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Derren Brown: The Events #4: How to beat a Casino

areaarea Registered User regular
edited September 2010 in Debate and/or Discourse
Derren Brown
Magician, Illusionist, Mentalist


Arguably the most popular UK magician, Derren Brown has just finished a sold-out live tour, including a stay in London lasting over a month, and is now embarking on a series of four specials, under the heading of 'The Events'. He's been working on them for over a year.

Event One: How to win the lottery.

Derren Brown did a ten minute show on Channel 4, co-inciding with the lottery draw on BBC One, where he predicted the numbers live.

An hour-long show on Friday 11th September showed how he allegedly did it. He provided two explanations, neither of which seem very plausible (for the record, they were rigging the machine with a set of six heavier balls, and using the 'Wisdom of Crowds' method to predict the numbers). These 'solutions' are unsatisfying at best, and a little insulting at worst. It should be noted that, of course, at no time did he reveal the numbers ahead of time; the smart money is therefore on getting the numbers on the balls after the draw and before he turns around the stand. There seems to be a reasonable consensus that the method used was that demonstrated in this video.

Event Two: How to Control the Nation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgNZKoDpBww

Some people ended up stuck to their sofa, many did not. Most people seem to be of the opinion that it was just suggestion, nothing subliminal like he was claiming.

Event Three: How to Be a Psychic Spy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8doPZWcIAZE

Event Four:

Less is known about this, though the broad description is known. From the man himself:

Anyone else looking forward to these?

area on
«13456

Posts

  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    The advertising for these has been really cool, and yeah I'm interested to see what he does. If I remember, I'll try to watch tonight's one.

    darleysam on
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  • chidonachidona Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I do enjoy Derren Brown's shows because they're just really clever. I mean, he never professes it to be magic, but just uses really clever psychology to manipulate people into doing things he wants them to do.

    Can't wait for the second episode, sounds a hoot.

    chidona on
  • ForxForx Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I'll be watching tonight because I love Derren Brown's stuff. Not sure if it was just me, but I'm sure I've seen a number of flash frames in various channel 4 programs this last week or so, and from what my brain can pick-up, they are the same frame. The last one I saw was during that food quiz show thing last night (the name escapes me), is it just me?

    Forx on
  • Teslan26Teslan26 Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    He fucking well did it.

    Utterly utterly awesome.

    Edit: It could not have been a time delay trick due to the manner in which he revealed the answer.

    Teslan26 on
  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Mentalism is fascinating

    Improvolone on
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  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Show 1 = win the lottery
    Show 2 = how I predicted the result
    Show 3 = how to control the nation

    I wonder if there's any connection at all between these. The kind of people who are going to tune in to the lottery prediction one to learn how to do it. It obviously won't be a foolproof way to win the lottery every week just handed out to the masses, but you'll get an absolute tonne of viewers who are seeking such a prize.

    darleysam on
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  • Teslan26Teslan26 Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I wonder whether he really was upset that Channel 4 would not let him buy a ticket. I mean, he did not do anything illegal (we assume) and it would have proven beyond all doubt that it was a genuine prediction.

    I am curious whether he is going to be setting up the next stunt throughout fridays show? As in making us all more susceptible, imprinting shizzle, in advance to make his job easier.

    Teslan26 on
  • JohnOrangePeelJohnOrangePeel Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Teslan26 wrote: »
    I wonder whether he really was upset that Channel 4 would not let him buy a ticket. I mean, he did not do anything illegal (we assume) and it would have proven beyond all doubt that it was a genuine prediction.

    I am curious whether he is going to be setting up the next stunt throughout fridays show? As in making us all more susceptible, imprinting shizzle, in advance to make his job easier.


    I was going to say why the fuck didn't he buy a ticket if he really could predict the result, but you pre empted me. Got a source on T4 being the spoil sports here?

    Also there definitely was a slight time delay on his tv feed, i checked using 2 tvs.

    Also the thing about subliminal messages being 'illegal' is interesting as there was one (at least) on tonights show; something white appeared at the top-right of the screen but its was too quick to indentify.

    JohnOrangePeel on
  • Lux782Lux782 Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Derren Brown had a show on in the US on SciFi for a short while. I really enjoyed it. I would love to be able to watch his new sets of events. They sound very entertaining.

