Books by Derren Brown

Derren was born in 1971 in Croydon. It was a difficult birth - his mother was in Devon at the time. A precocious and puzzling only child, he liked to paint, foster obsessive habits and once set fire to a neighbour's boat by accident. Later, after his brother was born, Derren went to study Law and German at Bristol University and fell in love with the city. This was a time when marriage between man and city was still frowned upon, so rather than face public derision Derren decided just to live there forever instead. During this time he didn't have two pennies to rub together, which was a shame as it was his only way of keeping warm. He began to perform magic in bars and restaurants, and gave occasional hypnosis shows. Then in 1999 he was asked by Channel 4 to put a mind-reading programme together for television. Their first choice - Cheryl from Buck's Fizz - had turned out to be shit at it. One year later, Derren and his family gathered round a fuzzy grey picture in the corner of their living room. It was of the popular actress Nerys Hughes and this had become something of a festive tradition. Later, Derren Brown: Mind Control quite literally aired. It was an immediate success and gained Derren a cool underground kudos which he described as 'not enough'. Mind Controls 2 and 3 followed, then a series, then a brief spell in prison, and then in October 2003 Derren caused an international furore by playing Russian Roulette live on television. This secured his notoriety with the public and his big apartment in London. 'Bristol can shove itself', he said. Further specials have followed - the Seance and Messiah. He now gets several letters of complaint a week from psychics and Christians. He is sensitive to everyone's objections but knows at least the latter group will forgive him. His workload keeps him exhausted and irritable 52 weeks a year and he continues to live in London with a large collection of taxidermy and two fatalistic parrots. He spends any free weekends painting and likes to receive gifts.