Derren Brown was born in Croydon, south London, and studied law and German at the University of Bristol, where he started working as a conjuror in bars and restaurants. In 2000 Channel 4 broadcast Derren Brown: Mind Control to instant acclaim, and it was followed by a number of shows including Trick or Treat, Séance, and Derren Brown Plays Russian Roulette Live. Brown is outspoken about the fact that his shows are based on tricks and not real magic, and he has written about his techniques in books Tricks of the Mind and Confessions of a Conjuror. His live show, Miracle, starts on 11 November in London.
1 | Film
About Time (2013)
This is a Richard Curtis film I watched a few weeks ago without realising it was Richard Curtis. It’s a time-travelling romcom, which sounds like it’s not going to yield anything particularly valuable, but it was a real surprise. I’m writing a book about happiness, and the film tied in with some of the ideas in that: not trying to change things that are outside your control, which is a very stoic viewpoint, and living in the moment and engaging fully with the present. It ends up being a very philosophical and subtle film. The performances by Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy are exquisite. I once had Rachel McAdams over for lunch, when she was with Michael Sheen, who’s a friend of mine. I didn’t know her from Adam, no pun intended, so I asked her what she did, and it was kind of awkward, but she was so lovely about it.
2 | TV
This is a bit of a cult show. I don’t have a TV: I tend to watch DVDs or stream things. It’s one of those things where if you know it you love it and get very evangelical about it, but not many people do know it. It’s a mockumentary based around a high school, and this Australian guy called Chris Lilley directs and stars in it: he plays three very different characters, a male student, a female student and a drama teacher. It’s hilarious and brilliant and very funny. It’s very naturalistic, it feels a bit like The Office, although the characters he is playing are obviously a little larger than life. Lilley is phenomenal – he’s a 40-year-old guy and totally passes as a 16-year-old girl. I highly recommend it.
3 | Book
Death and the Afterlife by Samuel Scheffler
This isn’t about our personal afterlife but what continues after we die, for everybody else. What Scheffler argues is that it’s surprisingly important to us that other people continue to live after we die: say you knew that 30 days after you die there’s going to be a meteor and everybody will be wiped out. If you’re spending your life doing cancer research, that becomes pointless, or if you’re interested in sustaining any sort of tradition, that goes out the window. So in order for our lives to feel meaningful, we have to know that we’re going to die – if we were immortal it would leave us with no sense of identity or drive – but we also have to know that the rest of humanity is going to continue, so that what we’re doing makes sense within some grander scheme. We don’t live with death very well in our culture; in Victorian times it was something that was embraced a lot more, and actually it’s quite important in terms of happiness, accepting it as a part of life.
4 | Comedy
Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
This is at the Apollo theatre in London. They get suggestions from the audience for styles and plot developments and so on: I put my hand up and shouted taxidermy and they went with that, which was exciting. It’s hilarious, and if you’ve ever made up songs in the house on your own – which I do, a lot – you get how difficult it is. They sing together and in chorus and then there’s a dance routine, and it totally comes together in terms of the narrative and structure. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with musicals: I have friends who are really into them so I find myself going along, but I’m not really a huge fan. But I massively recommend this.
5 | Cafe
Strangers Coffee House, Norwich
When I’m touring there’s quite a few coffee shops that have become my haunts: Pink Lane and Flat Caps in Newcastle, Spring in York, Bold Street in Liverpool. Tours are mammoth, tiring projects, so these become my places to hang out. It’s difficult to pick one, but I suppose Strangers in Norwich is my favourite. It’s run by a guy called Alex, and I ended up staying after hours and getting a proper lesson in barista-ing. I’ve got a lovely coffee machine and I really love coffee, but I was aware I probably wasn’t making the perfect cup, so he showed me how. I was desperately trying to get the latte art right. He did the most phenomenal cock and balls with the milk, which is quite an achievement. I learned my coffee skills there, so I’m very grateful.
6 | Place
Bromley House Library, Nottingham
When I was in Nottingham a couple of years ago, I was looking for places to sit and read, and this came up as a private library. I realised that there’s this whole network of independent libraries: it was originally an Enlightenment project, so they’re all beautiful 18th-century buildings. It works as an almost private members’ club – you join the Association of Independent Libraries and then you can use them whenever you like. It’s a fascinating underground network that I had no idea about. This one is right in the middle of the city centre, above a travel shop, and it’s an incredible building with room after room of endless bookshelves and this amazing collection of Victorian books. It’s the most stunning building, creaky old spiral staircases and floor-to-ceiling books.
7 | Museum
Hunterian Museum, London
This is in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, just round the corner from the Sir John Soane’s Museum, which is also extraordinary. You have to go to the Royal College of Surgeons and ask for it and they show you through: it’s hidden away and they don’t advertise it much, because some people would find it a bit controversial. It’s named after John Hunter, who is one of the fathers of modern surgery. The museum contains Hunter’s collection of pickled… anything: any animal you can imagine pickled in jars, the skull of a two-headed boy… I think they had the Elephant Man skeleton at one point. It’s huge: upstairs there’s all the surgical equipment. As long as you’re not too squeamish it’s phenomenal.
