Derren Brown

Derren Brown, born on 27 February 1971 in the London Borough of Croydon, is an English mentalist, illusionist, and writer who describes himself as a "psychological illusionist." Raised in the Purley area of Croydon, he was privately educated at Whitgift School in South Croydon, where his father worked as a swimming coach. He went on to study law and German at the University of Bristol, where attendance at a hypnotist show performed by Martin S. Taylor prompted him to pursue illusion and hypnosis as a career. As an undergraduate, he began working as a conjuror in bars and restaurants, and in 1992 he started staging shows at the University of Bristol under the name Darren V. Brown, with the "V" standing for "Victor."

Brown's path to television began when he encountered Scottish-American magician and comedian Jerry Sadowitz at the International Magic shop in Clerkenwell. Sadowitz connected him with H&R publishers and with magician Andrew O'Connor's production company, Objective Productions, which led to his television debut with Mind Control in 2000. He later co-founded his own company, Vaudeville Productions, alongside former Objective executives Michael Vine, Andrew O'Connor, and Paul Sandler, with the aim of producing his own projects as well as work featuring other performers. The company's first production was Brown's television special Pushed to the Edge.

Among his stage work, Brown earned two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment for Something Wicked This Way Comes in 2006 and Svengali in 2012. His television special The Experiments received a BAFTA for Best Entertainment Programme at the 2012 awards ceremony. In 2008, he made a brief cameo in the supernatural drama series Crooked House, and in 2009 he appeared in Richard Dawkins' two-part documentary The Enemies of Reason, where he discussed psychological techniques used by purported psychics and mediums, including cold reading. That same year, he presented Derren Brown's 3D Magic Spectacular as part of Channel 4's 3D season.

In January 2011, Channel 4 marked ten years since Brown's television debut with a dedicated "Derren Brown Night," which included re-screenings of The Heist and an Enigma live show, as well as a documentary titled Derren Brown: Behind the Mischief. In January 2013, he appeared in a Channel 4 Deal or No Deal special in which he appeared to predict the correct boxes needed to win a jackpot of £250,000, and later that year he took part in a comedy sketch for an 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Deal or No Deal special. In January 2014, he appeared as himself in the Sherlock episode "The Empty Hearse," featuring as part of a theory about how the title character faked his death. In November 2018, he was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience to promote his Netflix special Sacrifice.

Brown made his Broadway debut in 2019 with Derren Brown: Secret, for which he also served as book writer. The show, which incorporated audience participation and comedy, reflected his longstanding approach of combining psychology, showmanship, magic, misdirection, and suggestion. His live performances have frequently included statements describing how his effects are produced through these methods, and his work has often been designed to expose the techniques used by those who claim supernatural abilities, such as faith healers and mediums.

In addition to his stage and television work, Brown has written books aimed at both magicians and general readers, including Tricks of the Mind, in which he discusses cold reading, hypnosis, and his experiences attending an NLP course with Richard Bandler. In February 2021, he appeared in a promotional trailer for the horror video game Little Nightmares II, discussing the nature of nightmares while monsters from the game appeared around him.