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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to think that anyone who believes is derren brown is daft?

411 replies

TENDTOprocrastinate · 26/10/2012 21:50

I have no belief in derren browns psychic ability. his usual hypnosis shows are blatantly all set up with actors/actresses. I have had many an argument about this in the past with dh. His current 'apocalypse' show- if it were real- would be a Jeremy beadle gone (far) too far. However, this apocalypse show is mildly entertaining. At least he is admiting that there are actors involved- though clearly guy who is supposed to be hypnotised is an actor too. (Dh thinks otherwise)

OP posts:
CuriosityKilledTheCrap · 27/10/2012 14:22

Yes - surely that's be the first thing to check after a debrief - that twitter/FB wasn't full of the info regarding his acting credentials.

Is it a double bluff?

tedmundo · 27/10/2012 14:22

I saw Derren in Halls at Bristol Uni in 1993. He had the captain of the women's hockey team declaring her love for a broom. He is an accomplished hypnotist and a showman. He makes no claim to be psychic and goes to great lengths to explain his 'psychic' ability is from studying behaviour.

Melpomene · 27/10/2012 14:26

The cached twitter page linked above also says Steve Brosnan has run two marathons, and a quick Google brings up this:
www.justgiving.com/brosaconstricta/

Running marathons doesn't exactly tie in with the image presented of a layabout who takes everything for granted and has no motivation.

The show was entertaining, but I agree with the posters above who have said it would be too risky and potentially psychologically damaging to do this 'for real'. Surely there would be a high risk of post traumatic stress disorder if a person genuinely believed that the world was in crisis and they were being chased by zombies, with the implication that their family could have been killed/zombified? I don't find it plausible that psychologists could screen someone with no prior record of coping with trauma and confidently pronounce "This person is robust enough to cope with trauma." Even a few seconds or minutes of extreme stress can result in PTS. And it's not possible for the programme makers to legally exclude themselves from all liability for injury (whether psychological or physical), however many disclaimers have been signed.

Inadeeptrance · 27/10/2012 14:29

I'm a hypnotist, it IS that easy to hypnotise someone, especially if someone is highly suggestible, which Steve was and had been hypnotised before and had a post hypnotic suggestion implanted.

The fear on his face was real. Well, sheer terror really. I cannot wait for the next one. Derren is incredible!

Crimebusterofthesea · 27/10/2012 14:33

It's got to be a double bluff, surely? Something didn't add up when I was watching last night, it just didn't 'fit' what DB usually does, and I've seen 4 of his live shows. He is a very clever man and doesn't pretend to be anything other than a showman. The fact that there is a week between episodes struck me as odd too. Hmmmm.

WereTricksPotter · 27/10/2012 14:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MissKeithLemon · 27/10/2012 14:37

If Steve is an actor, which he must be I think, then why on earth did he leave his details all over the Internet? I wonder if this is part of the trick. We 'figure out' Steve is an actor and then there's another twist... Otherwise it just doesn't seem clever enough for DB.

Because jobbing actors, or more to the point, jobbing extras/sa's do not sign up and agree to give their whole life away Grin Its a job the same as any other.

There are often ads on casting call pro and star now for short jobs which are clearly as paid audience members on Derren Browns show. I've applied my self before

MissKeithLemon · 27/10/2012 14:39

All of you who 'believe' it. Do you believe he predicted the lottery too? Its a TV show, meh, stuff is made up all the time.

cornybeefhash · 27/10/2012 14:40

I don't believe they would be stupid enough to have info on the Internet if he was an actor - the first thing you would do is get rid of everything.

Why choose a crap actor? The little girl and the ambulance driver are fantastic. Surely they would get a better actor for the main role.

The links to his acting could be red herrings...they must be.
The link to the marathon could also be fake.

We just don't know how we'd actually react in that situation really do we?

JaquelineHyde · 27/10/2012 14:44

There has to be more to this than we have seen so far.

I cannot believe for one minute that Derren Brown and the massive team he would have around him wouldn't have already shut down every single web page and/or doctored them to show the information they want us to see.

