The Master divulges his Secrets - should be a good read, if he really does explain how he does it. Here's a link to the entry on Amazon;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1...815803?ie=UTF8
Ignore the RRP listed - it's really £18.99, not £10.99.
Melanie.
the reviews appear to be for totally different books... how odd.
Perhaps Derren has done some weird mind trick on them to write reviews for the wrong book :D
How very bizarre! However, knowing amazon as I do (working for a book distribution company) it doesn't surprise me at all that they've messed it up.
Incidentally, the company I work for distributes for Prometheus. I can supply any of their titles to you guys at a hefty discount - say 30% off. If this is worthwhile (John?) I'll put a list together - as an html page? - and forward a link.
Melanie.
Anyone buying through Amazon can use the UKS affiliate link.
The goods cost the same but we get a small commission which goes into the UKS pot.
Yes Melanie. If you can do that it will be great. 8)
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The book is a great read, not so much an instruction book on his techniques, more showing you the basic principles of some of the things hes interested in.
Theres a very good section on memory techniques and some of his anecdotes on his early days at collage playing with hypnosis are very funny.
Definately worth getting hold of
heh, are the 'memory techniques' explained as hidden cameras and microphones?
Is that the 'functional explanation' for NLP?Originally Posted by tkingdoll
Shhhhhhhhhhh! People have a living to make.
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I got into such a huge argument recently about this. I like Derren and his act but there's no doubt he's promoting pseudoscience. Not NLP necessarily, he's taken steps to distance himself from that particuar branch of woo, but in the lengthy psychological explanations he gives when in fact the trick is simply a switched envelope or hidden camera. I happened to say it's the same if John Edward or Sylvia said that their powers came from quantum foam - what a can of worms that opened! :DIs that the 'functional explanation' for NLP?
Shhhhhhhhhhh! People have a living to make.
I believe he has a disclaimer now before his show to the effect that everything you see or hear on the show is entertainment (and therefore potentially untrue). That's great, but it doesn't stop people believing he really can memorise a phone book or guess what you are thinking from your body language and pupil dilation.
I have often been surprised at just how many people believe that DB has 'powers' of some kind. They'll admit that he's not psychic, because he says he's not, but they think that he has some kind of amazing ability that enables him to read your mind or influence you to act in certain ways (pretty much a good definition of mentalism).
What they don't get is that his explanations for his 'powers' are all a part of the act.
He uses standard mentalism techniques and dresses them up in new ways. This makes him a great performer, and I like him a lot, but it does create another issue. He debunks all things psychic but he replaces it with something else equally as implausible: that he uses advanced psychological techniques to manipulate and influence people.
Another issue is that it blurs the frame of reference that magicians normally operate under: that there's no doubt that you are being tricked and fooled whilst they are performing. With DB, there's no demarcation line and no clear point at when he's performing or when he's stopped.
Simon Singh had a lot to say about DB: http://www.simonsingh.com/Derren_Brown_Article.html
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He's listed in the UKPsychic's Directory of Mystics and Psychics...the only one listed with quotes... "Mentalist". :D Make of that what you will!
I'm not sure he ever said he used advanced psychological techniques, but I could be wrong. These days at least, his disclaimer is "What you are about to see is a mixture of magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship." He has also admitted to being a liar, but I think that the way he often forces people to question things is a positive and outweighs the fact that his performance is based on lies and misdirection. To be honest, I can't see what's wrong with that myself. He's a magician. If he lets people think it's just a trick, he wouldn't get the full effect. He goes some way to explain this better than I can here (about half way down the page).What they don't get is that his explanations for his 'powers' are all a part of the act.
He debunks all things psychic but he replaces it with something else equally as implausible: that he uses advanced psychological techniques to manipulate and influence people.
I'm sure that the disclaimer has appeared before every one of his shows, from the very first showing of Mind Control in 2000.
I still have the tape of that show from it's first broadcast (I should track it down to verify my assertion. Probably won't though, my loft is a very scary place).
The disclaimer has been adjusted only slightly in the following years.
Oh, that's interesting (the disclaimer, not your scary loft).
I'd be interested to know if the disclaimer on his US show is the same. They have slightly different laws governing broadcast and a much more litigious population.
I've now read the book mentioned in the OP. Some of it is...untruthful. But interesting nonetheless.
I loved this book. I even looked up more on NLP and it is fascinating.
One thing that really got me was that in the book Derren says to imagine Johnathan Ross is standing in front of you, he's got that lisp of his and the silly purple suit or whatever and you can imagine him really well. Everyone can do that, it's quite easy.
Next thing he says is to imagine the real Johnathan Ross came in and stood next to your imaginary one, and could you tell the difference?
I quickly realised after doing so that my second "real" Johnathan Ross was more detailed and real than the first and yet BOTH were imaginary. My mind actually thought the secondary one was real for a second. Isn't that interesting?
Hence psychics or whatever may really believe in what they do, other people might believe them but that doesn't mean their contact with the dead or passed on isn't imaginary. It could be just like this experiment.
it surprises me the the 'real' psychics havent got together and issued a Fatwa against derren brown, i like him because he proves that anyone without a special power can reproduce what those with the special powers claim as their gifts
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