139 Quotes by Derren Brown

Magic should get under people's skins.

Not everything is about causing controversy. That would be a very boring way to go.

I went to a party when I was a student and they had a mynah bird up in the bedroom where people put their coats. I was completely captivated - I just sat there all night talking to it. The next day I passed a pet shop and they had a conure - it's a little parakeet - in the window. I bought it, not knowing what it was or how to look after it.

That was how I started, as a hypnotist. But I didn't like the kind of gigs I was being offered. I didn't want to embarrass people.

Everything you do is about creating an experience in the viewer's head. If you're rude or irritating as a performer, then your magic is irritating.

I really do like being on stage. Compared to television I have a lot more control - it's a lot more relaxed and loose.

Hypnosis is just suggestibility; you see it in certain people.

The joy of doing the TV or something like 'Sacrifice' isn't really the process of doing it; the joy is going through this real-life experience.

I wore a cloak for many years, I had long hair, I may have had a drop earring for a week and I fancied myself as a philosopher poet but was somewhere more in the gay female leisure pirate.