X = ?

As I am a "fan" of Derren Brown on Facebook, I receive notifications when he updates his blog. I enjoy reading what he has to say, as Brown comes across as an intelligent and free-thinking individual through what he writes. The subject matter for his blog today however surprised me somewhat: Brown revealed his passion for The X Factor. As I've had to experience in some way this show since it began earlier this year, I was intrigued to see what Brown had to say. The majority of the blog post, whilst written in Brown's usual charming and witty style, is pretty much an account of his appearance on the ITV2 companion show The Xtra Factor; his opening paragraph, however, is one of the most keenly observed descriptions of the show I've ever read.

I'll let you read it for yourself, as there's little point in me simply regurgitating it here. Most of what Brown talks about I can empathise with a great deal, even though he considers himself a fan of the show whereas I would probably label myself more of a passive and cynical (and piss-taking) recipient. At the end of the paragraph, Brown states that he "[loathes himself] for moments when [he wants] someone kicked off the show, or for sharing in an ounce of that hostility". I think this is something that pretty much anyone would become part of if they were subject to the "reality" that The X Factor shoves in your face. You forget that the contestants ultimately are just people, as they become heroes, villains, underdogs, victims - essentially they are boiled down to the stories that can be told through them, rather than who they actually are and, more importantly, whether they truly offer something worthy of winning a singing competition.

Just before I finish, I also found it fascinating that Brown even related elements of The X Factor to the things that he is well known for. Comparing the public phone vote to a massive event of misdirection is an inspired idea.

Derren Frown

Attention: potential spoilers lie herein if you haven't watched last night's episode of The Events.




















So, my prediction/hope for last night's episode of The Events didn't happen. Instead of some huge Derren Brown twist or revelation, we saw Brown "fail" at his attempt to predict the outcome of a roulette wheel spin, thereby not winning a member of the public £175,000. But did he fail? Was it all planned? Did he get it one out on purpose? Did he succumb to the pressure from people who said he shouldn't have made it look like he got all six lottery numbers correct, as five would have been amazing enough and "more believeable"? Or did he genuinely miscalculate things in his brain so that he was one number out on the wheel? I don't know. But no doubt these and many other questions will circulate the internet in the coming days, along with the diatribes of disillusioned Brown fans and those who like to let people know they are superior to anyone who tries something a little boundary-pushing and doesn't quite manage it.

I don't know why Brown ended his series the way he did, or even if it genuinely didn't go quite to plan or Brown intended that to be the ending all along. But I have to admit that even I, who has staunchly stuck with the "events of misdirection" angle on the series, am now feeling pretty deflated by the series. It wasn't awful. In many ways it was very very good. But it felt very disparate, with the prerecorded segments, the on-location experiments and the live parts of each show not really feeling convincingly linked together. Essentially, compared to pretty much all of Brown's previous work it felt distinctly average.

I'm still living in hope that Brown is going to pull one more trick out of the bag and show what the series was "really all about". I'm not nearly as confident of this happening as I was before watching last night's Event, but Brown's message after the end of last night's show came up on his website remarkably quickly and felt a bit too clean-cut to be written by Brown after having just finished his most hyped up series on what can only be described as an anticlimax. I might be wrong, but I hope I'm not. I'm still a big fan of his. And, after all, with Derren Brown you really can't predict where the next piece of misdirection is going to come from.

Blogathon score: 3

Daring Brown?

For my second blogathon entry, I'd like to put down my feelings towards the latest series of programmes by Mr. Derren Brown, which have already generated a considerable amount of discussion in the media and with Brown's fans. First off, I'm a fan of Derren Brown and have been for a while, having enjoyed pretty much everything I've watched that he's done in the past.

So far, on the surface, I've been slightly underwhelmed by the series as a whole. I've enjoyed watching the programmes as they've gone out, but they feel slightly less tight overall than what I've seen Brown do in the past. Apparently many others have had this feeling to various degrees, with the media questioning the quality of Brown's series and the internet bubbling with everything from mild disappointment to furious outcry declaring that Brown has broken the bond of trust with his fans. I'm closer to the mild disappointment end, although having said that I've still enjoyed watching the series despite hoping for something slightly more throughout.

Brown's final Event, where he plans to correctly predict the outcome of a roulette wheel's spin and apparently win some money for a member of the public through doing this, is to be broadcast later this evening. At the end of tonight's Event, one of two things will happen. Either it will simply be the end of the series and I'll feel somewhat crestfallen and unsatisfied by the series. Or, another thing will happen, that I'm really hoping (and, at this moment, fairly confident) is going to be the case.

Let me explain. The main bone of contention people seem to have with this series is that Brown in some way hasn't delivered what he's promised or has used methods which cheapen the whole experience. He said he would show us how we can predict the National Lottery, and because he didn't give people a foolproof way of doing it during the show, the audience feels cheated. As I said before, the programme didn't sit quite right with me, but I didn't feel cheated in any way. His explanations during the series have felt somewhat flimsy compared to his previous track record. But every time I think that I come back to the same thought, and that thought involves the adverts that ran on Channel 4 before the series began.

Brown described these shows as "events of misdirection". So, by definition, that means that anything you think you're seeing him do, you actually aren't. He's controlling the whole thing to make the audience think one thing's happening when it's actually something quite different. The "explanations" he's given for these events are purposefully put together building towards Brown's intended outcome. So, back to the "other thing" I'm hoping is going to happen. Brown has pulled off an immense, month-long misdirection of everyone who's watched the series. All of the frustration and slating and denouncing him as a cheat, he's wanted all of that to happen. He's misdirected the whole time. And at the end of tonight's final Event, he's going for the big reveal. Or not. Either way, he's going to tie things up, restore the faith of all those nay-sayers, and prove to me that I was right to stick with him all along.

The final Event starts in about five minutes, so don't be surprised if my entry tomorrow reflects on what I've said in this post.

Blogathon score: 2