Derren Brown on his new show, Infamous
DERREN Brown won an Olivier Award for his last live show, Svengali. For those of us who saw it at Plymouth Pavilions, that's no great surprise. It was thrilling, pulse-quickening entertainment from beginning to end. The master of psychological illusion fearlessly provoked the emotions of his audience to create nothing short of pure theatre.
Now he's back with a new show, Infamous, which heads to the venue from Thursday, April 11 to Saturday, April 13. Will it be anywhere near as mind-blowing?
Derren, this is your sixth live show since 2003. How on earth do you manage to keep those creative juices flowing?
Lack of choice really helps. Having some of the theatres sell out before you're written a word of the show is a real incentive.
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You've been touring now for ten years. Does it still hold the same "magic" for you?
Absolutely. It's still my favourite thing to do. Everything – from the writing of the show to the actual performing and touring – is a huge delight.
Tell us what you can about Infamous. Does the title suggest that this show is a closer mirror to your life, more personal than the others?
Yes, I think it will be, but it's early days in the writing process.
You're re-united with your close collaborator and friend Andy Nyman. How will this impact on the show?
We've worked together on all the shows apart from Svengali. And Andy was my co-writer for many years on television shows. Now we've joined forces again, we're very eager to make this show feel different. There was something of a template we followed with all the shows, which worked very well. It's rather exciting and scary leaving that behind. This one should certainly have a different tone, and will mix things up a bit for those who have seen the others on TV or live.
Having won yet another Olivier Award for Svengali how do you cope with the pressure and expectations around this show?
I don't really feel those things. I just try to find what's interesting to me, while of course making sure I don't repeat ideas from previous shows. This year as we've tried to change the feel of the show, that has brought its own concerns – how much should you change for the sake of changing? Why fix what wasn't broken? But these are all part of the creative drive: complacency doesn't help anyone.
Your most recent TV specials (Apocalypse and Fear And Faith) caused a lot of controversy and speculation. How did you find yourself reacting to the storm of publicity and why is it so important for you to continue to push the boundaries in the way you do?
Again, I just try to do what interests me, and feels important, with an eye to what would make good TV. It's nice that the shows are very well received. I'm used to them also provoking their share of negative or sceptical reactions from some quarters – anything from "it's all fake" to "it's irresponsible and he shouldn't be doing it". I see it as an inevitable kind of tax I pay for doing something that might be very ambitious. It's only saddening when I see people – usually on Twitter – wrongly dismissing something that happened for real as fake and feeling insulted rather than letting themselves enjoy it.
But whaddyagonnado… you could go mad trying to please everyone.
Can we expect to see you back on television in 2013
Certainly. I'll be working on a new TV show while I'm touring.
Do you have another book in the pipeline?
I do have something in mind, and once Infamous is fully up to speed, I'm sure I'll be working on that too. Having my days free to read or write is such a treat – one of the best parts of touring.
And your art. Are you still able to find the time to paint?
At the time of writing this, it's been a year since I painted, which feels a real shame. But I'm hoping to get something done before the tour starts. The long gaps actually can be helpful in terms of trying something different when I come back to it, so I don't mind too much. Hopefully there'll be another exhibition at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London this year.
Tickets: £35 or £30 (subject to a booking fee). Box office: 0845 1461460 or visit www.plymouth pavilions.com
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