Derren Brown: Archive
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From: jamesdavidson_99
Date: Mon Dec 30, 2002 9:22pm
Subject: Re: Stooges, Actors and Tricks - The Exposé
It is frightening just how accurate this post is about what DB does.
There is now no point in continuing to watch his shows following on
from this little "expose"...
Or perhaps not...
JD
--- In a previous message Blue Chip wrote:
> Hmm,
>
> I think you're gonna like this...
>
> If you want the illusion of DB to remain real, then I suggest you
stop
> reading here:
>
>
> Exposé follows:
>
>
> At the start of MC1, DB states:
> "...but that's the only TRICK you are going to SEE in the next
hour. There
> are no STOOGES and no ACTORS in this show. ALL the reactions are
REAL, and
> EVERYTHING you will see is EXACTLY what you would have seen if you
had been
> there with me. These are not MAGIC TRICKS, this is MIND CONTROL"
<sic>
>
> So now we KNOW for a FACT that there ARE ancient card TRICKS** in
the show
> which you can SEE clearly. Is it reasonable to conclude that the
show is
> ALSO littered with STOOGES and ACTORS? Not to mention well chosen
camera
> angles and editing room mods.
>
> I'm hoping the next series offers some CG Aliens...
> "...a good communicator can even affect your dietry intake. I went
to
> LV926 to meet up a couple of veteran face-huggers and gave them a
> mind-blowing fizz-icle <vocal tonality change> when I convinced
them that
> the Uri Geller they had just been fed was in fact turning into an
strong
> alkali in their blood streams..." <with hilarious consequences>
>
> ** The type of card trick that relies on purely mathematical
principles and
> hence can be reproduced easily by anybody.
>
> Nothing described below can be found in the Devil's Picturebook.
In fact,
> in DP, DB decries the use of despicable "self working card tricks."
>
> The Illusion
> ------------
>
> See MC1, The Gamblers (Part 2): The losing hand
>
> You may wish to pay close attention to:
> o Where did the deck come from?
> o What cards are on the table?
> o How are they collected?
> o To where in the deck are the 'tabled' cards returned?
> o What are the top 10 cards on the deck?
>
> The Trick
> ---------
>
> Take from the deck the following cards: K K K A A A 7 7 7 Q (suits
are
> irrelevant - i think)
>
> Actually, pretty much any three prials and odd card will work, but
these
> cards create quite a big psychological impact.
>
> I say "i think" and "pretty much" as, not being a poker player, I'm
not
> sure if you could run into trouble with flushes?? Is there such a
thing as
> a three of four card flush?
>
> I say "take", it would probably be more convincing to deal them
randomly
> from the top of a stacked deck.
>
> Part 1:
>
> # Shuffle the cards so that the Q is the top (or second card) on
the pile.
> # Draw two cards from the top of the pile and show the BACKS to the
player.
> # Tell him to pick a card
> # If he chooses the Queen: tell him he is choosing which cards to
keep
> # If he chooses the other card: tell him he is choosing which cards
to discard
> # You *may* now stick to this. Ie. Give/Keep every card he points
to
> # Mathematics will ensure you a winning hand.
>
> Part 2:
>
> # Collect the cards, again bringing the Queen to the top of the deck
> # Deal the Queen to the player and the next card to yourself
> # Present the cards (face down) one at a time, and tell the player
that he
> make take or reject each card that is offered
> # Allow him to keep all cards he selects until he has five cards in
front
> of him
> # You keep all others
> # Mathematics will ensure you a winning hand.
>
> Part 3:
>
> # Collect the cards, again bringing the Queen to the top of the deck
> # Deal the Queen to the player and the next card to yourself
> # Present the cards (face up) one at a time, and tell the player
that he
> make take or reject each card that is shown
> # Allow him to keep all cards he selects until he has five cards in
front
> of him
> # You keep all others
> # Mathematics will ensure you a winning hand.
>
> NB. There are a thousand ways to get the Queen to the top of the
deck, but
> anyone with a copy of DP will know straight off how DB achieves
it. And
> NO, that wasn't what gave it away. I have said before, I will
disclose
> nothing of the enigmas presented in DP. The give away was that DB
always
> got to choose the first card.
>
> Remember, if you perform your trick in a boring manner your
audience will
> be bored. If you perform your trick in a fascinating manner your
audience
> will be fascinated. etc.
>
> DB makes £60 on this trick. Now: Go to the pub; win £60 with this
trick;
> buy a couple of rounds; and spend the rest of the proceeds on a
copy of The
> Devil's Picturebook or a 1st ed copy of Pure Effect.
>
>
> The Fear
> --------
>
> Having now proven that DB is by no means beyond a bit of bold faced
lying,
> here is the fear...
>
> Now for this part, I hope that none of my personal friends read
this group,
> or else I am about to skupper one of my own tricks (heartfully
inspired by
> (thought not at all stolen from) DB himself)...
>
> I perform a card trick, it is the cheesiest card trick I know - and
it was
> chosen for that very reason. The idea was, that I would perform
the
> cheesiest trick ever in the most obvious way and then steam in with
a well
> scripted, but =ludicrous= explanation of how it was done (this is
clearly
> the 'closing' trick). If I sold the explanation, people would
think that I
> was some kind of master card guru (and they do ;). If my sell
failed, the
> trick was sooooo obvious that any idiot would see it a mile off and
I would
> soon hear about it (from a group of highly critical peers.)
>
> A scary thing happened. One friend has atually managed to get the
trick
> working in the ludicrously implausible way that I claim it is
done. He
> genuinely has learned to detect the subtle printing errors on the
faces of
> his (Piatnik**) cards.
>
> ** After much claim to the superiority of Piatnik cards, I bought a
deck -
> although I was quite chuffed to find a long card in the deck, I
have made a
> sharp return to Bicycle cards.
>
> The second scary thing is that face/eye/throat reading DOES WORK -
at least
> to a minor degree - this I state as fact. And you've only got to
be close
> for people to get veerryy scared of you. Have I just performed the
second
> impossible task? Is DBs plausible descriptions more real than even
he
> suspects?
>
> Interesting!
>
> Bc.
