Hull New Theatre – until 25 September 2021
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
4****
Derren Brown is currently performing, over five nights in Hull, as part of his current UK tour. This is his first brand new theatre show in six years, with I believe, nearly 200 shows in all, throughout the country, what a feat and a challenge.
With a request at the closing of the show not to divulge anything that happened during the evening, creating dread and panic and, a what am I going to write about?
This is the first time I’ve seen him live and wasn’t sure what to expect, things are always different live on the stage from what we see on television. From the outset Derren commands the stage and creates a rapport with the audience, we’re made to feel at ease and trusting, and so eager to find out what he has in store. What follows is 2 ½ hours of pure showmanship.
This is a one-man show, with a strong audience contribution. A good number of the audience were eager to get involved, me, I’m a bit more reserved, and it is only now that I wish I’d participated more, been more open. Working with willing volunteers, all randomly chosen, this selection process created a fair few laughs and near misses, you’ll have to see what I’m on about for yourself, takes us journey full of amazement and awe.
If you go and see this show, he asks you to take a small keepsake along with you, something has meaning for you. You never know, it could be you up on that stage.
Derren is a mentalist, an illusionist, a magician and so much more. He tells a story throughout, this was quite powerful and resonated with us, we should be living our lives to the full, not living in the shadows, what a motivational speaker! He had us laughing, bought us to tears, had us eating out of his hand and left us with our minds blown. He truly is a master of his craft.
It was fabulous to see the packed audience in this wonderful theatre, all mesmerised by this mind blowing show, and man. As we left you couldn’t help but wonder how the impossible was made possible and questioning reality, what was real and what wasn’t. A show not to be missed.