UK REVIEW
Derren Brown- Only Human
Grand Theatre Leeds and Touring
July 2025. Producer: Andrew O’Connor and Michael Vine.
Reviewer: Mark Ritchie
My immediate problem with this show is the title. I am not completely satisfied that Derren Brown is really a human being. A genius who seems to possess a photographic memory and a talent for making people do exactly what he wants, suggests someone super-human to me.
I have previously seen all of Mr Brown’s previous live shows, as well as much of his television output. Admittedly, we have not seen him much lately on the small screen. Aside from all the brilliant watchable and utterly beguiling Channel 4 output, I am not too sure if those who purport to run telly in 2025 know quite what to do with this amazing showman.
This performer has a fascinating manager by the name of Michael Vine, who is a friend of mine and who I like enormously. I am just so happy to have this platform where I can wax lyrical about someone who is, in my view, the world’s greatest performer in this field. A fusion of magic, hypnotism and audience participation style showmanship is what anyone buying a ticket an expect from an evening with Derren Brown.
This cerebrally pitched and high shock value visual mode of presentation would never work in the hands of anyone who is not as witty engaging and thoroughly likeable as Derren Brown. This is true psychological audience control, advancing the field of magic and hypnosis to entirely new levels.
Through the years we have beheld many wonders at Derren Brown shows. From proving, if proof is still needed that psychic mediums are just charlatans who are tainting the memories of the bereaved, to proof that Christian evangelists often use elements of hypnosis. From proving that anyone can be subconsciously turned into a murderer, to underlining the true abuse of power that is known as bullying.
But what of this latest offering? Well, writing reviews on this performer and his innovative and mind-blowing shows is neither fair on the entertainer himself, or in terms of spoiler-alerts for those who have forked out in advance to see the show.
All I can write here with any degree of certainty is that anyone going to see him (and he packs everywhere out) is wasting their time trying to express what they have just witnessed.
My advice should you require it: just roll with it and try and think your way through what you have experienced much later. Derren Brown is truly unique and although admittedly I have only met him once, albeit briefly, I imagine he is a top guy!
