Derren Brown Showcases His Skills To A Scientist

The easiest way to let a scientist assess what I try and do is to let him experience it firsthand, which of course robs him of his objectivity. Here at the Tate Modern, where art meets science, we have Richard Robson from the Bartholomew's in London Research Institute. Thank you so much for joining us. And a group of hard-nosed, tough and cynical students who have given us some of the time. Thank you so much indeed. Now, Richard, come and sit with me. Let me check a few things with you. You have brought with you some objects from home. I asked you to bring some objects to put them in your briefcase, to not let anybody see them when you got here, not to tell anybody what they were, to keep them absolutely 100% secret and private. Have you done that? Yes. And you've got them here with you? Right. That's right. Superb. I'm going to look the other way while you take one of those out. Change your mind as many times as you like. Until you can get one, hold it in your hands, close the briefcase, put it back down again, and then I'll turn around. All right? Right. So I won't look at you, I will look over here. Have you done that? Yes. Are you holding it in your hand like this? Is it safe for me to turn around? Yes. Okay, let me explain exactly what I want you to do. Rest your hands just there on my hand. All right. This sounds very strange. What I want you to do is to look down at your hands, imagine they're made of glass. Are you nervous? I can feel that. Don't worry, just relax. Imagine your hands are glass. You can look through and you can see the object. Good. Now look at me. This could be something that you've just picked up on the way out. It could be something that really has some kind of sentimental value to you. I don't know. How long have you had it for, roughly? Three years. About three years or so. Okay. I'm just getting the impression as you're sat there and talking, it's something you feel a little sentimental about, just from the way that you're guarding it a little bit. Is that right? I'm wondering if it's something you were given or something that you picked up yourself, and the slight relaxation in your shoulders told me it's something you picked up yourself. So it's not a gift. So this is not a sentimental thing in the sense that it's attached to a person you love. It's something, some silly thing, that's for yourself that maybe you find lucky or that has some... Okay, I won't give too much away, but you're quite good in there. So it's something lucky. All right. Just look at me and just think about what it is. Just see it in your mind. See it in your mind. What is it? It's something that you've got from holiday somewhere, that you've been traveling, and it's from somewhere in Europe. You wanted to say something beginning with a B, I think, and it's like a coin or some small little memento that to you has become like a lucky talisman. I want to see what it is. What is it? It's a won gilder from the Netherlands. From the Netherlands. All right. It was the B I was getting, but I don't know what that was. Excellent. But I want to try something else with you. This time I want you just to think of something from home, something you haven't brought with you. It can be any size you like, anything you like, and I'm not going to tell you what it is. One of our students are. Have a look up and down and choose one. Maybe the girl with the white t-shirt. Come and join us. What's your name? Kerry. Kerry, thank you so much. Come and have a seat. All right. Whatever this thing is you're thinking of now, stick with it. Don't change your mind. Kerry, you are going to look at Richard and you are going to tell him what he's thinking of. Sounds impossible and you won't know how you're going to do it, but you just are. And this is also something that you can do over and over again and freak people out with. But for the 28 million people watching this whom I don't want going out and doing this tomorrow, we're going to turn the sound down while I give you a few simple instructions on how to do it. OK, so here's what you do. Actually, could you stick your fingers in yours? You take that for me. You're going to look him right in the eye and you just talk when I tell you to start and you just whatever comes out, you start to get ideas and you just let them slowly form and don't worry if you get it wrong. Do nothing. Give nothing away. OK? Relax a bit. Excellent. Start now. I see, I think, colours. Say whatever comes to mind. Something of his. It's something that he would use. I'm looking at his tie and it's making me think of that colour. I don't know if that's the colour of the object or I'm just looking at the tie but I see that colour. What comes to mind? Keep talking. Something round. Something he'd play. How big? It's not big but not tiny. How might he use it? He'd either play with the object or wear it. Just follow those hand gestures. To do with playing something. OK. Some sport. OK, just write it down, whatever you think it is. You seem to be getting some specific ideas so just write it down. Don't let him see. Can you see this thing clearly in your mind? Yes. Don't say anything. Let's not hear anything yet. You got something close to it? Yeah. Yeah? OK. Don't show him yet. All right, Richard, just be absolutely honest, please. It doesn't matter if all this is wrong. It doesn't matter. Just tell me what were you thinking and what were you imagining from home? My black baseball cap. OK. I got a baseball cap. I saw blue though. I did see blue. I don't know why. Dark blue? I've never done anything like that before. So it must be Darren but I just don't know how he got me to do that. Hit the nail on the head in black and white. Just saw exactly what I was thinking. It's very surreal.