    Lux782 on
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Can he put 800 people to sleep?

    Cantido on
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  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Cantido wrote: »
    Can he put 800 people to sleep?
    large_TheGreatBuckHoward.jpg

    Improvolone on
    Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    edited September 2009
    darleysam wrote: »
    Show 1 = win the lottery
    Show 2 = how I predicted the result
    Show 3 = how to control the nation

    I wonder if there's any connection at all between these. The kind of people who are going to tune in to the lottery prediction one to learn how to do it. It obviously won't be a foolproof way to win the lottery every week just handed out to the masses, but you'll get an absolute tonne of viewers who are seeking such a prize.

    Show 2:
    "Easy, I just bought tickets for a ton of lotteries and just showed you the one I won."

    He's done it before with horse racing.

    edit: spoiler'd just in case.

    Echo on
  • HamHamJHamHamJ Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Any links for this stuff?

    HamHamJ on
    While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    edited September 2009
    He flipped a coin and had it land heads up ten times in a row too, and then showed how he did it. It's dead simple, actually. Anyone can do it.
    Just keep flipping the coin in front of a camera for seven hours until you get ten in a row.

    Echo on
  • surrealitychecksurrealitycheck lonely, but not unloved dreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Messiah is up on youtube - imo link it for our american chums. It's a great show :D

    surrealitycheck on
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  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    edited September 2009
    Here's the ten heads in a row coin toss.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1uJD1O3L08

    Echo on
  • summerycleptsummeryclept Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Derren's awesome - big celebrity among the magician community. I've got some of his lecture notes of some of his earlier works, and the methodology behind it all is just as fascinating.

    Also, to mirror an earlier question: anyone know of a way to view this, from America?

    summeryclept on
  • areaarea Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Here's the prediction show.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS8AK3F8_sY

    It is, of course, not a prediction - just a reveal. The youtube comments seem to be talking about a raised ball being evidence for a split-screen method, but I can't spot it.

    area on
  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Cool. I shall have to try and remember to watch on friday.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • MikeRyuMikeRyu Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I've met him. I was a runner on a day's shooting of one of his shows. Brought him a sausage and egg sandwich. There's my claim to fame.

    MikeRyu on
    Ranmasig5.png
  • mere_immortalmere_immortal So tasty!Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    MikeRyu wrote: »
    I've met him. I was a runner on a day's shooting of one of his shows. Brought him a sausage and egg sandwich. There's my claim to fame.

    What kind of sauce did he have on it?

    He strikes me as a brown sauce guy, but meticulously applied.

    mere_immortal on
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  • FalxFalx Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    MikeRyu wrote: »
    I've met him. I was a runner on a day's shooting of one of his shows. Brought him a sausage and egg sandwich. There's my claim to fame.

    You mean you actually bought him some crack-cocaine... which he then convinced you was a sandwich.

    Falx on
  • saint2esaint2e Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    The 39 seems a bit higher than the other ones in the row. Very cool though.

    saint2e on
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  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Echo wrote: »
    darleysam wrote: »
    Show 1 = win the lottery
    Show 2 = how I predicted the result
    Show 3 = how to control the nation

    I wonder if there's any connection at all between these. The kind of people who are going to tune in to the lottery prediction one to learn how to do it. It obviously won't be a foolproof way to win the lottery every week just handed out to the masses, but you'll get an absolute tonne of viewers who are seeking such a prize.

    Show 2:
    "Easy, I just bought tickets for a ton of lotteries and just showed you the one I won."

    He's done it before with horse racing.

    edit: spoiler'd just in case.

    The odds of getting that right, regardless of how many tickets you buy..

    Reading about next week's show, apparently he intends to literally stick everyone watching at home to their seats through suggestion. I'm both fascinated and apprehensive about that.

    darleysam on
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  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    So all I can think for this one is that it was a camera trick. The motion wobble was faked somehow and it was indeed split screen with the second camera (which was unused for the trick itself) used to show this on Friday.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • saint2esaint2e Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »
    So all I can think for this one is that it was a camera trick. The motion wobble was faked somehow and it was indeed split screen with the second camera (which was unused for the trick itself) used to show this on Friday.

