Derren Brown, mentalist

By David Pescovitz at 3:58 pm Monday, Mar 28

The New York Times profiles Derren Brown, a British mentalist whose stage performances and TV specials are apparently a huge hit in the UK. He seems to be a master of Neuro-linguisitic Programming. From the article:

Brown taught himself hypnotism, branched out into standard forms of magic and began performing in pubs and at parties.

One night, having just performed a particularly elaborate card trick, he realized that what he had enjoyed most was not the trick's execution, but its psychology, the interplay between magician and subject.

Brown devised a new approach that combines magic and psychology, tricks of the hands with tricks of the mind. Each of his programs starts with a disclaimer in which he asserts, essentially, that he is not supernatural, only clever.

Link to article and Link to streaming video clips of Brown's mindtricks, including explanations