The Wizards of Time and Mind

David Tennant and Derren Brown. Two of my favorite British discoveries of the previous year together at last?

Magic.

For those of you who don't watch Doctor Who and don't know who David Tennant is, you have been missing out. To be fair. So had I.

I remember thinking how horribly downhill the old series of Doctor Who had gone when it fizzled out in the late '80s and so paid little attention to the new series when it came back bigger and better than ever. I'd put my youth behind me and written off my childhood proclamation that "Doctor Who is the bestest thing ever, ever, ever and you can't ever make me change my mind about it ever" thinking how goofy I must have seemed as a kid, with my nose buried in all those Target novelisations. (Personal Trivia for those who lived the same childhood. Fave author? Terrence Dicks.)

Then something happened. I finally decided to hire out Season 1 of the new revamped Doctor Who. They'd given it a budget. Fantastic. They'd made the companionship more personal. Nice touch. They'd brought together people who were just as enamored with the show as I had been, young fans who were now grown up storytellers and filmmakers just itching to pay it all back and make the show of their dreams. Off the hook!

I swear some episodes of this Doctor Who are more entertaining than 99% of the big budget "entertainments" you go see in cinemas. I'm not overstating that. They are that sensational.

4 seasons and 2 doctors later, I'm a renewed fan. And I didn't even have to revert to my old geeky ways to do it!

In case you've missed the link - David Tennant is currently playing The Doctor... and killing it.

Now lets flip to another facet of your Levitude blog host's tastes. The guy who is fascinated by the murky depths of the human mind and the way in which your perceptions can be twisted to fool you. Or astonish you. Currently the best showman out there is Derren Brown. You might have seen him here before. You're bound to see him again.

Derren has a swag of BBC shows behind him. Mind Control, Russian Roulette LIVE, Trick of the Mind, Trick or Treat, Messiah, The System... Suffice it to say, he knows how to pull off a trick or two with style. (For die hard fans who haven't read his book, Trick of the Mind, what's taking you guys?!)

So when I discovered that these two fine gents had worked together... my neighbours called the cops and I was fined for disturbing the peace. Actually, they didn't and I wasn't, but it sure would have been a fitting anecdote!

Below are links to the YouTube hosted clips. Unfortunately they didn't support embedding. No matter.

What you're going to see is a typical episode of Trick or Treat where David is going to be taken on a little time travel adventure, Derren Brown style.

Cue incidental music:

David Tennant on Trick or Treat Pt. 1


David Tennant on Trick or Treat Pt. 2


David Tennant on Trick or Treat Pt. 3

What's Made Of Wood And Weighs The Same As A Duck?

It may surprise you to know that the smartest person on the Earth at this very moment is neither you nor I. It is a classy Brit who likes to call himself Derren Brown.

At some point in the past Mr. Brown must have had a lot of time on his hands. Wisely he chose to invest that time into learning "magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship" - his words. It was these skills that served to make him a very clever and equally smug individual indeed. The kind of guy who might play Russian Roulette with himself on live television (honest, he did!).

His shennanigans have entertained me for hours on end and I must say how glad I am that he wasn't identified as having a flair for the cello at an early age, because he probably would have spent time practicing that instead and consequently deprived the world of his rare talents.

But Derren's talents are not always what they appear to be. Most of the time, whilst he's leading you to believe he's using one skill to perform a trick, he's really using another. That's the misdirection part. It's the best part of any magician's repertoire. It's the real make or break talent because, honestly, most magic tricks are insultingly simple once you learn how they're done.

With that in mind, have a gander at the psychology tricks on display in today's supplied video. Is it all about reading a person's body language? Or are other conjuror's techniques being employed? It could be either or perhaps a combination of the two. Who knows?




This is just the tip of the iceberg of what Derren does. The boy has a truly amazing repertoire. If it entertains you, you can find plenty more of his stuff on YouTube.