    Yup. There's no reason, from a broadcast perspective, why that couldn't have been a stationary camera. As well they didn't use that secondary camera at all that they flipped to for about 3s, which is probably where they first did the split screen.

    saint2e on
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  • xiearsxiears It isn't sexual Strictly confectionalRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Im going to agree with Echo here, i think its along the same lines as the horse racing/coin flipping. He said hed get 5 numbers right, so thats just over 55000 possibilities. He said it was the result of a years work, it would take a looooong time to film 55000 clips.

    xiears on
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  • Zetetic ElenchZetetic Elench Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    It's possible for that to be a part of it, but - it doesn't really explain much of anything, and it wouldn't take the best part of a year to figure out how to pull it off.

    Aside from that, camera tricks are not really Derren's style. He vastly prefers misdirection and psychological odds-stacking to openly lying, which is essentially what a camera trick is.

    Zetetic Elench on
    nemosig.png
  • saint2esaint2e Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    It's possible for that to be a part of it, but - it doesn't really explain much of anything, and it wouldn't take the best part of a year to figure out how to pull it off.

    Aside from that, camera tricks are not really Derren's style. He vastly prefers misdirection and psychological odds-stacking to openly lying, which is essentially what a camera trick is.

    Valid point. He could've done the "camera trick" tease to get us all to think that way, while really he had some clever way of doing it that isn't obvious. I'd like to believe this scenario as I quite enjoy Derren's work.

    saint2e on
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  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    xiears wrote: »
    Im going to agree with Echo here, i think its along the same lines as the horse racing/coin flipping. He said hed get 5 numbers right, so thats just over 55000 possibilities. He said it was the result of a years work, it would take a looooong time to film 55000 clips.
    I don't see how that makes sense. There was no handy cut to use and it was a live broadcast.

    Mojo_Jojo on
    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • xiearsxiears It isn't sexual Strictly confectionalRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Mojo_Jojo wrote: »
    xiears wrote: »
    Im going to agree with Echo here, i think its along the same lines as the horse racing/coin flipping. He said hed get 5 numbers right, so thats just over 55000 possibilities. He said it was the result of a years work, it would take a looooong time to film 55000 clips.
    I don't see how that makes sense. There was no handy cut to use and it was a live broadcast.

    Ah ok, I must admit I havent watched the clip too closely, just the fact he said it took him a year sparked it off in my mind.

    xiears on
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  • areaarea Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    saint2e wrote: »
    It's possible for that to be a part of it, but - it doesn't really explain much of anything, and it wouldn't take the best part of a year to figure out how to pull it off.

    Aside from that, camera tricks are not really Derren's style. He vastly prefers misdirection and psychological odds-stacking to openly lying, which is essentially what a camera trick is.

    Valid point. He could've done the "camera trick" tease to get us all to think that way, while really he had some clever way of doing it that isn't obvious. I'd like to believe this scenario as I quite enjoy Derren's work.

    The motion of the camera stops completely around 6:08 before starting up again a few seconds later. If there is a split screen / motion capture setup, that's almost certainly when they switched back.

    The footage from the second camera used could well be going to be played in Friday's show to show what was 'really' happening.

    area on
  • MikeRyuMikeRyu Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    MikeRyu wrote: »
    I've met him. I was a runner on a day's shooting of one of his shows. Brought him a sausage and egg sandwich. There's my claim to fame.

    What kind of sauce did he have on it?

    He strikes me as a brown sauce guy, but meticulously applied.

    Uhh I think it was ketchup.
    Falx wrote:
    You mean you actually bought him some crack-cocaine... which he then convinced you was a sandwich.

    No kidding. I was scared to meet him, he could have had me eating my own arms and I'd think they were hamburgers.

    MikeRyu on
    Ranmasig5.png
  • ÆthelredÆthelred Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I think we can discount the talk of getting five balls right. He got six - the 1/44 chance he guessed that last one is pretty low.

    A camera trick would be pretty straight-forward, but very, very boring.

    Æthelred on
    pokes: 1505 8032 8399
  • AroducAroduc regular
    edited September 2009
    darleysam wrote: »
    Echo wrote: »
    darleysam wrote: »
    Show 1 = win the lottery
    Show 2 = how I predicted the result
    Show 3 = how to control the nation

    I wonder if there's any connection at all between these. The kind of people who are going to tune in to the lottery prediction one to learn how to do it. It obviously won't be a foolproof way to win the lottery every week just handed out to the masses, but you'll get an absolute tonne of viewers who are seeking such a prize.

