He is a self-described "psychological illusionist" whose acts are often designed to expose the methods of those who claim to possess supernatural powers, such as faith healers and mediums.
His live performances, which incorporate audience participation and comedy, often include statements describing how his results are achieved through a combination of psychology, showmanship, magic, misdirection, and suggestion.
[6] He was privately educated at Whitgift School in South Croydon, where his father was a swimming coach,[6] before going on to study law and German at the University of Bristol.
[citation needed] In January 2011, to celebrate 10 years since his first television appearance, Channel 4 held a special "Derren Brown Night".
It was a personal and candid film about Brown which included the story of how he met his co-writer (who was featured in Seance), his mother's feelings about his involvement in the Russian Roulette special, and an emotional visit back to his old school, university, and bars/pubs where he first began his career.
[21] In January 2014, Brown appeared as himself in the Sherlock episode "The Empty Hearse", as part of a theory regarding how the title character faked his own death.
[24] Brown states that he uses a variety of methods to achieve his illusions including traditional magic/conjuring techniques, memory techniques, hypnosis, body language reading, cognitive psychology, cold reading, and psychological, subliminal (specifically the use of PWA; "perception without awareness"), and ideomotor suggestion.
[33] For example, after performing a trick in which he appeared to predict lottery numbers, his demonstrated explanation included using the Wisdom of Crowds, but it has been theorised that the actual method relied on split-screen video.
[35] In a Daily Telegraph article published in 2003, Simon Singh criticised Brown's early TV appearances, arguing that he presented standard magic and mentalism effects—such as the classic ten-card poker deal trick—as genuine psychological manipulation.
I happily admit cheating, as it's all part of the game" and claimed to never use actors or "stooges" in his work without informing the viewers, calling it "artistically repugnant and simply unnecessary".
[38] Public complaints that Russian Roulette was distasteful, made light of suicide, and promoted gun culture were ultimately rejected by Ofcom on the basis that the context (a post-watershed magic show) was enough and that the warnings given were sufficient.
[38] The GMB union criticised Heist on behalf of security workers, arguing it was "irresponsible and insensitive" in light of increased attacks on staff.
He responded by arguing they had misunderstood the trick as the box was not wired up and that he "wasn’t glorifying cruelty to cats [...] people would have been hard-pressed to recreate the electrocution device at home even if they wanted to".
[43] Another episode, which saw someone hypnotised into thinking they had been killed in a car crash after not wearing a seatbelt, was criticised by a road safety charity which alleged it trivialised the issue.
[44] Ofcom received 11 complaints and began an investigation relating to the safety of a scene in Hero at 30,000 Feet, in which the subject was shown chained to a railway line in order to escape from an oncoming train.
[48] Self-proclaimed psychic Joe Power, the subject of the Derren Brown Investigates episode "The Man Who Contacts the Dead", complained to Ofcom about being misled and treated unfairly and said the programme "presented, disregarded or omitted material facts".
[50] Ofcom rejected his complaint on the basis that Power had been fully apprised of the sceptical nature of the programme, and his actions had been presented fairly.
Viewers complained that the subject of Apocalypse was an actor, pointing to his CastingCallPro account as evidence; Brown dismissed these allegations as conspiracy theories and called them untrue and hurtful,[51] while the head of CastingCallPro pointed out that the subject had created an account on the website a long time ago but never completed his profile or looked for work on the website.
Brown critiques performances that he feels lack originality and encourages magicians to create more engaging and audience-focused experiences.Some reviewers[who?]
He says he felt bad because, "...they're spending a lot of money on those things and...if they wanted to find out how I was doing the TV shows it wasn't really answering that question.
It is a wide-ranging book in which Brown reveals some of the techniques he uses in his performances, delves into the structure and psychology of magic and discusses hypnosis.
He also offers autobiographical stories about his own experiences as a former Christian, and discusses his scepticism about religion, allegedly 'psychic' phenomena and other supernatural belief systems.
It is a mix of autobiography and humorous observation told mostly through footnotes and diversions while Brown describes performing a single card routine for a group of people at his old restaurant gig.
(ISBN 978-1787634473) On 2 September 2021, A Book of Secrets: Finding Comfort in a Complex World was published by Bantam Press.
It is based on a journal written during Brown's sell-out UK Showman tour in 2022/23 and was produced in paperback, hardback and a Deluxe Limited Edition of 300 copies.
In The Science of Scams, a number of videos were placed on YouTube purporting to show various kinds of paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, telekinesis and a tarot card reading.
In a second series of videos, Brown and his co-presenter Kat Akingbade explained what was actually happening, exposing each as a specially created scam.
The extracts last around 40 minutes each, disclosing tips and techniques Brown uses in his acts (as well as day-to-day) and narrating the highlights of his book.
The first half explains in detail some classic card routines from his earlier career as a conjurer, all of which rely on sleight of hand, misdirection and audience management.
[94] In 2008, Brown made a guest acting appearance in BBC Four's Crooked House as Sir Roger Widdowson.