Product Description

Derren Brown reveals all...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #338 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Synopsis
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...

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 Brown:
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 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. It was an immediate success and gained Derren a cool underground kudos which he described as 'not enough'.

Mind Controls 2 and 3 followed, then a series, 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 his big apartment in London. 'Bristol can shove itself', he said. Further specials have followed - Derren Brown: The Seance which was the most complained about show in the history of television. He still gets 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's workload keeps him exhausted and irritable fifty-two weeks a year and he continues to live in London with a large collection of taxidermy and a fatalistic parrot. He spends any free weekends painting and likes to receive gifts.

Customer Reviews

Great start, but ultimately disappointing
The book is a humourous introduction to a diverse range of subjects - magic, memory, hypnosis, suggestibility, spotting lies, cognitive illusions, religion, scepticism and the paranormal.

Some sections were witty and extremely informative - magic and memory stand out in my mind - other sections can be dry and humourless. The book as a whole is certainly worth reading particularly if you're interested in Brown's areas of expertise as a performer.

The downside to the book is that Brown frequently rants about the importance of science and scepticism particularly in relation to his past life as a Christian. Despite this he seems to blindly accept the views of anyone he considers a supporter of science. Statistics about being more likely to die from a plane crashing into my house than to die in a train-crash, or the millions killed because of the banning of DDT require some backing up before I can accept them.

Tricks of the mind
I bought this to read on holiday, which probably didn't help, as I think you have to be in the mood to read it.

I found it a very hard and drawn out read. I didn't get alot out of the book and he reveal tricks which are readily available online. Or to school teachers who help you revise for an exam

I did however like his more autobiographical parts of the book, and I imagine his own will be fantastic. This book is not.

I would not have been suprised if I'd finished the book, only to find myself hypnotised, mailing all my possesions to Mr Brown.
To be honest, I don't think this book needs another review, as much of what makes this title great has already been expressed on here. Work is quiet, however, and so it is too hard not to say something about a book I so thoroughly enjoyed.

As many people have said, Brown's writing style is very entertaining, lines such as "read on you clever sausage, you," give it the light-hearted tone that makes it such an easy read. Obviously, any one who picks up this book will be doing so because they are curious about Brown's techniques, and I really felt that the content did not disappoint in the slightest. Near the start of the book, Brown gives a discourse in the powers of misdirection as he goes through a vanishing coin trick. The general premise is: You do one thing and this provokes a good response from your audience, but how about you add another element to the trick to help build the anticipation; but that's not enough, so you add yet another element near the end that actually makes the audience believe they have discovered how you did the trick, you taunt them with this and then - at the last moment, you dash all their hopes as you reveal that you have misled them and they have completely failed to discover your method. I was learning the delights of showmanship, and this man is obviously a master of that art.

I found the memory section of the book incredible. My memory is awful and so I was amazed to note that within five minutes of starting the chapter, I was memorising lists of twenty words in order, after thirty seconds of looking at them. A couple of days later I got my friends to give me forty words - it took me a couple of minutes but now - about three weeks later, I can remember the list, in order, back to front - no problem. Brown also details methods for learning numbers, scripts or more diverse subjects, such as the Titles of all of Shakespeare's plays, in order. If applied correctly, there really is no limit to what you can remember with these techniques.

The hypnosis section was fascinating and this was always a topic I was very curious about. I thought Brown revealed quite a good deal about this area, and he even gives you the titles of the books that he started his learning from. Nearer the end of the book, Brown goes into the paranormal and we read his well-constructed arguments against supernatural phenomena. I admittedly felt my interest dipping slightly during these later stages of the book, simply because I did not find these topics as interesting as the chapters on psychology, but everyone will pick up this book for different reasons, and the topics Brown covers are too diverse for one not to have strong preferences to certain chapters.

All in all, a very informative read. I'm still bringing this book up in conversation to people. It is by no means comprehensive, but I think it gives a great picture as to the kinds of things Brown was experimenting with in the early stages of his craft - what with all the books he suggests for further reading, Tricks of the mind provides a firm foundation for anybody who is interested in studying Mentalism, Hypnosis or any other psychological trickery. If I wasn't so tight with my stars, I would certainly give this book 5!