Derren Brown

Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is a British psychological illusionist (mentalist). He was born in Croydon, Surrey, and while studying Law and German at the University of Bristol he attended a show by the hypnotist Martin S. Taylor, who inspired him to turn to magic and hypnosis as a career. From the mid-1990s he worked as a conjurer, practising the traditional skills of close-up magic. Brown later changed his act to focus on more psychological trickery. Brown's psychological illusions are skillfully performed and enhanced by his personality and showman's flair to influence and misdirect.

Other 'Mind' magicians

Whilst Brown must be deemed a great success as a 'psychological magician' by the yardstick of media exposure and television appearances, he is not alone in pioneering or originating this form of entertainment. From the 1990s onwards American psychologist turned entertainer 'Marc Salem' has apeared with his project 'Mind Games' to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, in the theatre as well as on television. British-Dutch magician 'David Berglas' was a household name in the 1960s and early 1970s with his intense, interactive television shows which drew heavily on his training as a psychotherapist at London's Tavistock Institute. The cult British-based performance artist / conceptual artist aladin likewise has formal training as a psychotherapist which he used to apparently good effect in confounding the queues and VIP Room guests at nightclub The Ministry of Sound in the early 1990s with feats of apparent mind-reading.

Related Topics:
1990 - Psychologist - Entertainer - 1960 - 1970 - Tavistock Institute - Performance art - Conceptual art - Aladin - Ministry of Sound

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But regardless of Brown's adroitness in using the machinery of PR, he has to be seen as a significant figure in the history of 'psychological entertainment' and as a quite exceptional magician.

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