Derren Brown
If you’ve seen Derren Brown’s Channel 4 shows or even watched Something Wicked This Way Comes, which was a recording of his 2006 tour, then you know what to expect. He uses “magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship” to great effect. And because the shows are 90% audience participation no two evenings will be the same. I’m not going to recount exactly what happened, because I know for a fact that you surfed to these pages for that very reason (see I have spooky mind-reading powers too). If you enjoy the TV shows you’ll enjoy the evening at the theatre even more.
One word of caution - if you catch a Frisbee and go on stage to write an object onto a piece of paper, don’t put “rhombus”. Because I fear that Derren will put a spell on you if he encounters two smart arses on the same tour.
My head still hurts from trying to figure out how it’s all done.
“I just want to burn him at the stake and watch his witch’s heart bubble”
Stephen Fry
“The closest our galaxy can boast to a Jedi master”
Empire Magazine
Spinal Tap
Spinal Tap are going to reform again to perform at the Live Earth concert at Wembley Stadium in London on July 7.
Documentarian Marty DeBergi has made a new short film which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Quite why the band are still speaking to him is beyond me after he made them appear foolish during the ‘This is Spinal Tap’ movie.
“They’re not that environmentally conscious, but they’ve heard of global warming,” said DeBergi. “Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing - that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler.”
I’m glad to see that the bands song-writing is still on a par with the classic Tap songs :
The devil went to Devon, it felt like the fourth degree
He said, ‘Is it hot in here, or is it only me?’
Warmer Than Hell - Spinal Tap
Sensation: Young British
Artists from the
Saatchi Collection
Sensation was the name given to an art exhibition at the Royal Academy in the autumn of 1997.
It had been in all the tabloids because of a painting called ‘Myra’ by Marcus Harvey. No doubt the headlines screamed ‘Ban This Sick Filth’, but it did nothing but draw even more attention to the exhibition. And judging by the queue to get in at the time it had no adverse effect. I think that the painting in question had even been vandalised by a visitor. I was more interested in exactly how the painting was constructed.
Before this exhibition I didn’t have much time for art. In museums and stately homes paintings always looked drab and dull and generally the frames were much more interesting to look at. Since then I’ve actively tried to seek out a collection of work like Sensation, but have yet to find anything similar.
Upon leaving the Royal Academy I flicked through this book and tried to decide whether to buy it. I didn’t. The price seemed like a small fortune for a ‘picture’ book. That, and the fact that it’s quite heavy, didn’t persuade me. But of course I regretted my decision and so purchased it from Amazon.co.uk years later.
Yes, I can honestly say that I’ve read it. The majority of its content covers the pieces in the exhibition itself but there are essays written by art critics and also a short biography of each artist at the back. The biographies were interesting as they also covered the artists other work, which managed to jog a few memories of visits to other exhibitions and galleries since.
Carl D. Patterson
Review type: product
hReview version: 0.3
Don’t Make Me Think
Derren Brown
Spinal Tap
