42 Facts About Derren Brown

Derren Brown was born on 27 February 1971 and is an English mentalist, illusionist, painter, and author.

Derren Brown began performing in 1992, making his television debut with Derren Brown: Mind Control in 2000, and has since produced several more shows for stage and television.

Derren Brown's 2006 show Something Wicked This Way Comes and his 2012 show Svengali won him two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment.

Derren Brown made his Broadway debut with his 2019 stage show Secret.

Derren Brown has written books for both magicians and the general public.

Derren Brown often begins live performances by stating that his results are achieved through "magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection, and showmanship".

Derren Brown was born in the Croydon area of London on 27 February 1971, the son of Chris and Bob Brown.

Derren Brown was raised in the nearby area of Purley, which he described as "the epitome of middle-class suburbia".

Derren Brown was privately educated at Whitgift School in Croydon, where his father was a swimming coach, before going on to study law and German at the University of Bristol.

Derren Brown cites magician and comedian Jerry Sadowitz, whom he met at the International Magic shop in Clerkenwell, London, as being instrumental in his rise to stardom.

In 2008, Derren Brown made a brief cameo in the supernatural drama series Crooked House.

An interview with Derren Brown was featured in Richard Dawkins' 2009 two-part documentary series The Enemies of Reason.

Derren Brown explained various psychological techniques used by purported psychics and spiritual mediums to manipulate their audiences.

In January 2014, Derren 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.

In February 2021, Derren Brown appeared in a trailer for the horror video game Little Nightmares II, in which he discussed the nature of nightmares while some of the monsters featured in the game appeared around him.

Self-proclaimed psychic Joe Power, the subject of episode 1 of Derren Brown Investigates, complained to Ofcom about being misled and treated unfairly, and that the programme "presented, disregarded or omitted material facts".

Derren Brown alleged he had received threats from sceptics and had to move home because of it.

Derren Brown has faced allegations of using stooges in his work.

Derren Brown dismissed these allegations as conspiracy theories and then responded directly, calling them untrue and hurtful.

Derren Brown believes that the presence of a television camera increases suggestibility.

Derren Brown describes the NLP concept of eye accessing cues as a technique of "limited use" in his book Pure Effect.

Derren Brown therefore relies on an array of techniques to prevent audiences from deducing the techniques he has used.

Derren Brown revealed that he was dating a designer named Marc at the time, though they later ended their eight-year relationship.

Since 2004, Derren Brown has been the patron of the Parrot Zoo Trust in Friskney, Lincolnshire.

Derren Brown has written six books: Absolute Magic, Pure Effect, Tricks of the Mind, Confessions of a Conjuror, Happy, and A Book of Secrets, and released books of his street photography and painted portraiture.

Derren Brown has written a book exploring the history and philosophy of happiness; Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine.

Derren Brown warns against an act that conveys the feeling of "Here are some tricks I've bought" and urges magicians to make their performances experiential and memorable by involving the audience.

Pure Effect is a more traditional book of trickery and technique and offers an insight into some of the methods that Derren Brown employs, and offers a starting point for development for the reader's own use.

Derren Brown has said that he pulled them from the market when he found that non-magicians would bring them to his shows for autographs.

Derren Brown applies his insight to the paranormal industry, looking at the structure of beliefs and how psychology can explain why people become 'true believers'.

Derren Brown 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.

Derren Brown co-presented two web-based series for Channel 4; The Science of Scams and The Science of Attraction.

Derren Brown has recorded some audio extracts from Tricks of the Mind.

The extracts last around 40 minutes each, disclosing tips and techniques Derren Brown uses in his acts and narrating the highlights of his book.

International Magic Presents: The Derren Brown Lecture is an 80-minute lecture DVD of close-up mentalism and subsequent discussion of various aspects of Brown's performance.

In 2007, Derren Brown performed in the short film Medium Rare.

In 2008, Derren Brown made a guest acting appearance in BBC Four's Crooked House as Sir Roger Widdowson.

In 2008, Derren Brown provided caricatures for "The QI 'F' annual".

In 2010, Derren Brown appeared in a special Comedy Gala for Channel 4 and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Derren Brown appeared with Kevin Bishop, who played his jealous annoying twin 'Darren'.

Derren Brown created a new virtual reality dark ride at the Thorpe Park amusement park, which opened on 8 July 2016.

In 2019, Derren Brown collaborated with playing card company Theory11 on a deck of cards that are sold on the company's website.