{"id":70812,"date":"2019-09-18T09:57:18","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T08:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=70812"},"modified":"2019-09-18T09:57:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T08:57:19","slug":"what-to-watch-after-seeing-derren-brown-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/?p=70812","title":{"rendered":"What to watch after seeing &#039;Derren Brown: Secret&#039;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- m -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5751019935\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p> [ad_1]\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"id_text\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><i>Derren Brown: Secret<\/i> opened on Broadway to rave reviews. It&#8217;s a fantastic show, held together by the psychological illusionist&#8217;s charming patter and dazzling skill \u2014but since <i>Secret<\/i> is his first Broadway show, many of his audience members might emerge from their viewings wondering where the hell that nice man with the magic brain came from, and why they&#8217;ve never seen him around before. <\/p>\n<p>The answers to both of those questions are, in order, Britain and the difficulty of translating certain bands of fame between the British and American landscapes of celebrity. He&#8217;s famous over there, he&#8217;s not as famous here (yet), and the only advantage to that is now any new American fans can experience the joy and terror of his 20-year television career for the first time. <\/p>\n<p>Here are the Derren Brown shows you should watch if you&#8217;re a new American fan. There&#8217;s way more, but it&#8217;s a start. All links to episodes or clips are from Brown&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC_RhBfwbg5029C5JL6uAtyw\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube channel<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>As a warning: it gets weird. Really, really weird. <\/p>\n<h2>\n<i>The Push<\/i> <\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"Netflix\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/doFpACkiZ2Q\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Watching <i>The Push<\/i> on Netflix was my first experience with Derren Brown\u2019s work and the single most anxiety-inducing hour and a half I have ever spent voluntarily. I am physically incapable of stopping myself from luring my friends over to my apartment with the promise of brunch and revealing that they\u2019re actually here to watch <i>The Push<\/i> with me for the third time this month. It\u2019s just that good. <\/p>\n<p>In <i>The Push<\/i>, Brown poses a terrifying question: can he, given complete control of a subject\u2019s environment, manipulate an innocent into committing murder? If you think the answer is \u201cno, because that\u2019s insane and we live in a society,\u201d you\u2019ve already missed the point. <\/p>\n<h2>\n<i>Miracle<\/i> <\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"Netflix\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/33MnSMIctvk\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Brown\u2019s past as an Evangelical Christian is a well-documented part of his public narrative \u2014 he rejected the church in his twenties and is now an atheist. <i>Miracle<\/i> is a live show born out of his previous work exposing faith healers (seen in the 2005 special <i>Miracles for Sale<\/i>), during which it\u2019s easy to imagine he recognized the godless hustle and declared amateur hour officially over. <\/p>\n<p><i>Miracle<\/i> is all fun and games until Brown <i>actually<\/i> starts healing the sick and curing the vision-impaired members of his live audience, at which point the mounting tension between wanting to believe and knowing it\u2019s all a trick becomes truly exhilarating. <\/p>\n<p>For <i>Secret<\/i> or <i>Miracle<\/i> fans who want to see more of Brown&#8217;s live shows, his 2011 tour <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vd5RgrZDTYI\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Svengali<\/i><\/a> (a personal favorite featuring a spooky co-star) is also up on his Youtube channel, as well as 2005&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=idtbswz_mXw\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Something Wicked This Way Comes<\/i><\/a>. <\/p>\n<h2><i>Sacrifice<\/i><\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"Netflix\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bpUpNv9uNSI\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The third, but hopefully not the last, Netflix special from Derren Brown is <i>Sacrifice<\/i>, which operates as a sort of inverse to <i>The Push<\/i>. This time, Brown takes an ordinary racist Floridian (who swears he\u2019s not a racist, he just thinks Central and South American immigrants are invading his country&#8230;glad that\u2019s cleared up) and uses a combination of classical conditioning, elaborate setups, and a heavy dose of Derren Brown-y mind games to see if his subject could possibly learn enough empathy to lay down his life for a member of the group he hates. <\/p>\n<p>From an ideological standpoint, <i>Sacrifice<\/i> is one of Brown\u2019s weaker specials, but the lengths to which he goes in the attempt to make his subject a marginally better person are impressive as always. Racism: the one problem magic can\u2019t <i>quite<\/i> solve. <\/p>\n<h2>\n<i>Trick or Treat<\/i>, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q2YSNm66sQQ\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Kitten<\/a>\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>After the success of his first two TV series <i>Mind Control<\/i> and <i>Trick of the Mind <\/i>in 2000 and 2004, respectively, Derren Brown continued his early career as a television mentalist with 2005\u2019s <i>Trick or Treat<\/i>. In each episode Brown and his goatee offered his subject a choice of a \u201cTrick\u201d card or a \u201cTreat\u201d card and provided them with a corresponding experience. Thing is, the younger Brown\u2019s interpretation of the cards is flexible at best and completely satanic at worst. <\/p>\n<p>In the episode titled \u201cKitten,\u201d Brown offers a woman (who picked a Treat! Card!) \u00a3500 if she does <i>not<\/i> press a button hooked up to an electrified cage containing an adorable kitten. If she presses the button, the cat dies and she gets no money. Not to spoil but this episode keeps me up at night. Often.<\/p>\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"2\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 2 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"5511153269\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"see-also\">\n<p class=\"see-also-link\">SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/moulin-rouge-broadway-review\/?utm_cid=a-seealso\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;Moulin Rouge!