When first we met, four and a bit years ago, Derren Brown was a bit of a cult – generating a cool buzz on Channel 4 with his not-quite magic tricks that also mixed in suggestion, hypnosis, “mind-reading” and showmanship.
Then came Russian Roulette, in which he apparently risked blowing his head off live on air. Bang! Nationwide notoriety. How do you top that?
Simple. In quick succession you make S?ance, in which you persuade students they are communicating with the dead; Messiah, in which you convert atheists to evangelical Christianity (and back again); The Gathering, in which you hypnotise the whole audience; The Heist, in which you induce ordinary people to commit a bank robbery; and Trick or Treat