What? You got Derren Brown in my Sherlock. You got Sherlock in my Derren Brown. Two great tastes that taste great together! It seems as if the United Kingdom’s premier mentalist will serve as a character in the superb BBC drama Sherlock. The Daily Mail published set pictures. And while we know that Derren will hypnotize Martin Freeman’s Watson, we will leave the other story specific reasons why past the original post link for those who’d like to remain unspoiled.
But seriously! Derren Brown on Sherlock. That’s kind of awesome.
“They relaxed a lot and went a bit sleepy – but nothing much happened. I loved Derren’s work but used to think people on the show (Brown’s TV series) would be actors who were hired. Then I thought it’s strange how you don’t find anyone a few years later moaning that they were paid £200 to pretend.”
They just got sleepy THEN Danny. Just wait until they are activated…
Aside from setting the record straight, there might have been a more personal reason why Derren Brown so swiftly battered down rumors of his newest television stunt. The Sun’s report that he was set to turn a gay man straight and a straight man gay using his mind control tactics might have also struck a personal note with the renown UK mentalist.
As Brown tells Mail Online, he knows deprogramming sexuality doesn’t work because if it did, he would have done it to himself as a youth.
‘I would have given anything to change it,’ he says. ‘I came across a Christian movement that tries to “heal” homosexuality. The message was “if you don’t want to be gay, there’s a way out”, which is not inherently homophobic. I read the books and attended the meetings.’
As an out gay man in a committed long term relationship, it obviously didn’t take. But the insinuation that he would tackle such sensitive subject matter would be understandably tender for the 42-year-old magic superstar.
A ton of other great tidbits in this interview including:
How he describes the wardrobe in his 20s: “Spandau Ballet gay leisure pirate.”
His opinion on a magician’s shelf life: “we’re interesting for a couple of years and then it starts to seem like posturing.”
Why the key to his future specials might be his placebo stunt last year where a sugar pill proved to have real life health benefits for respondants believing it to be a revolutionary brain drug: “That’s what interests me most now, finding these ways to help people.”
In an essay about how fragile the human mind is and how it can be affected by the slightest changes in our behavior, Derren Brown recounts a night he made a grown man cry. It began when a drunkard with his girlfriend began becoming very aggressive with DvB, challenging him to a fight.
o, I responded with, “The wall outside my house is four-feet high.”
I didn’t engage at the level he was expecting me to, so immediately he was on the back foot. He came back with, “What?” and I repeated my bizarre response. I delivered the line in a completely matter-of-fact tone, as if he was the one who was missing something here. Suddenly, he was confused. All his adrenaline had dropped away, because I’d pulled the rug from under him. It’s the verbal version of a martial-arts technique called an ‘adrenaline dump’, whereby you get the person to relax before you hit them.
But things really get interesting when Derren continues the line of unorthodox conversation…
“I lived in Spain for a while and the walls are really huge, but in this country they’re tiny.” After a few of these exchanges, he just went, “Oh f*ck!” and broke down in tears.
This comes from a mini guide of sorts that Derren penned about avoiding awkward situations, including sending a meal back at a restaurant or getting someone to turn their music down.
Watch Derren Brown’s parrot Rasputin dominate this lego puzzle. When does Brown take a break from watching simple creatures overcome complex and elaborate schemes of his creation? Apparently never.
Let’s say this was a real announcement. Let’s say that Channel 4 confirmed it. Let’s say Derren Brown’s new special “Preference Optional” (working title) is set to transmit in 3 months time.
My initial reaction is that it would be a little too “on the nose”. These kind of issues come with politics that many time cannot be pleased. Beyond the fact that the scrutiny on the special would be beyond anything Brown has seen since the Russian Roulette stunt.
No one has a real stake in the fate of a man who believes zombies are attacking society. But there are PLENTY of people on all sides of the issue that want to know if Derren can REALLY adjust the sexual desires of a volunteer.
But then again, maybe that’s why it could work. The hype surrounding it could be bigger than anything he’s done. The rating would be monstrous. And in the end, isn’t that what it’s all about.
Man, this one seems like a parody. But according to The Sun, it’s the real deal.
Derren Brown will use the same techniques he’s used to convince unwitting volunteers they are killers, dead, zombie survivors and disaster heroes to… turn a straight person gay. And conversely, turn a gay person straight.
It will surely invite plenty of controversy as it taps into the highly charged discussion of the nature of sexual preference. With such brouhaha will likely come the closest scrutiny on Derren’s methods as those who don’t agree with the premise of the program will no doubt seek to debunk it.
No matter what, Derren certainly seems primed for a big 2013.