The general public are feeling very clever and smug with themselves for being Google detectives and finding Derren out...Surely this is too simple.

It is being shown over quite a few weeks, Derren and his team will know very well how much stuff can become unearthed in this time, we see it time and again. I suspect this is all part of the show, we the viewing audience are part of the show and so far I suspect we are doing exactly what Derren Brown wanted us to do!

MissKeithLemon · 27/10/2012 14:44

Why Corny? The Derren Brown show is not going to make the guy a million or owt. Its an entertainment programme, no more no less. He will need to work again afterwards and removing his profile before appearing in probably his most high profile role to date is not a good idea really.

Crimebusterofthesea · 27/10/2012 14:47

Exactly Jaqueline - I have a feeling this is exactly the response he was after - more to do with the audience than the show itself?

cornybeefhash · 27/10/2012 14:52

I disagree
His name is mentioned on this thread, you're all talking about him, people have searched him , people have said they are going to watch it back to study him more carefully because his details have been removed.

bigbuttons · 27/10/2012 14:58

i saw it as my ds wanted to watch. The whole thing was stupid.

HeinousHecate · 27/10/2012 15:02

How do you doctor the www? how do you remove all references to a specific thing?

Expensive lawyers trying to keep their clients misdeeds private can't do it, celebs who've been shagging about can't do it, hell, governments can't do it

So if derren brown can do it, I'll eat my hat, your hat and every hat within a 1000 mile radius Grin

MurderOfGoths · 27/10/2012 15:05

"I cannot believe for one minute that Derren Brown and the massive team he would have around him wouldn't have already shut down every single web page and/or doctored them to show the information they want us to see."

Most of what is showing up is cached sites, eg. stuff they have changed

cornybeefhash · 27/10/2012 15:06

The references people have linked to would have been easy to find and remove. There can't be that many for an unknown actor.

MurderOfGoths · 27/10/2012 15:07

"The references people have linked to would have been easy to find and remove"

x-post, seems they were. They just couldn't get rid of cached information

feelingpositivemum · 27/10/2012 15:15

I haven't read the whole thread but on the topic of stooges, I saw his show when he stopped his pulse and he wanted someone with a medical background to come up to monitor it. I am a nurse, and there were two of us and he picked me! I had to go on stage to take his pulse throughout the act. I am no stooge and he did stop his pulse Wink

Ratata · 27/10/2012 15:45

I'm now thinking it's some kind of double bluff. The Facebook and Twitter sites for the actor have been made for us to find and the whole experiment will actually be about how fast we found out or something.

VerySmallSqueak · 27/10/2012 15:51

Next you lot will be telling me wrestling ain't for real. Shock

I think I believe it.I've never seen any Derren Brown before,but this had me gripped.

I'm bloody loving it Grin

RubyCreakingGates · 27/10/2012 15:53

Tis all very clever, but mostly flim-flam...
Have you read this:
www.amazon.co.uk/Attack-The-Unsinkable-Rubber-Ducks/dp/0349118817

A very enjoyable bit of fiction that explains in datail how it's done.

Panzee · 27/10/2012 16:00

Some of the discussions about distraction reminded me about this:

Not totally relevant but good all the same. :o

Jux · 27/10/2012 16:04

I agree that there is more/less to this than meets the eye; it will turn out that it's going to be about audience reaction or something, and he's going to come up with some big surprise. It would be ridiculous for DB not to have thought about google etc.

I'm not sure about the legality of hacking the phone and computer either which apparently he did without permission. Hmm I don't think so. That was all pretend for our benefit. So he's setting us, the audience, up for something. I don't particularly care what it is, as long as it is a surprise and not some tired old "look, it wasn't real after all!" thing.

On the other hand, maybe he just wants to remind us that he's around; or perhaps it's a contractual obligation show, so there's a lot of extras and a lot of big bangs and so on but not much substance. I'll watch next week, and find out Smile

milkand2sugars · 27/10/2012 16:09

Derren is excellent at what he does I've worked with him and he is a very clever man.