Derren Brown's Pushed to the Edge -- the Reviews are in

For fans of Derren Brown, the recent Pushed to the Edge special was a welcome return to the type of show that made Derren famous -- shocking, provocative, and entertaining. But, like some of his past television stunts (e.g., Russian Roulette, Seance, and The Heist), it has resulted in some complaints.

The Daily Mail, for example, reports in a piece called "Viewers blast 'disgusting' Derren Brown stunt..." that Ofcom received 14 complaints and that a few random people on Twitter found the show manipulative and cruel. In a separate piece, the paper reports about the shocked reaction of participant Laura Wykes' family (Laura is one of the three who pushed the actor in the program), after watching the show; it seems, though, that Laura's sister-in-law was shocked but not opposed to the experiment.

The Guardian concludes that: "Brown’s shows are very well structured, every ad break is preceded by a whopping cliffhanger and he obviously knows how to toy with audience anticipation. But the need to top each stunt with an even more brazen set-up seems to have left him nowhere to go but high above the shark, albeit clicking his heels in mid-air as he goes."

As readers of Mind Stunts (see: free copy) already know, creating a spectacularly controversial stunt is par for the course in Derren Brown's career. He has once again exceeded our expectations.