I must admit the home video of Jane was a pretty nice touch.

Yeah...home video on DVD.....

King of Diamonds, Did you actually watch the show?

We all *know* it was all faked and are discussing it from that point of view; that is without argument. Who cares whether you knew Jane had been forced on you? Isn't that the point of the show?

And as for the home movie, did you expect them to have a Super 8 projector and screen ready??? People are entirely familiar with having photos, slides and cine film transferred to DVD.

One can expose methods the 'masked magician' way, or one can do it subtly and let people think about it.

This production chose the latter and in my opinion, succeeded.

As far as I know the project was planned in the winter and they were waiting for the ITC to give them permission, so I imagine it was filmed then...

Excellent show. Perfect ending (i.e., seeing Jane but not seeing the participant's reactions to seeing Jane). I think this is when DB is at his best---scaring folk ***less!

I was disappointed it wasn't live simply because the previews all week leading up to it implied that it would be. But that's only a minor criticism.

Excellent stuff. A fine ending to the series and I suspect, the last we'll see of Derren for a while.

Derek

I don't think people are getting the reason for the Jane force. As Derren explained at the end, Ouija boards work by using our subconscious ideomotor responses. That is, everyone must be consciously thinking of the same letters in order for the glass to move there. If Derren had used a psychological force which was 70%, this would only hinder people playing along at home.

Personally, though, I've played with pendulums using the same principle. I've never actually tried using a Ouija board. I played along with my parents and was quite shocked at how well it works. My mum was literally freaking out.

The Jane ending was the icing on the cake.

Great stuff.

I found the show to be absolutely enthralling. I especially liked the idea of using the spirit cabinet but having a member of the audience in it was a great addition.

One thing that did strike me as a little odd though: did anyone notice the similarity between Derren’s method for selecting the medium (by drawing a cross on a random piece of paper and using the person who selects it) and the method Marc Paul explains on his DVD for ringing in … a stooge!

I’m not suggesting that Derren was using a stooge for a second but the fact that we never see what Derren actually draws on the paper (those who own the Marc Paul DVD will know what I mean) is something that is playing on my mind.

What d’ya think?

Heaven forbid, Damion, that the medium selection was forced ! Shame on you, you'll be suggesting that there was some pre-show work done on her next ! lol

BTW I noticed the 'interactive consultant' was Max Maven.

Perhaps someone could describe what happened in the show, so that non-UK citizens could at least understand what you're talking about !

I was only disappointed that they didn't hold off showing it until halloween.

Loved the ending too.

After the Russian Roulette fiasco, some wonderful stuff from Mr Brown.

With handpicked participants, the reactions were awesome---some swore, some crossed themselves, some cried, some plain freaked out---powerful stuff. I wonder what was possibly in the advertisement to select them? It was their reactions that would make or break the special, and they succeeded admirably.

Unless he softened the blow, I thought bringing ‘Jane’ in at the end (not shown) would have caused them a few real heart attacks.

Some masterful participant management too, at times stopping them say too much, at other times leading them to heighten the atmosphere further by their own embellishments, although it's clear DB still can’t help leaking out the occasional self-satisfied grin in his otherwise poker-faced performances. Enjoyable stuff.

Nick.

FWIW there's a 22 minute streaming video interview with DB at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/communicate/derren_brown.shtml


(pre-seance interview that is)

I have to agree with K of D, I'm afraid. I thought that it was kinda scary with the home video and the music they put on it, but just thought it was hilarious:

1) watching the students scream as the old man with a stick poked the cup so it fell over [jokes don't flame me for that one] and at the same time seeing the man who had broken the restraining strap earlier in the show saying '****, ****';

2) when the woman threw the tambourine at the start nearly killed a student friend---heh heh;

3) when someone convinced themselves their wardrobe had jerked [probably a Derren friend with a bit of rope attached to the wardrobe hiding in the shadows], and they rang up all scared because their wardrobe had a wardrobe demon in it;

For me, I thought it was pretty poor. I mean, what Derren did to the students was good to watch, and the way he manipulated them and their 'fear instinct'.

Last note: K of D, if you had noticed there was only one lay-person in that room with you, the other two being your magician colleagues.

Rating: 6/10
Comedy value: 9/10

I have to say I thought the whole thing was great. I have seen seances before and their methods, but still thought it was a great bit of theatre.

Probably the best part for me was the spirit cabinet. The guy with his eyes open looked terrified.

One word... Superb.

Derren said he'd picked his 12 people based on their suggestibility and openness to 'spiritual phenomena'.

How clear that was.

Derren's frank explanation (up front) that this was an event to 'debunk' spiritualism, was breathtakingly refreshing. It's a subject that arouses strong emotions among people who are sold out to it for real. And yet he faced it head on. This is what was most impressive about the event---his sheer confidence and guts to follow through on his own beliefs. (You can imagine him smiling to himself in the dark as he - figuratively speaking - "pulled the levers", while the subjects wet themselves).

With a bit of thought, it is not difficult to 'see' many of the techniques he used. For him, the techniques were probably the least of his concerns (although his planning and preparation were no doubt demanding, and clearly very impressive). I thought his verbal fluency and strong presentation were also extremely impressive - it's his presentation that ultimately sells everything.

As a piece of televised theatre, it was stunning.

The best parts for me:

1. Knowing that Derren was gleefully "taking the p-i-s-s", and deliberately courting controversy among religious people, and that he was not afraid to do so.

2. Watching 12 people (and several thousand viewers, no doubt) with ears to hear and eyes to see and brains to think being "freaked out" and taken in by such relatively simple deception - even when it has been explained to be so! Does nothing ever change? (I was particularly amused that they were "freaked out" that room G7 had been chosen to match the student record - that had obviously been written years ago.)

3. Knowing that Derren was going to burst the bubble for them after the show and bring them all back down to earth over pizza and coffee.

Very entertaining. And one in the eye for all those bulls****ing, greedy and yes - "ugly" - psychics and mediums out there.

Well done, Derren.

Live Blaire Witch type event...

Theatrical, potentially UNBELIEVABLY scary, depending on your own perception and preconceptions, theatrical and clever.

Whatever your view, I would argue that this was a display of mentlism techniques that served as perhapd the finest epitaph of a TV mentalist in his prime. Maybe the last peek into Derren's underworld..

How did he not laugh though. Some of the students looked like they soiled themselves, several times.

Great acting, coordination etc.

Let people take it away as a spectacle of entertainment.

Best regards,

Carlo

Any UK members remember Ghostwatch,circa 1992,very similiar to Seance and shown as live but with no give away beforehand.People rang the BBC in droves,shown on halloween as well.Its available on DVD,but apparently will never be shown on TV again,due to the outcry at the time.Wonder if Channel 4 will get any complaints?

It was plainly obvious what the likely content of these posting would be. The Café has a wide selection of topics which should cater for all tastes. I don't understand people wanting to read these posts if all they will do is criticise.

I loved the wholle thing. Derren made it look like a propper look into the paranormal. What he was actually doing is what he does best, controlling people's judgements and decisions without them being aware of it.

I, like a lot of you, instantly cottoned onto the fact that he made us all pick Jane from the photos laid out on the table, but there are some things that I don't get. Were they all hypnotised beforehand? He seemed to do a kind of Paul McKenna routine when he asked them to go into a trance, and they assured everyone that they were in no controll of what was happening to them when they came out of the trance state. So what made that bloke shout and scream when the paper was thrown out of the curtained off square?

Anyway, if anyone can tell me how any of it was done, I'd be greatfull. Then again, do we really want to know?