Derren Brown: Archive
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From: gordo_ala_moore
Date: Tue Dec 3, 2002 5:36pm
Subject: Re: The Big Picture
Brilliant... you deviant !!
Cheers, Gordon
--- In a previous message Blue Chip wrote:
> Hi again,
>
> One person asked "...if Derren is so sure of himself, why doesn't
he go up
> and say 'You're a journalist!'?"
>
> Did you listen to the description of the bloke? This is not a guy
who is
> going to have any interest in getting involved with some guy on the
street
> with a camera. For a start he is taking the job of protecting his
> girlfriend _very_ seriously, I mean she is so far in his armpit you
would
> be within reason to wonder if they were actually congenitally
joined.
>
> You can tell a lot about someone from a distance. I have a friend
who is a
> copper, we were driving along one day and he looked out of the car
window
> at some guy a said "so, what do you do for a living?" The window
was
> closed and the car was moving, so it had clearly been said for my
> benefit. I looked at the guy... I looked at the spiked mohican and
thought
> "hmm, graphic artist?" then followed it down - no facial piercings -
couple
> of nasty scars though. His clothes looked like charity shop
rejects - I
> could almost smell this guy by now, and I tell you it wasn't
pleasant, and
> the thing he was smoking looked like it been rolled by a sheep! I
> concluded he worked on a part time basis for the government.
Signing on
> the dotted line once a fortnight. The type coppers take note of,
for some
> strange reason.
>
> Now maybe that was a simplistic example, but if you let the rule
start to
> unfold, it will happily take you on a journey around your mind,
though a
> list of all the people you know, Uncle Boris, Little Jimmy next
door, and
> Stinky Susan from school to name but three. Start with a big room,
in the
> middle is everybody you know, move some of them out to one side.
Who did
> you choose and why? Probably your friends, and probably because
you like
> them. That's good we have already got a big group of
characteristics that
> you like. Now divide that group into two or three smaller groups
and again
> decide something (no matter how ambiguous) about each group, "good
> looking", "male", "weird" whatever you choose. Go back to the
middle of
> the room and pick at least one new member for each group. Now
analyse the
> groups again and find a commonality between this new person and the
group
> they have joined.
>
> Don't try to remember all of this, just let it make sense as you
go - this
> is NOT a memory test. You may well find that the next time you do
this,
> that the groups form very differently. Why? Can you remember
where this
> person was last time. You won't remember for -everybody- but after
a while
> you will find that the important (important to you, that is)
character
> traits stand out clearly and after a couple of weeks, you will walk
into
> that room and four or five groups will have 'set up camp' in their
own
> little area, and above the will be the word "Friends" or "Lovers"
or "Ugly"
> or "Store Detective"
>
> Derren's people watching piece was also done during an afternoon in
> London. Well that kinda rounds it down a bit. I'm sure it would
have been
> very different in Toxteth, Liverpool, or in Solihull on a Sunday
afternoon.
>
> Start honing your skills now. See if you can pick out the homeless
people
> from the rascals. I saw a guy in a leather jacket last month
selling "The
> Big Issue" with one hand and chatting on his mobile phone with the
> other. Now you don't need a permanent place of residence to own a
mobile
> 'phone, but where do you think he hides it when he gets in his
cardboard
> box at night? And who was this friend he was laughing with that
would not
> allow a homeless mate to use his address for job applications?
Maybe I've
> missed the point completely and homeless just means something very
> different nowdays?
>
> I have a little test I lay down for myself...
> Look the guy square in the eyes and say "Pizza Hut are hiring.
<nod>"
> If I look at the guy and think, you have no hope of ever getting a
job,
> even a crap one, not even if you had a bath and put on a suit, then
I give
> him a quid instead. Hey it's a can if coke to me - it's money
towards a
> meal for him. And if he wants a "special brew" dinner let him have
it. I
> still wouldn't trade with him, even if he does drink beer as a
legal way to
> try and escape his horrible reality.
> I always know in a split second whether to put my hand in my
pocket. And I
> never walk away feeling that I might have been wrong. That's not
to say
> I've never been conned, but if I have been, he was good!
