On Wednesday night Derren Brown predicted all 6 of the UK Lotto numbers live on TV in the show Derren Brown’s How To Win The Lottery.
He got all 6 correct.
Or did he…
Derren is a brilliant entertainer, and worth seeing live on stage if ever you get the chance.
But remember, he is an illusionist and entertainer. He doesn’t really have magic powers, any more than David Blaine, Uri Geller or Paul Daniels.
All will be revealed on Friday night.
So how do you think he did it?
[P.S. If you want to know more about how Derren does his crazy mind voodoo check out this video]
The thing to remember firstly, is that Derren Brown CANNOT pick winning Lottery numbers. If he could, he would not be a television personality. He would be living in the south of France, owning a myriad of global corporations, a fleet of Rolls Royces, and with a personal turnover equalling the national debt of Bolivia.
I have to laugh when people post their carefully thought out observations, and what they no doubt think is their painstaking attention to detail, when in fact they have failed to even spot that the guys name is DERREN, not DARREN.
This Act of Darren Browns, just an Illusion. Every one saw Darren watch the TV screen as the Random Numbers came out. Just as every one else across the land did at the same time. But it Only takes a 10 second delay for the TV picture to get from A-B.
If one listens to a show on a PC, and has a radio on in the same room broadcasting that same show, you will clearly hear the delay. It’s the same for TV. But was it the real lottery draw or had it already taken place. Darren got the numbers, then the draw was running 10 to 15 seconds late when we all saw this amazing act.
Digger – There WAS a 1-2 second delay, not sure these people can make it any clearer.
Nice ideas guys! I’m pretty sure it was a spit screen piece of magic. Wait for the camera to stop moving before the draw, freeze the left side, assistant writes on the balls… unfreeze the left side. Derrens free to walk back to the now unfrozen left side and reveal the balls. He’s an illusionist… I think it’s a great trick… Everyones talking about it, job done 🙂
Ok, how about this: let’s just for a moment forget this stunt – or any of the other more complex and difficult to explain tricks – and focus on something a little more simple. Like…
Can one person out of all those who think they know how he does his stuff explain how he knew what time the watch was turned to, and what number was on the dice in the Enigma live show?
If someone can explain that simple trick then I’ll definitely be ready to listen to explanations of the more complex stuff…
Digger there was no 10sec delay! It was a great illusion, and used more sophisticated methods than you are implying.
And of course Derren Brown can not read minds or predict Lotto numbers, he’s just a master of his art.
Hi Rory,
I saw Enigma live and, although I’m a little shaky on the dice trick, I think I can explain the watch. We know that Derren has unusual, learned abilities from other programmes he has done and books he has written. His memory skills would be considered phenomenal by most, but can be learnt – I’ve learnt some myself!
Derren’s skill lies in layering hot and cold reading skills, with sleight of hand, magic tricks, memory techniques, misdirection, mechanics and influencing skills in such a way that an untrained person can’t see the lines between. His tricks themselves are often very simple if you can spot the different techniques.
We were seated very near the front at Enigma and I could hear the watch turning from my seat. I suspect that he knows how far the hands turn per turn and uses his influencing skills to direct when the person winding the watch should change direction. He then listened to the number of turns in each direction and did the maths, which is pretty easy for him.
The dice, I’m not sure. But It’s never as complex as you think. Also, when you sit down to watch the theatre shows, do remember that he has the credit card details for at least a quarter of the audience, but probably closer to half. What comes up when you google your name..?
He is very good at what he does. And he can be convincing to most people. It does amaze me how he does it but I always bring myself back down to earth knowing that there is no such think as magic powers!
I wish I will win in tonights show draws. Show me my 6 lucky 6/49 numbers, thanks
Numbers are only lucky after the draw is over, and they turned out to be the ones you picked 🙂