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 productions and publications

He has written two books on magic, Absolute Magic and Pure Effect.

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Absolute Magic is not so much about magical methodology as about how magicians can make their performances magical; it is written in a variety of styles, sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, but always thought provoking. He warns against an act that conveys the feeling of "Here are some tricks I've bought" and urges magicians to make their performances experiential and memorable by involving the audience. In some respects a lot of what he says is in Darwin Ortiz' Strong Magic but his book expresses it in the context of his experiences, performance style and theories of how performance should be.

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Pure Effect is a more traditional book of trickery and technique and offers an insight into the some of the methods that Derren employs, and offers a starting point for development for the reader's own use.

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His video, The Devil's Picturebook, contains details of the card effects from earlier in his career.

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