>
> I'm making this sound easy aren't I? Okay pick a more difficult
> example. Pick out the store detectives in the supermarket next
time you go
> shopping. When you find the middle-aged non-decript woman, with no
company
> and one item from each aisle. Check her clothes for sign or excess
wear
> and tear, scruffy maybe (if she's good), tatty certainly not (this
is a
> public facing job). Often you see them chatting with two or more
members
> of shop floor staff, or even funnier still is to watch them leaving
the
> staff room - but that kinda takes the challenge out of it!
>
> Once you're pretty certain you've picked her out... examine her, as
she
> turns to face you, break eye contact abruptly, look at the floor,
and start
> to gaze aimlessly at whatever grocery items you are standing near,
slowly
> working your head back up. Once back up, keep glimpsing her in
an 'are you
> gone yet' manner, but try not to turn your head - make a real point
of
> trying to keep your head still as you look around (this is very
unnatural,
> and will draw her attention closer to you.) Hopefully she will
cotton you
> for a thief (especially if you DO have tatty clothes and scruffy
hair.)
>
> Now, when she is only HALF-watching you (notice when her head
becomes
> perfectly stationary) take something and smoothly, but obviously,
put it
> inside your jacket - she will be watching your hands so she should
not
> notice you glimpse at her on this occasion. Walk into the next
aisle, and,
> before she makes it round the corner, hide what you took back on a
shelf
> somewhere discreet. Continue to walk around as if you are keeping
this
> thing hidden (badly)... Now it's time for the frame breaker - she
has
> followed a hundred shop lifters before. Walk up to her as if to
walk past,
> and as you come in line with her stop and ask her where the frozen
chickens
> are.
>
> If you chose wisely, you should be able to watch her eyes and hands
as she
> blindly panics with "what do I do now?" And you can walk away in
the
> knowledge that you were right. If she is not a store detective,
she will
> probably look at you blankly as a first reaction. You can walk
away safe
> in the knowledge that you have disproven your theories, but have
not made a
> tit out of yourself. Adjust your parameters and try again.
>
> I often take great pleasure in walking them all over the store in
the most
> erratic way possible, then wink at them and walk out, see if they
have the
> balls to stop me, they normally just stand there dumbfounded or
turn to the
> nearest item and pretend to look at it. Never been stopped yet!
Of
> course, I always have the added confidence of knowing that I
haven't
> actually taken anything - and this confidence is probably what
makes half
> of it work. I have an, as yet, untested spiel waiting for the
person who
> does stop me to see if I can get them to apologise BEFORE searching
me ;)
>
> When I go to a local pub with a live band, I always try to pick out
the
> musicians from the rest of the unknown crowd, and then see who gets
up on
> stage. When I am in a strange family scenario (friends wedding for
> example) I try to work out who is related to who and how. That kid
just
> flicked peas and looked at this guy for disapproval - father and
> son. There are hundreds of places to practice and many of them
give you an
> opportunity to find out if you were right.
>
> Progressing on a little. In more social situations try to read
peoples
> emotions. He's picking his nose, he is clearly more interested in
the
> crustacean up his nose than what she is saying. Think about it,
the next
> time someone is telling you something, stuff one of your fingers up
your
> nose and tell me what is more important at that moment, her words
or your nose?
>
> This technique works surprisingly well all round. Every now and
then I see
> someone and think "what the hell is (s)he thinking right now?" The
first
> (and normally last) solution I apply is to quite literally take
their exact
> body position and think "how does this make me feel?" When I feel
> satisfied that I have an answer, I apply my guess to the situation
I can
> see (and hopefully overhear, I'd like some confirmation to see if
I'm
> right) and ask myself "does emotion X make sense in that
environment" If
> not I try again, and add a couple of other methods, I have rarely
been
> completely stumped.
>
> The first few times that I was _utterly_ stumped were with drug
users. The
> guy in the bar "coming up on an E" just did not fit any model I
had. They
> all got dumped in the box labelled "god knows". Then one night a
friend of
> mine approached me in this state, my likkwle heart leapt as she
said "Have
> you got any chewing gum, it just that I took this E about 45minutes
ago
> and..." and I brashly slapped up a new shop in my brain and the
sign over
> the door read "Ecstasy User". "Druggy Alley" is a very interesting
road to
> wander down at night when I'm bored. I allow the people to come
out of
> their respective shops and mingle. You can start to imagine what
would
> happen if someone from "Dope'r'us" is allowed to interact with
someone from
> "Speedy Gonzales Old Age Emporium". I also like to walk down the
road and
> peek through the window and see what they're up to.
