Derren Brown's mind-reading

[fabian_lidman]

Derren Brown sometimes does a very impressive impromptu mind-reading stunt. The person being read is asked to think of a childhood memory, and Brown then proceeds to asking questions, reading "subtle signs" in the person's face and zeroing in on an answer.
A video of that is here (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2360620218365308821&q=derren+brown).
What do you reckon, is he actually reading subtle signs, or is there some "hot reading" involved? With Derren Brown i'm never sure...

[CFLarsen]

No hot reading needed.

I know, cuz I read how he is doin' it....BUWAHAHAaaaa.....

[fabian_lidman]

Also in that video, Brown doing a short but priceless Uri Geller imitation. ;)

[Azrael 5]

"Subtle signs"
Says all you need to know. :D

ETA: Ah Jodie Kidd and her horse,impressed me at the time.But it was a few years ago,now ;)

[T'ai Chi]

I wouldn't believe any of it wasn't a trick for a second.

[CFLarsen]

I wouldn't believe any of it wasn't a trick for a second.
That's because you know it's a trick.

[fabian_lidman]

Right... Can you recommend any books on this subject? I'm highly skeptical of most of NLP (and so is DB, according to his own book). Banachek's book on muscle reading is the closest i've got.

[Azrael 5]

Right... Can you recommend any books on this subject? I'm highly skeptical of most of NLP (and so is DB, according to his own book). Banachek's book on muscle reading is the closest i've got.

On what subject? I suggest start at the beginning with the book "13 steps to mentalism" and progress from there.Derren jsut does the old stuff dressed up in 21st century style.;)

[deBergerac]

Also Ian Rowland's book on cold reading is to be recomended. No magic tricks but a lot about how to obtain, present, and guess information in a way to give the illusion of knowing far more.

Om du sedan har möjligthet att åka till Stockholm för FISM tror jag att du kan lära dig mycket där. Banachek kommer att vara där, likaså Max Maven och jag har hört ryktas att Derren Brown kan tänkas vara där.

[fabian_lidman]

On what subject? I suggest start at the beginning with the book "13 steps to mentalism" and progress from there.Derren jsut does the old stuff dressed up in 21st century style.
Yea, i know, and i can come up with plausible theories on the workings of many of his tricks. It's just the fuzzy suggestion/mindreading part that i still don't get. Of course many times it's something mundande like dressed up in fancy NLP terminology. Other times i'm not sure...
I'm going to look for Corinda's 13 step book. I've heard good things about it before.
I hate to think that many of Derren Brown's fans buy the NLP explanation and pay lots of money to learn it. NLP courses are [i]expensive. I've read a few NLP books and, well -- it's highly pretentious nonsense.

[fabian_lidman]

Om du sedan har möjligthet att åka till Stockholm för FISM tror jag att du kan lära dig mycket där. Banachek kommer att vara där, likaså Max Maven och jag har hört ryktas att Derren Brown kan tänkas vara där.
Fan också, det hade jag velat! Tyvärr blev jag nyss arbetslös, så jag har inte råd att punga ut fem lakan. :(

[NeilC]

13 steps won't tell you much about that sort of thing. It's billets and outs and all the usual stuff.

I don't know the workings of all of DBs effects but I do know some of them and what has struck me is how often what appears to be going on is not really what is happening in the slightest. Also never rule out the most obvious solution just because it would take balls of steel to get away with. DB has balls of steel!

Luke Jermay's books give insight into a lot of the more nebulous suggestion type methods and how they can be worked into normal mentalism with a safety net. If they don't work you get an effect. If they do work you get an unbelievable effect. Of course on TV one only need film the working attempts.

[fabian_lidman]

Having balls of steel is actually, in a way, the best misdirection, isn't it!
I did a very daring book test recently (inspired by Bob Cassidy) and nobody could figure out how it worked, simply because the force was so simple. I never thought i'd get away with it.
I'll have to practice my mindreading routine, just in case i ever run into DB. Then i can look him deep in the eyes and go "You're feeling tired... floating down into sleep... now tell me, in your mind, how you do that mindreading stunt".