Derren Brown: Psychic or Mentalist?
"Turning in his camel hair coat"
It never fails to amaze me how people keep talking about how Derren Brown is or must be psychic. When I first saw one of Derren’s live performances in a theatre on Shaftsbury avenue a number of years back the second half of the show was staged as a seance. Before it began he was clear to point out that everything he was about to perform was trickery - there was no paranormal or psychic aspect to it. This is a point Derren has made again and again as his is, after all, a mentalist.
On my return trip home there were several students who’d also been to the show, and as I eavesdropped on the conversation the subject turned into how Derren “Must be psychic” and that he “probably just doesn’t realise it”. This is a common theme that’s repeated again and again, when people can’t understand how the trick could be achieved and come up with the startling conclusion that he must be psychic. I suppose this demonstrates how good a performer Derren actually is but the problem is that it gives credence to fraudulent psychics that really claim to possess paranormal powers. Derren occasionally blurs the facts by talking about psychology and NLP, but he is always at pains to point out absence of paranormal ability.
Yesterday I stumbled upon a press release publicising a new bingo game based around fortune telling. It contained the following paragraph:
Years of watching Mystic Meg, Uri Geller and Derren Brown on TV have clearly left an impression on us Brits, with 32% citing visiting a psychic as their number one choice, should they be seeking guidance from the paranormal.
Again Derren is lumped together with an array of “psychics” as a reason why people visit a psychic to seek guidance. I know all publicity is good publicity but after the many statements Derren has made dismissing true psychic ability he must be turning in his camel hair coat.
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