&#8217; on Broadway is one hell of a fun spectacle<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2> <\/h2>\n<h2>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=o_CUrMJOxqs\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Apocalypse<\/i><\/a><i>, <\/i>Parts One and Two<\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"Channel 4\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4z-SSsBA2k0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A common thread in Brown\u2019s mid-career-to-current work is straight up traumatizing people until they learn a valuable lesson, like what would happen if Aesop ran escape rooms in hell. <i>Apocalypse<\/i> stars Steven, an unmotivated schmuck who takes his life for granted. What would you imagine is the best way for Steven to rediscover his joie de vivre? If you guessed \u201cmake him think everyone he loves is dead and simulate ragnarok\u201d then congratulations, you\u2019re a maniac! Just like Derren Brown.<\/p>\n<p>With the help of Steven\u2019s family, Brown orchestrated a long-term campaign to make only Steven believe the world might end, then faked a meteor crash with movie-grade pyrotechnics, and forced the lad to survive a fully choreographed zombie apocalypse. <i>Apocalypse<\/i> aired as a two-part special that remains some of Brown\u2019s most gripping work to date. <\/p>\n<h2><i>Hero at 30,000 Feet <\/i><\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"Channel 4\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vtirFnHHZCw\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Similar to <i>Apocalypse <\/i>in theme if not scope is <i>Hero at 30,000 Feet<\/i>, which Brown has named as one of his all-time career highlights. Matt, the subject of <i>Hero<\/i>, has a paralyzing fear of flying among other disruptive anxieties. To help Matt, Brown surveils him for 30 days, hypnotizes him in his sleep a bunch, ties him up in a straight jacket and lays him on some train tracks like an old-timey cartoon villain (wait, <i>what<\/i>?), and finally puts Matt in a position to take control of his life by doing something truly heroic. <\/p>\n<p><i>Hero at 30,000<\/i> Feet is genuinely touching and features Brown\u2019s impressive understanding of hypnosis and social conditioning, but it also makes me wonder if England has therapists, like, at all. If they do, do they ever wish Derren Brown would let them have a crack at these guys first?<\/p>\n<h2>\n<i>Derren Brown: The Experiments<\/i>, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ReUHhStG70k\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Gameshow<\/a>\u201d <\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"Derren Brown\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q4jkqUarg2U\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>One of Derren Brown\u2019s common strategies for picking his subjects is to bring them in to audition for a game show and summarily reject them \u2014 that way they don\u2019t suspect his influence when he comes along later to either fix or destroy their lives, depending on his mood. In this episode of <i>Derren Brown: The Experiments<\/i>, Brown turned the trick around by actually pulling a game show together, for real this time. <\/p>\n<p>If you believe that, you haven\u2019t been paying attention to a single goddamn thing I\u2019ve written.<\/p>\n<p>For drama\u2019s sake I won\u2019t reveal what \u201cGameshow\u2019s\u201d deal is, but keep in mind that if Derren Brown invites you to a game there\u2019s no way to know who is actually playing. <\/p>\n<h2><i>The Heist<\/i><\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"BBCEntertainment\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hh1FHkwSW5w\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Reforging England&#8217;s useless sons might seem like a full time job, but Derren Brown always makes time for a little crime on the side. Under the guise of hosting a motivational seminar, Brown attempted to program middle-management types to respond to a series of triggers in the hopes that they would rob a security truck of 100,000 real British pounds, at gunpoint. <i>The Heist<\/i> also peels back some of Brown\u2019s audition process, as the special begins with a larger group of potential felons that gradually disqualify themselves as he runs them through a series of surreptitious tests. <\/p>\n<h2>\n<i>Derren Brown: The Experiments<\/i>, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=owootTAuxic\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The Assassin<\/a>\u201d <\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vplayer\"><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" data-channel=\"Unbroken1\" data-template=\"embedded\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ot56WhCP80M\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Can Derren Brown make a member of the public shoot Stephen Fry without the assassin realizing he\u2019s doing it? Jesus Christ, do you really want to know? It\u2019s starting to sound like I\u2019m making these up but I promise I\u2019m not. <\/p>\n<p>All of this to say this if <i>Secret<\/i> blew your mind, there&#8217;s way more where that sense of abject wonder came from. Whether your conclusion after watching enough of Derren Brown&#8217;s work is &#8220;what a talented man with a fascinating hair journey&#8221; or more likely &#8220;the devil is real and oh God, he&#8217;s <i>Englis<\/i>h,&#8221; his foray onto American stages bodes well for shifting the way we experience stage magic as a culture. Even if we are two decades behind the curve. <\/p>\n<h2> <\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"5\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 5 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"9258826580\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/me.mashable.com\/entertainment\/7103\/what-to-watch-after-seeing-derren-brown-secret\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"c5b541d88d911dcbb84397def1a3492d\" data-index=\"3\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- 3 -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3943282228430444\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"2884989920\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Derren Brown: Secret opened on Broadway to rave reviews. It&#8217;s a fantastic show, held together by the psychological illusionist&#8217;s charming patter and dazzling skill \u2014but since Secret is his first Broadway show, many of his audience members might emerge from their viewings wondering where the hell that nice man with the magic brain came &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70814,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70812\/revisions\/70814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsforher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}