DERREN Brown answers on the first ring. Caught off guard, I say “Blimey, that was quick” - to which he replies, with a gentle laugh, that he "was just tapping away quietly at an email". I wasn’t expecting that either, contrasting as it does with the image more commonly associated with Brown - of an exuberant showman, performing mind-boggling stunts to thousand-strong crowds and millions more TV viewers nationwide. Actually, I’d half expected one of his ‘crew’ to answer and pass me on. But, behind the facade, he is after all a normal man - albeit one with a parrot called Rasputin and an award cabinet full of Baftas and Oliviers - and, as our conversation progressed, that’s what came through above all. Any thoughts of hypnotisation or manipulation were left at the proverbial door as he answered my questions affably and with ease.
Moral values are something that fascinates Brown, previously a kleptomaniac
Inspired by a hypnotist in his first year of university, where he studied German and Law, Brown was soon performing tricks himself at student venues around Bristol, later with a sideline in portraiture. His big break came in 1999 when he was asked by Channel 4 to put a TV show together. The result was Derren Brown: Mind Control, cementing his status as the world’s leading psychological illusionist.
Brown also moonlights as a talented artistIconic specials have since seen him persuade a man to assassinate Stephen Fry, stick viewers to their sofas through their television sets (with some apparently remaining stuck all weekend), convince someone it was the apocalypse, predict the national lottery on live TV, direct a group of pensioners in stealing a closely-guarded £100K painting and play Russian Roulette with a loaded revolver... and that’s just the start.
Onstage shows like Something Wicked This Way Comes, Enigma, Svengali and Infamous have meanwhile seen hypnotisation through ventriloquists dolls, zombifying audience members and walking on broken glass; redefining magic with a unique brand of ‘Derren-do’.
Despite the mischievous demeanour, however, his work often has a serious undertone. Amongst other things, he’s shrugged off a religious upbringing to expose the fraudulent side of faith, and explored the science of scams whilst maintaining there is nothing magical or supernatural in what he does.
He also famously transformed the life of an under-confident member of the public, who was faced with the chance to emergency land a plane and save the lives of hundreds of passengers. Hero at 30,000 Feet remains one of Brown’s favourite shows; perhaps because he himself has battled insecurity, often citing his profession as an easy shortcut to ‘feeling impressive’.
Performing in Miracle 2015Moral values are something that fascinates Brown (previously a kleptomaniac), who admits he could see himself as a psychologist in another life. His latest programme draws on cases like the Stanford Prison experiment, in which professor Phillip Zimbardo prompted shocking results when he created a false jail environment with some students as ‘guards’, others as ‘prisoners’ - demonstrating the chilling effects of social compliance.
How would you feel if you believed you’d pushed someone to their death? Brown investigates in Pushed To The Edge. Like all his boundary-breaking shows, it’s attracted no little controversy but - when trespassing uncomfortable territories, causing debate and splitting the nation is your speciality - it’s bound to. Paradoxically, Brown tunes out of social media once a show has aired (with almost 3m Twitter followers, probably no easy feat): “I’m more nervous about people’s reactions than actually performing”, he admits, “but of course some quarters will peddle their peculiar brand of outrage”.
Some more so than most. I’m told of an audience member in one of his stage shows - who, it later emerged, suffered from acute paranoia - that thought the whole thing was a conspiracy against him and afterwards sent a bombardment of furious emails. “When you’re playing with people’s minds, it can inevitably trigger issues...”
Brown is hoping to influence minds more positively with his latest book offering, which follows bestselling titles Derren Brown: Tricks of the Mind and Derren Brown: Confessions of a Conjuror. His third, due to be published later this year, is based on the subject of happiness. Don’t expect another clichéd self help guide, however: Brown’s title will be ‘more philosophical rather than practical’ and draws on many different sources; from the stoics to mindfulness, which he believes has been ‘hijacked’ by modern meditation.
“A lot of the problem is indentifying with the labels or stories we give ourselves, and also being so goal-orientated” he says, clearly very passionate about the subject. “This hasn’t been whimsical and quick to write like my previous books. It’s been three years in the making” (which, considering his shows generally take two months to write, says a lot). “I’m currently trying to edit it down from around 800 pages into something more manageable!”
In The Heist (2006) - voted C4 viewers' favourite Derren Brown special - a member of the public was indirectly coerced by Brown into a £100k armed robberyHappy is just one of several projects being juggled at present, with a highly-anticipated virtual reality ghost train soon arriving at Thorpe Park and collaborations in the pipeline via his production company. Following Miracle, a well-deserved rest is in order before plans to hit New York’s Broadway.
What will he miss about life on the road? “I enjoy the ease of having a group of friends: it’s something I’ve never had socially. I choose my team based more than anything on how delightful they are to spend time with. Having a drink and a chat after the show as we all wind down... changes of scene...” Sundays are for roasts and competing one another with the ‘wildest socks’ they can find, since only black socks are allowed during the show. “We’re pretty rock ’n’ roll like that. I think the Stones did the same in the 70s”.
Brown’s current Miracle tour hits The Lowry from 6 June to 3 July, promising more stupefying stunts and a ‘bold and ballsy second half’. Its sell-out 2015 predecessor garnered rave reviews and, whilst Brown remains tight-lipped on some of this year’s content, he concedes the emphasis will remain the same. “It has a philosophical underpinning I really care about. Above all, it’s about what makes people happy”.
And isn’t happiness, after all, what we’re all searching for?
Miracle will be at The Lowry from 6 June - 13 July
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