Real Life Jedi Mind Tricks with Derren Brown.

Posted by chris on 9/8/09 at 10:13 am

Have you ever wanted to pay for goods and services with plain paper? Have you ever wanted to hand in a losing lotto ticket and still get paid? Have you ever dreamed of beating 9 chessmasters simultaneously? Derren Brown can.

Back in 2007, the Sci-Fi Channel (RIP) aired 6 episodes of a different kind of show. “Mind Control with Derren Brown” shed light on all of the above questions and more. Of course, Sci-fi went ahead and shitcanned the show after 6 weeks, leaving me with only CBS’ ‘The Mentalist’ for my Mentalist watching needs (For you Mentalist fans out there: I really think Patrick Jane’s Character is based, at least partially, on Derren Brown.)

But I digress, Because the run only lasted 6 episodes, I figured it would only be the right thing to do by sharing some clips from the show here.

First up Derren attempts to buy things with printer paper cut into the shape of money. (watch video)

Here Derren shows why you’ll give him your wallet or watch and not even question it. (watch video)

Here Derren has some fun with a pair of advertising geniuses. (watch video)

Here Derren uses a real life Jedi Mind Trick to win at the Dog Track (watch video)

Here Derren uses his skillz in an attempt to beat 9 chessmasters…simultaneously. (watch video)

Finally, Derren makes a woman lose her car… by swishing her mind! (watch video)

You might find yourself asking “How does he do his wonderful tricks?” That I can answer for you; It’s a combination of hypnosis, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and Psychological Illusions. The bottom line is, it’s all pretty damned cool!

Check out Derren’s blog for upcoming appearances and interesting blog links!

What do you guys think about Derren’s Jedi powers?

chris

Posted by chris

I'm a polymath with ADD, Entrepreneur, & ENTP who's aim is to emphasize awesomeness in pop-culture. I've described the contents of my mind as "Similar to Heffalumps and Woozles"

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DriftyMcDrift

um…yea…that is pretty fookin cool. where do I go to learn this “Jedi” mind trick? Fookin awesome man.
Tarzan

"It’s a combination of hypnosis, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and Psychological Illusions"

No, it's a combination of tricks and bs. He does many of the same illusions that magicians have been doing for ages, and he even "cheats" with camera tricks and stooges when he has to. Sometimes it's not so obvious how the trick works, other times it's painfully obvious, but the parapsychological "explanation" is always pretty cringeworthy.

TarzanHater

Idiot
Wane Greeners

Do you mean pseudopsychological? methinks you may be a pseudo intellectual, what with parapsycology being an investigation in the supernatural.

If you want to claim he uses stooges then I want to know where you got hold of such privileged information. It's not on me to prove a negative, you made the claim. He's been around a good few years now so how many stooges would Brown have needed up to now? How does he keep them all quiet when he gets as much media exposure as he does, when the UK tabloids would pay a fortune for that story? I know that's not proof, just a thought but as I said the onus of proof is on you.

WG

Tarzan

No, I mean parapsychology. The kind of mind-over-matter crap he dresses his illusions in is of the supernatural sort, but it's just a compelling image that people want to believe in. "Oh, it's true, we only use 10% of our brains, so of course a really smart man might memorise a dictionary. And Brown must be a really smart man, then." True, he is smart, but in the same sense as any other good illusionist.

Brown would have needed stooges to the same extent as Copperfield, Blaine, Chris Angel, and all the rest. And they don't come forward for the same reasons – they've been paid not to. Another reason non-stooge participants may not come forward is the same reason you don't hear what happens to audience members after they've been disappeared or whatever by more conventional illusionists. They should have amazing stories to tell about this magical limbo they were in momentarily, or they might explain how they were simply led through a tunnel underneath the stage and through another trap door, but how often do you hear such accounts?

neomonni

It's cool, regardless of how it's accomplished.

Gullable

Righty O Chap. If the tricks were as effective as they claim to be, I sure wouldn't be sharing my tricks with the world and I would be a billionaire by now…..maybe president too.
Tarzan

And what sort of bs is it to say the onus is on me? Brown is the man who claims to have superhuman abilities; he can memorise dictionaries, he can count cards so well that he wins at blackjack more frequently than a computer (that counts cards perfectly), and he can predict the fn lottery. But he can only do these things on his own terms, and despite being a reputable skeptic, he does not present his amazing abilities for any kind of skeptical inquiry. No, you won't find any revolutions in neuroscience credited to Mr. Brown. Funny that, given what he can supposedly do.
Tarzan

If he were genuine, he could produce all the extraordinary evidence needed to support his extraordinary claims, but he does not. Instead it's all done under carefully controlled circumstances. "I can reveal the lottery numbers, but not until a few seconds after the draw, even though ticket sales close long before it, and only via a camera, because of some stuff about security." – sure buddy, I believe you so much! A skeptic would appreciate that the simple answer – CAMERA TRICK – is more likely to be correct than some sort of collaborative psychic prediction of a lottery draw, which uses "statistics or something".

And beating the casino? Well who says he did? Did it occur to you that he might have gone to a dozen casinos and only showed you the footage from the one where he had a lucky streak? Quite easy then to dress it up as card counting, even if anyone who's played blackjack finds his commentary sounds rather like someone who doesn't really know how to play.
Tarzan

I find his shows entertaining at times, but no more amazing than other illusionists' performances. Even the bs is entertaining. Certainly a fresh change from "mystical secrets of the orient", and other explanations that the gullible sort-of-half-believed about a century ago. But it breaks my heart to see so many people actually falling for it.
http://www.jfseostudio.com get online sales

whoa that's mind trippy.

Real Life Jedi Mind Tricks with Derren Brown. - Have you ever wanted to pay for goods and services with plain paper? Have you ever wanted to hand in a losing lotto ticket and still get paid? Have you ever dreamed of beating 9 chessmasters simultaneously? Derren Brown can.