Derren Brown's "Tricks of the Mind"

[DdlR]

Just a plug for this book which should IMO be required reading for everyone on this site. Actually, it should be required reading for everyone.

Derren Brown is a British television illusionist, hypnotist and arch-skeptic of all matters "paranormal". He's a very witty and smart fellow indeed and reading Tricks of the Mind is like taking a college-level course in the principles of deception. Chapters are generally introduced by anecdotes from Brown's own life and career and are consistently both relevant and very funny. His subjects include detailed analyses of perception, the power of suggestion, how memory actually works and how it can be exploited by charlatans, social compliance, critical thinking and skepticism, curing phobias, reading body language, anti-science and pseudo-science, probability, co-incidence, superstition, etc.

He directly addresses "chi power" at several points and also offers an anecdote about using misdirection - essentially, mind control - to defuse a would-be street attacker in Wales. I once used almost exactly the same technique to fend off a redneck bully in small-town bar in Australia.

"Tricks of the Mind" is recommended to anyone who wants to be able to develop a sophisticated assessment of BS claims in the martial arts, including both conscious and unconscious forms of deception.

[Lu Tze]

Can you watch 4oD in the U.S? Most of Derren Brown's TV stuff is available on there, everything he does is well worth a gander.

[DdlR]

Can you watch 4oD in the U.S? Most of Derren Brown's TV stuff is available on there, everything he does is well worth a gander.

I don't know about 4oD but I've seen a lot of his material on YouTube.

[HereBeADragon]

This is good timing! I was thinking about posting some questions about Brown. I really enjoyed his brief but interesting show on Syfy channel but I always wondered if what he claimed to do on the show was possible. It just seemed beyond the point of belief that you could get people to do things like give you their wallet and watch without them even realizing they were doing it.
YouTube- How to take someones wallet, just by asking

[Evilenzo]

Very interesting, thank you OP!

[DdlR]

This is good timing! I was thinking about posting some questions about Brown.

Yes, that's why I started the thread.

I really enjoyed his brief but interesting show on Syfy channel but I always wondered if what he claimed to do on the show was possible. It just seemed beyond the point of belief that you could get people to do things like give you their wallet and watch without them even realizing they were doing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIIz2...eature=related

From Brown's point of view it's more a combination of misdirection (of memory, of the sequence of events, etc.) and suggestability, temporarily persuading the "victim" that you taking their property is acceptable. Also, we don't know how many "victims" he tried that stunt on before one responded well enough to show in his TV special.

In another stunt he was shown successfully and legitimately tossing a coin so that it landed heads-up ten times in a row, but that sequence actually required him to spend nine hours tossing a coin until the desired sequence of ten happened. He uses these as examples of showmanship and probability.

[hairydynamicist]

I'm a huge Derren Brown fan, the wife took me to see his live show a few years back and I'm still going on about it! Nevertheless, this is a worthy read

http://www.simonsingh.net/Derren_Brown_Article.html

[DdlR]

I think that the author of that article missed a crucial point; at the beginning of every show, Brown says that his techniques are a combination of "magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship". In the book, he says that:

I am often dishonest in my techniques, but always honest about my dishonesty. I happily admit cheating, as it's all part of the game. I hope some of the fun for the viewer comes from not knowing what's real and what isn't. I am an entertainer first and foremost, and I am careful not to cross any moral line that would take me into manipulating people's real-life decisions or belief systems.

[Lu Tze]

Yeah, he never pretends to be anything other than a magician.

He's a great sceptic, if you can catch "Derren Brown Investigates", do so. Watching him beat a supposed psychic at his own game (cold reading), and then watching said psychic get extremely pissed about it is fucking television gold.

[Kovacs]

I watched that one, it was hilarious. Brown beat him hands down and the guy just got more and more aggressive. It's funny how he can beat all of the 'experts' in tear hokum mediums and then say it's just a load of bollocks to thier faces, which it is.

