Derren Brown New Trick or Treat Hypnosis Series

In 2007, Derren Brown did a television series called Trick or Treat, which used hypnosis and mind tricks.  Apparently, Brown is currently writing a second series, which will be shown later this year on Channel 4.

Each episode featured one volunteer, who was asked to pick a card.  If they selected Treat, they’d have a good experience, or if they selected Trick, they’d had a bad experience.  However, the cards were ambigrams, so that they read Trick if shown one way up and Treat if shown the other (you can view the cards here), so it was really up to Brown whether the volunteer would have a good or bad experience

There were six episodes, which included Trick experiences such as convincing one volunteer she was a ghost seeing her own death and another volunteer that he became psychologically connected to a ventriloquist’s dummy during a ventriloquism demo.  When the dummy was put in a case, the volunteer found he couldn’t see.  It also included treats such as Brown teaching an elderly lady how to read bluffs so she could win poker tournaments against professionals.

Derren Brown is famed for being an accomplished magician and illusionist.  He was initially inspired by hypnotist Martin Taylor and became a stage hypnotist, then later turned to magic and mind reading, using psychology.