    Show 2:
    "Easy, I just bought tickets for a ton of lotteries and just showed you the one I won."

    He's done it before with horse racing.

    edit: spoiler'd just in case.

    The odds of getting that right, regardless of how many tickets you buy..

    Reading about next week's show, apparently he intends to literally stick everyone watching at home to their seats through suggestion. I'm both fascinated and apprehensive about that.

    Couldn't you do that by just not taking a commercial break? Or talking about it until the end? The suggestion's already in place. :P

    Aroduc on
  • Uncle_BalsamicUncle_Balsamic Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I love this man. I can't wait to see what he does with these shows.

    Uncle_Balsamic on
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  • Teslan26Teslan26 Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Teslan26 wrote: »
    I wonder whether he really was upset that Channel 4 would not let him buy a ticket. I mean, he did not do anything illegal (we assume) and it would have proven beyond all doubt that it was a genuine prediction.

    I am curious whether he is going to be setting up the next stunt throughout fridays show? As in making us all more susceptible, imprinting shizzle, in advance to make his job easier.


    I was going to say why the fuck didn't he buy a ticket if he really could predict the result, but you pre empted me. Got a source on T4 being the spoil sports here?

    Just his twitter page :p
    Æthelred wrote: »
    I think we can discount the talk of getting five balls right. He got six - the 1/44 chance he guessed that last one is pretty low.

    A camera trick would be pretty straight-forward, but very, very boring.

    I hope it isn't just that, but on the other hand 6 nCr 49 = 14million and some change....

    Teslan26 on
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Teslan26 wrote: »
    Teslan26 wrote: »
    I wonder whether he really was upset that Channel 4 would not let him buy a ticket. I mean, he did not do anything illegal (we assume) and it would have proven beyond all doubt that it was a genuine prediction.

    I am curious whether he is going to be setting up the next stunt throughout fridays show? As in making us all more susceptible, imprinting shizzle, in advance to make his job easier.


    I was going to say why the fuck didn't he buy a ticket if he really could predict the result, but you pre empted me. Got a source on T4 being the spoil sports here?

    Just his twitter page :p
    Æthelred wrote: »
    I think we can discount the talk of getting five balls right. He got six - the 1/44 chance he guessed that last one is pretty low.

    A camera trick would be pretty straight-forward, but very, very boring.

    I hope it isn't just that, but on the other hand 6 nCr 49 = 14million and some change....

    Or he just something like e-ink paper. I mean he obviously can't predict the future.

    Rook on
  • darleysamdarleysam On my way to UKRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Aroduc wrote: »
    darleysam wrote: »
    Echo wrote: »
    darleysam wrote: »
    Show 1 = win the lottery
    Show 2 = how I predicted the result
    Show 3 = how to control the nation

    I wonder if there's any connection at all between these. The kind of people who are going to tune in to the lottery prediction one to learn how to do it. It obviously won't be a foolproof way to win the lottery every week just handed out to the masses, but you'll get an absolute tonne of viewers who are seeking such a prize.

    Show 2:
    "Easy, I just bought tickets for a ton of lotteries and just showed you the one I won."

    He's done it before with horse racing.

    edit: spoiler'd just in case.

    The odds of getting that right, regardless of how many tickets you buy..

    Reading about next week's show, apparently he intends to literally stick everyone watching at home to their seats through suggestion. I'm both fascinated and apprehensive about that.

    Couldn't you do that by just not taking a commercial break? Or talking about it until the end? The suggestion's already in place. :P

    Yeah, I'm wondering if it'll be something as simple as that, "Now I'll really tell you how I won the lottery.. after this break"

    I'm curious about the adverts they were running, with everything going backwards, lots of red, there's going to be tonnes of suggestion in those. Damnit Derren Brown, you are an enigma.

    darleysam on
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  • ItalaxItalax Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I tried to watch this but I think I ended up catching a show in London that was on afterwards by mistake.

    What did I end up watching?

    Will definitetly watch this tonight though.

    Italax on
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