Product Description

Derren Brown's television and stage performances have entranced and dumbfounded millions. His baffling illusions and stunning set pieces - such as "The Seance", "Russian Roulette" and "The Heist" - have set new standards of what's possible, as well as causing more than their fair share of controversy. Now, for the first time, he reveals the secrets behind his craft, what makes him tick and just why he grew that beard. "Tricks of the Mind" takes you on a journey into the structure and pyschology of magic. Derren teaches you how to read clues in people's behaviour and spot liars. He discusses the whys and wherefores of hypnosis and shows how to do it. And he investigates the power of suggestion and how you can massively improve your memory. He also takes a long hard look at the paranormal industry and why some of us feel the need to believe in it in the first place. Alternately hilarious, controversial and challenging, "Tricks of the Mind" is essential reading for Derren's legions of fans, and pretty bloody irresistible even if you don't like him that much...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #758 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From the Back Cover
‘As Europe’s most controversial Ming-bearded mind-botherer and former cha-cha chamption, I offer here an insight into the techniques and thinking which have made me offensively rich and the best thing to happen to television since sliced bread. Improve your memory. Learn how to hypnotize. Read minds. Improve your memory. It’s literally all here.’

Derren Brown's television and stage performances have entranced and dumbfounded millions. His baffling illusions and stunning set pieces – such as The Seance, Russian Roulette and The Heist – have set new standards of what's possible, as well as causing more than their fair share of controversy. Now, for the first time, he reveals the secrets behind his craft, what makes him tick and just why he grew that beard.

Tricks of the Mind takes you on a journey into the structure and psychology of magic. Derren also takes a long hard look at the paranormal industry, and looks at why some of us feel the need to believe in it in the first place...

Alternately hilarious, controversial and challenging, Tricks of the Mind is essential reading for Derren's legions of fans, and pretty bloody irresistible even if you don't like him that much...

‘Clearly the best dinner-party guest in history – he’s either a balls-out con artist or the scariest man in Britain.’
Charlie Brooker Guardian

About the Author
Derren was born in 1971 in Croydon. It was a difficult birth - his mother was in Devon at the time. A precocious and puzzling only child, he liked to paint, foster obsessive habits and once set fire to a neighbour's boat by accident. Derren went on to study Law and German at Bristol University and fell in love with the city. This was a time when marriage between man and city was still frowned upon, so rather than face public derision Derren decided just to live there forever instead. During this time he began to perform magic in bars and restaurants, and gave occasional hypnosis shows. Then in 1999 he was asked by Channel 4 to put a mind-reading programme together for television, which became Derren Brown: Mind Control. Mind Controls 2 and 3 followed and then, in October 2003, Derren caused an international furore by playing Russian Roulette live on television. This secured his notoriety with the public and a big apartment in London. Further specials have followed - Derren Brown: The Seance was the most complained about show in the history of television. He still receives several letters of complaint a week from psychics and Christians. He is sensitive to everyone's objections but knows at least the latter group will forgive him. Derren lives in London with a large collection of taxidermy and a fatalistic parrot.

Customer Reviews

Well, of course he doesn't reveal ALL...
Needless to say, anyone in Derren Brown's profession who wrote a book reavealing everything about how they work wouldn't last very long. What is remarkable about this book is that it actually reveals quite a lot. No, he doesn't explain how each trick works (as if!) but there is plenty here to interest the curious among us.

If you want some tips on hypnotism, which he describes as the product of effective suggestion rather than a unique trance-like state, feats of memory or straightforward conjuring (something I suspect he uses much more of in his routines than he'd like you to think), there is a great deal of information provided. If we read it and practise what it reveals (that's the bit most of us are not prepared to do because it takes for ever), any of us could invent some pretty neat tricks of our own. Insofar as anyone will write a 'how to' guide on hypnotising your friends, this is probably as close as we're going to get.

Some may not like the book's mixture of tips, autobiographical anecdotes and polemic about how easily fooled people are and how they really will believe almost anything. Admittedly, these elements don't always come together all that smoothly, but they do all reveal a lot about the man, his view of the world and what he thinks of the whole school of 'you can fool most of the people a lot of the time' opportunists (hucksters, charlatans, salesmen and camp Northern psychics of every stripe).

The book's structure may be flawed, but its honesty is the ace up its sleeve - not bad in a profession based on fooling people.

Opens up a little (but not a lot!)

On TV he does come across as a slightly smug character, and some of the sarcastic asides in here just reinforce that opinion. But he is an expert in his field, so I picked this up interested in hearing what he had to say.

And he does open a bit, but you only really get the tip of the iceburg. A couple of card tricks, some lie detection, some basic hypnosis tricks, plus a whole chunk debunking anything in this world that relies on faith basically. Christianity, spirituality - Derren has read the Dawkins book and wants his say too. Now, his views and explanation are interesting, and I did laugh at some of his little comments (for eg, why have braille labels in an aquarium), but I'd rather have had some more solid content about some of the stunts that he does. Having six or seven pages of crank letters is amusing first time through, but I would rather have had the same space with more insight into his act.

It's an easy read though, and he does know his stuff. The NLP section is very interesting. So I'd recommend it.

Not the masterpiece it could have been, but still better than most
Pure Effect and Absolute Magic were very excellent reads about the subtleties of performance, suggestion and psychology. Writing "Tricks of the Mind" for a wider audience then poses something of a threat - will Derren bail out to keep the shoppers of Sainsbury's happy? Fortunately not. Tricks of the Mind is a strange book - its an autobiography, a collection of thoughts, a series of essays about various psychologies, and a self-help guide to think more efficiently. Although there are a few sections which seem thrown in for the sake of it, Derren's personal perceptions on everything are endlessly fascinating and often lough-out-loud witty. I particularly enjoyed the refreshingly honest and candid views of NLP. However, the hypnosis section is incongruently biased, debunking hypnosis with narrow thinking before attempting to teach you how to do it. Anyone who believes his negative views of hypnosis would be guilty of the Bad Thinking he illustrates later in the book. Indeed the last section (Anti-Science, Pseudo Science and Bad Thinking) is where the books true identity really shines through - its a work about human thinking, with all the traps, pitfalls, and vulnerabilities that thinking encapsulates. Its a great chapter, and could (should?) have easily been expanded into a full, more congruent book of its own. Perhaps a follow up could be called "Tricks for the Mind", with more psychology gimmicks and cognitive illusions (a modern version of Chan Canasta's Book of Oopses). I enjoy Derrens honest stance on his TV work being magic, suggestion, misdirection and showmanship, providing a game for the audience to figure out. This, as well as the messages behind Seance, Messiah, and elements of the Heist are all in line with the themes of Tricks of the Mind - think for yourself, and make sure your thoughts are balanced. This is certainly not ground breaking stuff, and other books (e.g. Malcolm Gladwell's Blink) cover similar ground in a fuller, deeper way. Tricks of the Mind's value lies in Derrens candid insight: interesting, intuitive and funny as hell. Overall a very good read - it will make you feel like you have just spent an afternoon with Derren Brown. Just remember to check for your wallet before you leave.