UK mentalist Derren Brown's work is available

Surprisingly little actual information in here, so if anyone is wanting more, I'll just point out that a ton of of UK mentalist Derren Brown's work is available on youtube. A short bit (with an explanation that may or may not be true) is here: https://youtu.be/rr05Dchmlww?t=907 https://youtu.be/rr05Dchmlww?t=907

moron4hire 5y ago
I ended up reading a few articles on the site and they all seem to be of a similar bent: some ostensible comedian telling an unfunny story about their work 15 years ago.
alasdair_ 5y ago
I love Derren Brown but this is not anything close to his best work. The video starts with a staring competition. Outdoors. On a sunny day. Where Derren is facing away from the sun and the opponent is facing into it. Some of his other shows are more entertaining - for example he has one where he plays 14 chess grandmasters simultaneously and beats five, draws with four and loses to five. After the masters are duly impressed, he makes it clear that all he did was play the first master’s move against the second, the second against the third, and so on. It’s an ibvious trick but he does it so well, no one seems to notice at the time. Or he has another where he goes horse racing and convinces the cashier at a bookies to give him money for a losing ticket. The person involved is so clearly confused and shocked that they gave money away (and is clearly not an actor) that the whole piece is pretty compelling - I just don’t believe anyone is both good enough to act like that on cue and at the same time has never appeared in any other work I’ve seen before or since.
- ineptech 5y ago
  Whoops, I've updated the link to point to the bit I meant to link to, thanks.
- zeroonetwothree 5y ago
  I suspect there was some editing involved with the chess example to make it seem more impressive, since it should be obvious to a competent player that this is what you are doing (because of the delay in which you make moves by having to check another board first). Additionally simultaneous exhibitions almost always have you playing the same color on every board, so it would be immediately suspicious.
- xorfish 5y ago
  > After the masters are duly impressed, he makes it clear that all he did was play the first master’s move against the second, the second against the third, and so on. It’s an ibvious trick but he does it so well, no one seems to notice at the time. That strategy doesn't work.
  - alasdair_ 5y ago
    There is extensive video evidence of his doing this. Can you please explain why it doesn’t work?
    - xorfish 5y ago
      Because the other players will react differently to the same moves and you get different boards after the first few moves.
spencerflem 5y ago
Based on this captain dissolution video, it seems like some of Darren Brown's tricks are VFX. I wouldn't trust the claims of being all psychology. https://youtu.be/DODGRfzdfNU https://youtu.be/DODGRfzdfNU
- ineptech 5y ago
  He does all sorts of stuff - card magic, big stage props, coins, mentalism, memory tricks, hypnosis, walking on broken glass, you name it - and as with any magic act, part of the fun is figuring out which is what. I did think the lottery thing was not a very good trick though, and the following special where he said he would reveal the trick was (I think) widely considered a disaster in his otherwise fairly successful career.
- zeroonetwothree 5y ago
  0% of mentalism is psychology...
- IMSAI8080 5y ago
  He does a lot of good stuff but that one was dumb. That one taints his series which was otherwise decent. It's a "prediction" that's so obviously wildly impossible it has to be a simple cheat and there's no other explanation. Immediately it was broadcast people speculated the visual effect method Captain D suggests and also other ways it could have been done using physical effects.

moron4hire 5y ago

I ended up reading a few articles on the site and they all seem to be of a similar bent: some ostensible comedian telling an unfunny story about their work 15 years ago.

alasdair_ 5y ago

I love Derren Brown but this is not anything close to his best work. The video starts with a staring competition. Outdoors. On a sunny day. Where Derren is facing away from the sun and the opponent is facing into it. Some of his other shows are more entertaining - for example he has one where he plays 14 chess grandmasters simultaneously and beats five, draws with four and loses to five. After the masters are duly impressed, he makes it clear that all he did was play the first master’s move against the second, the second against the third, and so on. It’s an ibvious trick but he does it so well, no one seems to notice at the time. Or he has another where he goes horse racing and convinces the cashier at a bookies to give him money for a losing ticket. The person involved is so clearly confused and shocked that they gave money away (and is clearly not an actor) that the whole piece is pretty compelling - I just don’t believe anyone is both good enough to act like that on cue and at the same time has never appeared in any other work I’ve seen before or since.

ineptech 5y ago
Whoops, I've updated the link to point to the bit I meant to link to, thanks.
zeroonetwothree 5y ago
I suspect there was some editing involved with the chess example to make it seem more impressive, since it should be obvious to a competent player that this is what you are doing (because of the delay in which you make moves by having to check another board first). Additionally simultaneous exhibitions almost always have you playing the same color on every board, so it would be immediately suspicious.
xorfish 5y ago
> After the masters are duly impressed, he makes it clear that all he did was play the first master’s move against the second, the second against the third, and so on. It’s an ibvious trick but he does it so well, no one seems to notice at the time. That strategy doesn't work.
- alasdair_ 5y ago
  There is extensive video evidence of his doing this. Can you please explain why it doesn’t work?
  - xorfish 5y ago
    Because the other players will react differently to the same moves and you get different boards after the first few moves.

spencerflem 5y ago

Based on this captain dissolution video, it seems like some of Darren Brown's tricks are VFX. I wouldn't trust the claims of being all psychology. https://youtu.be/DODGRfzdfNU https://youtu.be/DODGRfzdfNU

ineptech 5y ago
He does all sorts of stuff - card magic, big stage props, coins, mentalism, memory tricks, hypnosis, walking on broken glass, you name it - and as with any magic act, part of the fun is figuring out which is what. I did think the lottery thing was not a very good trick though, and the following special where he said he would reveal the trick was (I think) widely considered a disaster in his otherwise fairly successful career.
zeroonetwothree 5y ago
0% of mentalism is psychology...
IMSAI8080 5y ago
He does a lot of good stuff but that one was dumb. That one taints his series which was otherwise decent. It's a "prediction" that's so obviously wildly impossible it has to be a simple cheat and there's no other explanation. Immediately it was broadcast people speculated the visual effect method Captain D suggests and also other ways it could have been done using physical effects.