Derren Brown — A Master Mentalist on Magic, Mind Reading, Ambition, Stoicism, Religion, and More (#776)

“Gather yourself afresh.”
— Derren Brown

Derren Brown (@derrenbrown) is a psychological illusionist who can predict, suggest, and even control human behavior. Starting his TV career with shows such as Mind Control and Trick or Treat for Channel 4 (the UK’s equivalent of PBS), Derren has combined spectacular illusions with insights into how we see the world and those around us, or expect to see them. Rather than guard the mystery behind his illusions and manipulations, he lays bare his techniques and demonstrates how the human mind works.

A prolific creator and performer, Derren has appeared in blockbuster stage and television shows alike, including the sold-out Broadway run of his one-man show Secret, his Olivier Award-winning tour of Svengali, and his Netflix specials The Push, Miracle, and the harrowing Sacrifice, in which he tries to manipulate an ordinary person into taking a bullet for a stranger.

Derren is the author of multiple books, including Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine and A Book of Secrets: Finding Comfort in a Complex World. Derren’s new tour, Only Human, materializes on stages across the UK beginning April of 2025.

Please enjoy!

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The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

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Want to hear another episode with someone who delights audiences with feats of magic? Listen to my conversation with Simon Coronel, in which we discuss radical earliness, neurodivergence, categories of stage magic, late (but timely) blooming, mentalism misgivings, jigsaw puzzles, spending time at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, and much more.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

• Connect with Derren Brown:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

• Derren Brown: Sacrifice | Netflix
• Netflix’s Derren Brown: Sacrifice Is an Utterly Bizarre, Ethically Questionable, Totally Gripping Must-See | Paste Magazine
• Derren Brown: The Push | Netflix
• Duncan Greive: Netflix Drives Man to Brink of Murder with New Show | NZ Herald
• The Truman Show | Prime Video
• The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy: Was Sirhan Sirhan Hypnotized to Be the Fall Guy? | The Washington Post
• Derren Brown: Apocalypse | YouTube
• The Game | Prime Video
• The Assassin with Stephen Fry | Derren Brown: The Experiments
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams | Amazon
• Master Magician David Blaine — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss | The Tim Ferriss Show #546
• Mind Control with Derren Brown | Prime Video
• Tricks Of Mind by Derren Brown | Amazon
• Hypnosis | Wikipedia
• Derren Brown: Showman | Apollo Theatre
• Dr. David Spiegel, Stanford U. — Practical Hypnosis, Meditation vs. Hypnosis, Pain Management Without Drugs, The Neurobiology of Trance, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #731
• What Is Mentalism? Tips for Becoming a Mentalist | MasterClass
• Cold Reader Tips: How Cold Reading Works | MasterClass
• Debunking Psychics: An Intro to Hot Reading | Rachel Oates
• The Man Who Contacts the Dead | Derren Brown Investigates
• The Illuminati, QAnon, Lizard People, and Other Bizarre Conspiracy Theories | Spyscape
• Richard Wiseman on Lessons from Dale Carnegie, How to Keep a Luck Diary, Mentalism, The Psychology of the Paranormal, Mass Participation Experiments, NLP, Remote Viewing, and Attempting the Impossible | The Tim Ferriss Show #593
• Derren Brown on Why the Supernatural Isn’t Real (Clip) | Diary of a CEO
• Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre | Amazon
• Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational by Michael Shermer | Amazon
• The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading: The Definitive Guide to How Cold Reading Is Used in the Psychic Industry by Ian Rowland | Amazon
• Oracle of Delphi: Why Was It So Important to Ancient Greeks? | The Collector
• Jon Batiste — The Quest for Originality, How to Get Unstuck, His Favorite Mantras, and Strategies for Living a Creative Life | The Tim Ferriss Show #775
• The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins | Amazon
• Derren Brown: The Miracle Maker Reveals His Christian Past | Premier Christianity
• Believing in God & Overcoming Your Fears: Fear And Faith | Derren Brown
• The Jungian Shadow | Society of Analytical Psychology
• The Coming Out Experience | Pew Research Center
• What Is Conversion Therapy and When Will It Be Banned? | BBC News
• Dead Poets Society | Prime Video
• Derren Brown: ‘I Was a Terrible Attention Seeker’ | The Guardian
• Happy: Why More or Less Everything Is Fine by Derren Brown | Amazon
• What Is Stoicism? A Definition and Nine Stoic Exercises to Get You Started | Daily Stoic
• Stoicism Resources and Recommendations | Tim Ferriss
• Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) | Wikipedia
• A Book of Secrets: Finding Comfort in a Complex World by Derren Brown | Amazon
• Derren Brown’s Boot Camp for Emotion Derren Brown’s Boot Camp for Emotion by Derren Brown | Amazon
• Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World by Hartmut Rosa | Amazon
• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi | Amazon
• Derren Brown Demonstrates How Faith Healers Work | Derren Brown
• Derren Brown: Miracle | Netflix
• Rhonda Byrne on Why Manifestation Sometimes Fails | Ask Rhonda
• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne | Amazon
• Art Store | Derren Brown
• Telic vs Atelic: Balancing Work and Play in Your Life | HackerNoon
• Only Human | Derren Brown
• Notes From a Fellow Traveller by Derren Brown | Derren Brown Books
• Sherlock | Prime Video
• Fargo Season 1 | Prime Video
• Jonathan Haidt — The Coddling of the American Mind, How to Become Intellectually Antifragile, and How to Lose Anger by Studying Morality | The Tim Ferriss Show #644
• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt | Amazon
• Books by James Hollis | Amazon
• Books by Irvin D. Yalom | Amazon
• Books by Oliver Sacks | Amazon
• Books by Fyodor Dostoevsky | Amazon
• Hannibal Lecter Series by Thomas Harris | Amazon
• Books by Stephen King | Amazon
• Little, Big by John Crowley | Amazon
• Picnic Comma Lightning: The Experience of Reality in the Twenty-First Century by Laurence Scott | Amazon
• Derren Brown: Mentalism, Mind Reading, and the Art of Getting Inside Your Head | TED Talk
• Tim Ferriss | TED Talks
• Go to the Limits of Your Longing by Rainer Maria Rilke | The On Being Project

