So, I went to the Liverpool Empire last night to watch Derren Brown. Now here’s the thing; I made a silent promise to Derren not to talk about what happens during the 2 hours and 40 minutes of the show. Damn. Have I said too much about it already? I hope not.
What’s left that I can actually talk about, Derren?
Erm, ok, well, the tour is called Derren Brown’s Infamous Tour 2013. And, as usual it includes all that you might expect of aspects of his mind boggling performance, card tricks, bizarre predictions of things people are thinking of, and a lot of mind control.
At the end I was forced to ask, “How the flek did he do that?” about most of it. From Mr Brown’s point of view this means ‘job done’. It was a job most entertainingly done too. On a few occasions he did ask the whole audience to promise not to tell anybody about anything that happens in the show. It is this shared promise that stops me sharing the details of my experience.
What struck me was the huge crowd assembled and spilling over into the streets, beside the Stage Door as I wandered by on my way home. This guy has hardcore fans, and they wanted to see him for a photo or an autograph.
Earlier I’d noticed how well behaved the audience had been. An announcement at the very start of the show said to not take videos or photos and to keep phones away. It said anybody caught using such a device would be ejected immediately. It also said anybody getting up before the interval would not be allowed back in.
Excellent. There is nothing more annoying or distracting than the light of somebody’s mobile as they tap away to their mates or sneak photos of a show. And what is it with people not having a wee wee before they sat down? An interval is usually never more than an hour away, yet it’s so damned annoying having to be distracted by morons getting up and obscuring the view as they shuffle out and then, 5 minutes later, back in to their seat. What is wrong with these people? They pay good money for a ticket and miss part of the show! So, good on Derren Brown’s team making them shut the feck up and sit down before they didn’t!
To be fair, the audience, dominated by mainly young faces, wanted to absorb the show fully and certainly didn’t want to spoil it for themselves or those around them. If only all theatre audiences were this well behaved and ‘into’ the show. Ditto cinema audiences.
Well, the Infamous tour is still doing the rounds. I urge you to go and see it. Even though I can’t tell you why the urge to pass that on got into my head and now seems embedded in my mind.
England's England 