I've seen his live stuff as well, it was very good.

[Kid Miracleman]

Yeah, he never pretends to be anything other than a magician.

He's a great sceptic, if you can catch "Derren Brown Investigates", do so. Watching him beat a supposed psychic at his own game (cold reading), and then watching said psychic get extremely pissed about it is fucking television gold.

Is this the video you're talking about?

YouTube- 1/5 Derren Brown Investigates - The Man Who Contacts The Dead (Cold Reading)

[Eddie Hardon]

Just a plug for this book which should IMO be required reading for everyone on this site. Actually, it should be required reading for everyone.

Derren Brown is a British television illusionist, hypnotist and arch-skeptic of all matters "paranormal". He's a very witty and smart fellow indeed and reading Tricks of the Mind is like taking a college-level course in the principles of deception. Chapters are generally introduced by anecdotes from Brown's own life and career and are consistently both relevant and very funny. His subjects include detailed analyses of perception, the power of suggestion, how memory actually works and how it can be exploited by charlatans, social compliance, critical thinking and skepticism, curing phobias, reading body language, anti-science and pseudo-science, probability, co-incidence, superstition, etc.

He directly addresses "chi power" at several points and also offers an anecdote about using misdirection - essentially, mind control - to defuse a would-be street attacker in Wales. I once used almost exactly the same technique to fend off a redneck bully in small-town bar in Australia.

"Tricks of the Mind" is recommended to anyone who wants to be able to develop a sophisticated assessment of BS claims in the martial arts, including both conscious and unconscious forms of deception.

Yep, I've got his book and delve into it from time to time. I've a busy reading schedule. I admire his skills and presentation. The Bank Robbery was choice and I remain baffled as to how he hypnotised people in a phone box, as he's never explained that one.

I was impressed when he baffled the Wing Chun Adept in Chinatown by replicating the pain inflicted on a willing student as first demonstrated by the Adept.

And he tells you not to make the mistake in believing in him. ha ha.

I really must get back to his book and read more.

Yep, he's a terrific entertainer and de-bunks the bullshitters of this World.

[hairydynamicist]

I think that the author of that article missed a crucial point; at the beginning of every show, Brown says that his techniques are a combination of "magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship". In the book, he says that:

I think his point is that he overstates the psychology* aspect dramatically. The point about Derren's web site being wrongly part of the Channel 4 'science' set up is certainly a valid one: whatever else he was doing, it wasn't science. He's one entertaining mo-fo, but that doesn't mean he should get a pass when it comes to defining what is science and what isn't. Also, the subsequent move of the Channel 4 Derren Brown web page to the 'entertainment' section suggests that some other folk agreed, possibly Derren himself:

In particular, I would point out that some of the points in the article above refer the first series. Also, in an interview with Jamy Ian Swiss, Derren seems to think that I was (at least in part) making some reasonable points.

*although I do tend to side with Richard Feynman on physchology when he called it a 'cargo cult science'. :)

[Lu Tze]

Is this the video you're talking about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtlhjsiBEDw

Can't watch that in the UK, but going by the title, that's the one.

[DdlR]

I think his point is that he overstates the psychology* aspect dramatically. The point about Derren's web site being wrongly part of the Channel 4 'science' set up is certainly a valid one: whatever else he was doing, it wasn't science.

He probably does overstate the psychology aspect dramatically, and for specific dramatic purposes as well. Again, "I am often dishonest in my techniques, but always honest about my dishonesty. I happily admit cheating, as it's all part of the game. I hope some of the fun for the viewer comes from not knowing what's real and what isn't."

That's what I meant by the reviewer missing the point, and is also (IMO) part of why scientists per se have often been gulled by spiritualist hoaxers. Magicians, on the other hand, are comfortable with the mechanisms of deception.

Brown advocates the scientific method, but isn't the fact that his show was broadcast as part of a science feature Channel 4's issue, rather than Brown's?