Martin Taylor, the Man Who Inspired Derren Brown

In interviews, Derren Brown frequently credits his interest in hypnotism, psychological illusion, and performance entertainment generally to Martin Taylor, a stage hypnotist.

In his first year of college, at age 19, Derren attended Taylor's show. It was typical of stage hypnotism, with performances designed to embarrass participants for the amusement of onlookers (e.g., making a subject cluck like a chicken). [See Martin Taylor's comment below for an explanation of this correction.]

Derren spent much of his first year of college learning the art of hypnotism. He was obsessed with figuring out how Mr. Taylor did it, and he practiced on college friends. After a year or so of practice, Derren began performing legitimate hypnosis shows. He even considered a career as a hypnotherapist before moving on to stage magic.

Taylor's take on hypnotism is similar to Derren's -- he does not believe that a "hypnotic state" exists. Instead, he believes that what we call hypnotism is simply a state of heightened suggestion due to human tendencies to obey authority figures and conform to group expectations.

Taylor considers Derren a friend and is proud of his success. In a 2005 interview, he listed three things about Derren which deserve to be more widely known:

1. If he decided not to be a mind-reader, he could easily be (in fact, he is) one of the top sleight-of-hand magicians in the country, if not the world.

2. If he decided not to be a magician at all, he could easily be (in fact, he is) one of the best caricaturists in the country, if not the world.

3. He has worked prodigiously hard to get where he is. Even if I had his talent, there is simply no way that I have the self-discipline and drive to make it work for me the way Derren has. All credit to him.

Martin Taylor still performs, and you can see his official site here. He also performs as a magician.

[Thanks to the many readers who have already completed my blog-content survey. If you have not done it yet, please do. It is located on the right side of this window, and only takes a few seconds to complete.]

Derren Brown Tricks Doctor Who

A post on David Tennant's website today revealed that Trick or Treat 2 will air May 2, 2008 on Channel 4. [thanks to Andrea for the tip] UK TVGuide confirms this date, listing the 30-minute season premier at 10:00 pm.

What does David Tennant have to do with Trick or Treat 2? The Doctor Who star is featured in the new series. His website explains that:

David has been doing a bit of time travelling with the help of magician Derren Brown.

He was fooled into thinking he could see into the past and future for a stunt on the new series of Trick Or Treat.

Derren swooped after hiding in David’s make-up truck, on the set of Doctor Who, he said: "David's the only person who has ever screamed when I surprised them. But he reacted well to the trick, which used visualisation and suggestion techniques. He seemed to enjoy it."

Derren's Trick Or Treat will start airing on Channel 4 on Friday 2nd May.

This information is repeated in today's Sun.

DB is evidently continuing his recent trend of involving celebrities in his shows.

Peek Inside Derren's Stage Show - An Evening of Wonders

Naquada has posted an excellent account of Derren's current stage show, An Evening of Wonders. It does contain spoilers, so read at your own risk.

After you've done that, take 30 seconds to complete the survey to the right of this entry. I am trying to improve the mix of content on AboutDerrenBrown, and I need your input. Thanks!

Trick or Treat 2 with Derren Brown -- Information from a Contestant

Last I checked, Derren Brown's website claimed the Trick or Treat 2 series would begin on April 13, 2008. Channel 4's TV listings do not, however, list the show on that date.

We don't know when the new series is coming, but it definitely is coming. Ronk, a participant in the production of Trick or Treat 2 left a comment on AboutDerrenBrown with the following inside information:

I was shortlisted for Trick or Treat 2 but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, didn’t hear anymore.

Last year I spotted an advertisement in the London Lite asking people to visit http://www.trickortreat2.com/ if they were interested in being in the next series of Trick or Treat. I answered all the questions and sent a video. After a week or so I was invited to an informal audition session.

I didn’t know what to expect but for some strange reason before this audition session I also received a black envelope with my name and address written with a gold paint pen. Inside the envelope was a red card with Derren’s devilish profile printed in black with the words ‘You are being considered’ on the reverse.

At the audition there were around 70 other people, photo’s were taken and forms were filled in before being asked to enter a hall where there were lines of seats set out like an examination room.

The producer form Objective Productions, Simon I think, introduced himself and gave a brief explanation about what would happen next. I’m no sure if it was intentional, but up until that point there was no indication that Derren would actually be there. Then all of a sudden Derren was introduced as he popped out of a side door next to the stage.

Derren explained that he would go through various hypnosis tests and that we should be honest with our responses. People would not be picked based on how often they responded to the hypnosis tests and if we faked it we wouldn’t be doing ourselves any favours.

If people didn’t respond to a test they were asked to sit to one side of the hall. Eventually there were around 12 people left and it ended with two guys who were made to forget the number 7.

It was a very enjoyable evening but I must admit I felt a bit odd during the next day. I haven’t been hypnotised before and would say I wouldn’t like to be again.

I was told a few weeks later I was shortlisted but wouldn’t here any more due to the nature of the programme. Being that the timescale was up to the end of February I guess I’ve not been picked. A relief to be honest…RonK

Thanks for the great information, RonK! I don't think I would feel too relieved yet, though. Making the unwary participant think she has been rejected from the show was a common ruse of Derren Brown's in Trick or Treat 1.

The producer named "Simon" in the above account is, presumably, Simon Mills, who worked on the first Trick or Treat series.

If anyone knows when Trick or Treat 2 will be aired, please drop me a line. Thanks!

Shocking News About Forthcoming Derren Brown Book

Today is March 25, 2008, the release date for my biography of Derren Brown. Traffic to the blog has been unusually high today, as many of you have checked for the eBook. I am sorry to report, however, that the book is not finished.

Having written and published several books previously, I thought I would be able to hit the March 25 date no problem. But, to my chagrine, the project is taking longer than expected. Sorry for the delay -- I will post the ebook here as soon as I finish it. Thanks for your patience!

In the meantime, check out a few firsthand accounts of Derren's current tour:

Gibson149
Yamabiko
Handbag.com
Dummies-for-destruction
Ukhappilyhomeeding
Cogita Tute

SciFi Channel Announces Season 2 of Mind Control with Derren Brown

A number of news sources are reporting today that the SciFi Channel will air a second season of Mind Control with Derren Brown in fall of 2008 (see, e.g., IESB.net, Zap2it, realitytvmagazine, and hollywoodreporter). That's great news for those of us in the U.S.!

Derren's first SciFi series can be downloaded from Amazon Unbox:
Season 1

Tour Generates Press for Derren Brown

Derren Brown's Evening of Wonders tour is generating some publicity in the UK. Most of the news coverage is pretty generic (see Norwich Evening News 24 and EDP24), but the New Shopper had a good article last week.

In the New Shopper piece, Derren promises to make some "outrageous claims" in his upcoming Trick or Treat series, refers to his own goatee as "laughable," and acknowledges that magic performances aren't for everyone:

It's easy to explain why someone might not like it. It's [sic] can be poorly presented, surrounded by naffness, and often amounts to little more than childish attempts to fool you.
I guess it's largely to escape those associations that I've gone the route I have.

The new Trick or Treat series is only a month away.