Darren Brown

[Homicidalheathen]

I dunno how he does it but it was kinda cool in parts.

http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown

He got people to except paper instead of money for some pretty expensive stuff.

And various other things.....

[n0Mad]

Most of it was a rehash of stuff from his British shows. Nothing really new for the American audience. Kinda disappointed in that but he's still a great performer nonetheless.

I'm actually the editor for a guy in England who's writing a series of books on how to do a lot of that stuff.

[Homicidalheathen]

This guy could make a living stealing and cheating and lying.......I guess its good he is just making films and books lol.

[n0Mad]

This guy could make a living stealing and cheating and lying.......I guess its good he is just making films and books lol.

Not really. You didn't see all the out-takes from when it didn't work. There are more failures than successes. Plus in a performance situation he has a lot of control over things that increases chances of success. If he were to literally try to do the things on the street that he apparently does randomly on the street, he would fail miserably and be arrested quickly.

[Homicidalheathen]

Well then he lies. He said he scams work 2/3rds of the time.

[n0Mad]

Well then he lies. He said he scams work 2/3rds of the time.

In a performance situation, I'm sure he does hit 2/3. If he were to try it as a grifter, it would probably only be around 1/5 at best.

[bav]

I dunno how he does it but it was kinda cool in parts.

http://www.derrenbrown.co.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown

He got people to except paper instead of money for some pretty expensive stuff.

And various other things.....

I have a friend in Chicago that's finishing up grad school in Organizational Psychology - or 'Mind Control' as he likes to put it. Last time I was down there, we had some conversations about 'priming' - the idea of using certain words and phrases that make people more susceptable to suggestion. When I caught the TV show in question, the bit in the mall where he got everyone to raise their arms was a classic example of (from what I understand) priming.

Called my buddy a little later that night - asked him to watch some of the show and subject it to a level of peer-review. Hoping to hear back from him this week about it.

[Homicidalheathen]

Yes please tell us what he thinks.

This subject is very fasinating to me.