SHOW NOTES

• [00:06:45] Sacrifice, The Push, and Apocalypse.
• [00:12:21] Derren’s transition from student to magician.
• [00:14:43] How Martin Taylor inspired Derren to pursue hypnosis.
• [00:16:42] Strange audience reactions to hypnosis.
• [00:20:00] Hypnosis, mentalism, and cold reading.
• [00:24:34] How a TV medium uses hot reading techniques.
• [00:26:22] How can someone learn to be a healthy skeptic?
• [00:34:24] How learning magic influenced Derren’s skepticism and faith.
• [00:40:57] Why did Derren wait until his 30s to come out?
• [00:43:18] Finding meaning.
• [00:47:06] High status struggles.
• [00:48:20] Making sense of the human experience.
• [00:56:59] Ambition and productivity.
• [01:02:25] The counterintuitive assembly of Derren’s creative projects.
• [01:09:17] Ensuring ethics and safety in TV social experiments.
• [01:15:50] Suggestion as self-defense.
• [01:20:27] Why Derren takes care not to abuse his superpowers in real life.
• [01:24:01] Recommended reading.
• [01:28:02] TED Talks in treacherous terrain.
• [01:29:53] A new belief or habit that has improved Derren’s life.
• [01:33:27] Derren’s billboard and parting thoughts.

MORE DERREN BROWN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Life’s difficult. Life has this centripetal quality. It brings us to this difficult central point. The thing that makes us feel most isolated is the one thing that actually connects us the most.”
— Derren Brown

“If you want to keep the seat next to you free on a train, don’t put your bag there, because that’s what everybody does. Instead, pat the seat and nod and smile at people. No one’s going to sit next to you.”
— Derren Brown

“The experience of something bigger than yourself is how we find meaning.”
— Derren Brown

“I think just how you make peace with life that’s not always going to go your way, that’s the project, that’s a successful life.”
— Derren Brown

“If you’ve got all the energy and self-promotion, but no talent to back it up, it’s not going to be very helpful. And if you’ve got all the talent in the world, but no energy of getting it out there for people to see, that’s also not great.”
— Derren Brown

“Sometimes a bit of conflict is important because it isn’t really about conflict, is it? It’s about being able to have some faith in what you actually are and want to say and stand for.”
— Derren Brown

“Gather yourself afresh.”
— Derren Brown

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