Tricks Of The Mind
by Derren Brown · first published 2006
64% recommend36% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Entertaining mix of memory techniques, mentalism, and skepticism, covering memory palaces and the peg system. It offers a charming look at how audiences are fooled, suiting curious readers and gift-givers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The definitive book by Britain's favourite illusionist..."Derren Brown's television and stage performances have entranced and dumbfounded millions. His baffling illusions and stunning set pieces - such as The Seance, Russian Roulette and The Heist - have set new standards of what's possible, as well as causing more than their fair share of controversy. Now, for the first time, he reveals the secrets behind his craft, what makes him tick and just why he grew that beard. Tricks of the Mind takes you on a journey into the structure and pyschology of magic. Derren teaches you how to read clues in
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Derren Brown's book, 'Tricks of the Mind', has an interesting section on memory: http://www.amazon.com/Tricks-Mind-Derren-Brown/dp/1905026358... He discusses the 'loci system', 'memory palaces', and 'peg system': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci…
on “Top 10 Memory Hacks ” ↗…memorization, and does pretty well at presenting in his audio book. Some of it feels a bit out of date (e.g. popular names he uses to help with memorization), but if you can get past it there's a lot to learn. "Tricks of the Mind" by Derren Brown also has some basic information on memorization, along with a host of other interesting topics.
on “Remembering, as an Extreme Sport” ↗In Derren Brown's excellent Tricks of the Mind[1], he mentions the lengths that audiences are willing to go. In one example, he says something about "this coin in my hand" while holding his hand up near his face for a moment, index finger and thumb…
on “Teller Reveals His Secrets” ↗I came across his work years ago and adore it. He's really carved out a niche for himself. I also recommend his book "Tricks of the Mind" as a gift for young nerds: https://www.amazon.com/Tricks-Mind-Paperback-DERREN-BROWN/dp... It's a nice combination of charm, trickery, and skepticism. Bits about his life, teaching techniques he uses…
on “How Derren Brown Remade Mind Reading for Skeptics” ↗The UK mentalist Derren Brown has a brilliant example passage of this in his 2007 book "Tricks of the Mind". It was all about what you felt like as a child and your relationship to your parents. Very clever. I remember showing it to a friend at university who became extremely emotional and couldn't believe…
on “How Swedes were fooled by the book “Surrounded by Idiots”” ↗He wrote Tricks of the Mind and that was a great book. One piece that has stuck with me for ~15 years now is the 20 word series that I can recite forward or backward after spending 5 minutes visualizing them in a "linked list".…
on “Embrace the Grind” ↗…by imagining a giant swan in the next room. When you don't need to remember it anymore, you imagine yourself throwing a grenade into the room and blowing up the swan. It really works! Darren Brown's Tricks of the Mind is generally about his life history in becoming a mentalist, but it has a lot of fun tidbits about methods to get over traumatic memories, amp yourself up for things you don't want you to, defuse arguments/fights,…
on “A secret to never forgetting numbers” ↗Derren Brown - a stage hypnotist that is quite well known in the UK - actually specifically wrote in one of his books ("Tricks of the mind" at least includes a part on this) that he too is not sure whether or not his subjects are actually under his control, or even whether or not that is a question that makes sense, in as much as they do…
on “Remembering the Murder You Didn't Commit” ↗…as the author smoked for 33 years, and used them all himself. The process of reading all of this information in short succession, in addition to some of the coping mechanisms that are essentially more tricks of the mind, or ways to frame the thoughts that inevitably arise when a smoker quits, I believe has sort of a triggering effect, not unlike juicy gossip and the 24 hour news cycle. However, the reader is triggered…
on “To Change Habits, Try Replacement Instead” ↗…that night using suggestion, including photos of billboards/posters outside that guided attendees down certain thought paths before the show started. It was a revelation. Incidentally he also published "Tricks of the Mind" which has a fair amount of detail about how he does some of it.
on “My Life as a Mentalist” ↗Brown's text was longer, but he credits it as Forer's idea originally (in his book 'Tricks of the Mind' p322)