Derren Brown: Miracle Review 2015

A bit like audiences are urged at the curtain calls of The Mousetrap not to betray its outcome, so Derren Brown also asks us not to reveal the details of his new show Miracle for fear of spoiling the enjoyment and surprise of future audiences.

That makes it tricky to review, of course, but it's a secret you'll willingly want to keep. There's no one quite like Brown in the world today for offering a literally spellbinding display of mentalism, in which he seems to know just what the audience is thinking about, from numbers and images to their names and ailments.

But Brown does more than just offer a thrilling display of mental agility and apparent mind-reading; his intricately constructed show probes deeper and richer territory to offer a lesson in life that it has taken me personally hundreds of hours in therapy to hear: that each of us has the power to change the way we think about things and find happiness.

There's a practical demonstration of this that acts like a kind of group hypnosis, turning the Palace Theatre into a giant therapy room. But the show is theatrically hypnotising in other ways, too, not least for the extraordinary command that Brown has over his audience and the rapport he so easily establishes with them.

It's a show that works by participation; he's a superstar, but he's also immensely approachable, even vulnerable. Audiences feel they know the man; over the course of the show, they may get to know themselves better, too.

It's a sensational show in every sense, and a potentially life-changing one, too. All power to Brown and his collaborative partners Andy Nyman and Andrew O'Connor, who have co-written the show with him and direct it.

"The show is called 'Miracle', and by God, or Whoever, it lives up to that title...the finest work of his I've seen since he first made waves in 2000."
Dominic Cavendish for The Daily Telegraph

"Some of his patter may be mildly cheesy, but Derren Brown's latest show is full of deft quickfire illusions and spell-binding entertainment."
Bruce Dessau for The Evening Standard

External links to full reviews from popular press
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