Derren Brown ‘Infamous’ – Spoiler Free

Last night I went to Plymouth Pavilions to see Derren Brown’s latest live show Infamous, which is currently in its UK tour.

I’ve always been interested in mediumship, ever since I was addicted to Most Haunted as a kid. When I started to wise up and realise that it’s not as real as these so-called mediums like to make out, I got very interested in researching evidence that it’s fake. Some of the best evidence I’ve stumbled upon are videos of Derek Acorah, presumably ‘off-air’, and Yvette Fielding laughing about the fact that a spirit named Mary had come forward to tell Derek that she loves ‘Dick’.

A lot of people say Derren Brown is a fake, and in my perhaps not-so-humble opinion these people don’t know the first thing about what he does.

The audience were kindly asked not to give away spoilers, because the show and its contents must remain a secret so as not to spoil it for others. So I’m not going to give away anything that happens in the show. But Derren at one point mentioned something very interesting, and something that fits with the point I’m going to make; and that is if you claim something that defies science (the example he gave was that he had an invisible pet unicorn in his garden) then you have to come up with a huge amount of proof. It’s not enough to simply tell someone that doesn’t believe you that they are closed-minded. This pretty much set the scene for the show, in which he, as he often does, sets out to show how so-called ‘psychics’and ‘mediums’ can manipulate you and get information without actually reading your mind or the minds of the dead.

So when people say he’s a fake, the vital point they’re missing is that he doesn’t once try and convince you that he’s actually reading your mind. In fact he very often explains how people’s body language and other factors can be used in order to guess what they’re thinking. And although what he does takes years of practice, and some level of incredible intelligence, it is in theory possible for anyone to do; and he makes a point of making sure the whole audience understands that he is not, in any way, a psychic and nor does he claim to be.

Glad we cleared that up!

So on to the show, I can’t give away any details of what happened or ‘spoilers’ so I guess it just remains for me to overview it!

I’ll start by saying that if Derren Brown could fit in my pocket there’d have been trouble! He’s so adorable!! It’s hard to imagine someone so famous and well renowned could be so humble but he is. He has a brilliant sense of humour and really is not scary and formidable like his TV persona sometimes comes across. Without giving anything away, he messed up the ending very slightly and just laughed about it. He didn’t attempt, like a lot of ‘psychics’ do, to try and convince the audience member involved in the trick that they must have got it wrong, and I think that that kind of humbleness is what makes him such a joy to watch.

His ‘tricks’ are completely mind blowing. I’m itching to say what he did but I really want to keep stum and not give away any spoilers! Let’s just say that if you have tickets to go and see Infamous or are planning to, or even if you just intend to watch it on TV or DVD when it comes out, you won’t be disappointed! Obviously he doesn’t reveal how he does all his tricks otherwise no one would want to go and see his shows, because we’d all know how he does things. The way he predicts things that seem completely impossible is amazing!

The show takes a reasonable amount of concentration so it’s not just a case of sitting back and letting it wash over you, you have to engage your brain and put on your thinking cap! The warnings at the beginning, about how at times ‘you may feel dizzy and sick so just look away from the stage’ in all honesty set me on edge, but I guess they have to warn you just in case. I’m not brave enough to get myself involved so I avoided any opportunity to get called up. Although it would obviously  be great to come away with first hand experience, I’m a chicken!

All in all a brilliant show, and £30 well spent! I fully intend to see Derren Brown on another tour again in the future, and will probably end up buying Infamous on DVD. Mind-blowing stuff, and if you get the chance, go and see him!