>
> You will notice and remember anything of interest that you see in
these
> shops. The media has very kindly spend 30 years programming me
with that
> skill. If you read that first sentence again, you will observe
that it
> only claims to remember things of interest. So the next step is
easy - if
> you want to remember -everything- take time to be interested in
> -everything-. If a friend is telling you a joke (presuppositions:
you have
> a friend; they know a joke) and you are bored by it (I normally
find "An
> Englishman, an Irishman and a Scots..." is about all it takes to
get me
> bored) then you are unlikely to remember it - it may still be
present under
> hypnotic recall, but you are unlikely to recall the joke randomly
one
> evening as you would do with many others. Problem? No interest!
>
> There will always be things you just don't understand, as with me
and drug
> users. On these occasions just put the experience in one of the
> interesting junk stores - whichever seems instinctively correct.
If the
> experience seems to fit in two or three shops, move their premises
so that
> they are all near to each other, there is likely to be a common
thread that
> you have not previously been aware of. By putting all the
experiences
> together, the 'big picture' will start to become more obvious. One
day the
> 'junk' will acquire a sign, often reading "please ask Bagpuss for
details
> of our special offers"
>
> A little humour for you. A sadist and a masochist in a room
together, the
> sadist says "hit me hit me", the masochist turns and says
softly "no" In
> my experience (and I really have tested this one to the hilt) women
tend to
> look blankly at me; I say "a sadist is a..." and get cut off
with "yes, I
> understand the words, and I see why it's clever, but it's not
really that
> funny." Blokes tend to fall about in hysterics. After (too) much
> debating, we have drawn this conclusion: To a bloke it's a
satirical look
> at going out on the pull; to a woman it's a clever play on words.
I will
> suss the difference between men and women before I die, but for now
this is
> about as close as I have got. Next door to the nightclub "A night
on the
> pull" is another venue called "date rape"
>
> You see how I have this town in my head and how it is built from
every
> experience I have - even something that seems at first to be just
an
> innocent joke. There are gathering points where these people will
interact
> at my will, pubs, clubs, markets, parks etc. You can even go into
the card
> shop and play cards if you like ;) Although I must say that this
is a new
> venue, and the theories that work in there are still being greatly
> refined. My delay is that they are all developing at the same
time, my
> advantage is, they'll all come to fruition at pretty much the same
time.
>
> My theory of card memory is closely modelled on the system Derren
mentions
> in his programmes. With a chunk of grouping thrown in for good
> measure. For example I have four sofas, two red, two black, each
with a
> family of three sitting on them; a father, a mother and a son -
these are
> real people that I know. Fat family on one black sofa; black (call
a spade
> a spade) family on the other black sofa; rich family and loving
family on
> the red sofas. They can stand up, sit down, hold numbers in front
of them,
> point at something or leave the room completely. There's a
Christmas Three
> in the corner with a Star on top, Baubles (and other decorations),
a little
> spade in the soil, and a present with hearts all over it. Again
the star
> can be switched on/off/removed/replaced with a number/beam of light
points
> to something. You see how the idea works. It is far more
effective than I
> originally suspected, and I plan to follow the idea through to
completion.
>
> I must say, that I can see how Blackjack is one of the easier games
to
> follow. Especially when 1 in 3 cards is worth 10. The aces count
> themselves - you NEVER forget an ace coming out of the pack, that
only
> leaves 8 groups of 4 (times the number of decks you are using),
they divide
> nicely into LOW and HIGH {(2,3,4,5),(6,7,8,9)} Heck! that alone
gives you
> one hell of an advantage ;)
>
> Well, I hope that some or all of this inspires a little
conversation, it
> will be nice to see how these ideas can be improved. Hope I
haven't bored
> you too much.
>
> Bc
>
> P.S. I really feel that somewhere should have been the words "The
map is
> not the territory" So here they are: The map is not the
territory. You
> can safely walk down Druggy Alley without being beaten up. But you
don't
> want to try that in Kings Cross at 02:00 on a Wednesday!
