Derren Brown: The Events (Channel 4)
Psychological Magician Reveals how to Win the Lottery
Sep 11, 2009
Magician Derren Brown shot a gun at himself on live TV. He’s contacted the dead. He hypnotised a group of people into committing a robbery. He made an ordinary bloke go insane and he created a system for guessing the winners of horse races. Now “magician” Derren Brown has set his sights on one of the most institutionalised forms of gambling in the world: the lottery.
Of course all of the above stunts were set up and were, for the most part, utter nonsense. But Brown would be the first person to tell you that as his form of “magic” is based more on reactions and ideas than on making animals disappear. The lottery prediction was a further extension of this act and kicked off his welcome return to TV screens.
Derren Brown Predicting the Lottery
Here’s what unfolded. On Wednesday, September 9 he took over Channel 4 for 10 minutes during the official draw of the lottery (broadcast on rival BBC One) and stated that he could predict what the numbers were going to be. The balls were on full display for the entire duration and apart from one wide angle shot before the draw there was no cut away.
As ever he spouted his blasé disclaimer about how this was just an experiment and likely to go wrong but anyone who is vaguely familiar with his work knows full well that he was in complete control and will succeed 100% in his task. He was of course spot on and this was essentially a lead in for his new Channel 4 series where the illusionist builds on his tried and tested formula of exploring the inner workings of his tricks - and shows how they can be replicated.
Episode one of Derren Brown: The Events
The opening episode of The Events delved into how Brown was able to develop this extraordinary formula for winning the lottery. After much deliberation, he decided the best option was to gather a group of people together and asked them to suggest what numbers to play using past results, automatic writing and a dash of maths.
The entertaining hour featured typical Derren Brown “magic” in front of an audience. First he got a musophobic woman on stage and told her to put her hand in boxes, one of which contained a mouse. She managed to avoid the dreaded box until it was revealed there was no mouse at all.
In a pre-filmed section he put a knife under paper cups and told a volunteer to stand on a random selection of them only to tell him at the end there was no knife but a small mouse under one cup instead. Here he manipulated elements to increase emotional response, something that he said was the key to his lottery prediction.
So how do you win the lottery? Spends months on research on past draws, coble together some like-minded people, look at a wall of numbers and break out the GCSE maths skills. Or not, as Brown stated in the conclusion, where it was divulged how he could have fixed the machine with the aid of insiders to choose the numbers he wanted. But he definitely didn’t do that. Or did he? Brown left it up to the viewers to decide what was true. A fitting ending and one that will continue the discussion and baffle just about everyone.
Derren Brown's new Channel 4 Series
This isn't the first time he has played with expectations. Last year’s one-off special The System was based around a similar concept of predicting correct horse racing results for one lucky woman. However, as it turned out Derren was sending the names of every horse in the race to other participants, who also had their journey followed by camera crews. The edited footage made it appear that he was guessing right each time.
It’s simply misdirection on a massive scale and this was no different. By not claiming to have any mystic powers and often being very up front with his audience, he could almost be described as the perfect template for the 21st century magician - though he would likely prefer the term “psychological illusionist”.
Derren Brown is so compelling because the explanation of his methods turn out to be more awe-inspiring than his actual “tricks”. Ultimately, the thing that makes his programmes work is that he’s likeable, intelligent and a fantastic showman. He not only takes a great deal of pride in what he does, but has fun along the way. Unlike the dull David Blaine. Channel 4, with this and a new series of Peep Show on the way you really are spoiling us.
Derren Brown: The Events is on Channel 4 every Friday at 9pm.
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