The Devil's Picturebook - The Professional Card Repertoire of Derren Brown(1-3)

The Devil’s Picturebook

The Professional Card Repertoire of Derren Brown

This video contains nearly 3 hours of Derren’s card material and card related mental effects. It is by no means suitable for beginners. Without knowledge of the following, you will not be able to perform the effects taught in the video, as they are taken as common knowledge to a magician.

Required knowledge
Card spring, charlier cut, double lift, elmsley count, lapping, palming, pass, short card, snap change, top change, toppit

Effects taught

3 Card Routine
A marathon of a routine which is done for 3 people. 3 cards are selected and lost in the deck. The cards are revealed in various ways and then vanish, appearing in his pockets. The cards are then lost in the deck and revealed in different ways. Then a mini 3 card monte routine is performed. The 3 cards switch and appear under the card box on the table. They are lost in the deck, and are then shown to have vanished from the deck. To finish the deck then vanishes and the cards appear inside the card box.

Mike’s Move
A card relocation from the middle to the bottom of the deck by apparently squaring up the sides.

Card Under Box
A card is selected and lost in the deck, and then suddenly appears under the card box on the table. The card is returned to the deck and immediately appears under the box again. The spectator is asked to put their finger on the card, and the deck is placed in the box, which goes in the spectators pocket. The card under the spectators finger is revealed to have changed, and finally the box is shown to have returned to the table and the spectators card is underneath it once more.

Oil and Water
4 red and 4 black cards are alternated and then the cards are split in half and a packet is placed under each of the spectators hands. A colour is named, and the colours off the cards become separated according to what colour the spectator said. An extra red and black card is then added, the cards are mixed, and the spectator picks out 5 of the cards, the 5 cards are then revealed to be all the same colour. For the finish, the red cards are placed on top of the blacks, and then they are shown to be back in alternating colour order again.

Zamiel’s Rose
The performer tells a story of how he got started in magic when he was 6, by producing a rose for a girl he liked, but messed the effect up, cutting himself and sending rose petals all over the floor. A card is selected and returned to the deck. The deck vanishes, then one card appears. A series of cards are then produced, ending with the selected card being revealed. For the finish, the selected card disintegrates into rose petals.

Smoke
The deck is spread on the table and the spectator is asked to think of a card. The card is then named by the performer. The performer then states that the card is no longer in the deck, and shows the spectator that this is true. Suddenly the cigarette which the performer is smoking changes to the spectators selected card.

Out of This World
The performer tells a story of a medium from the 1930’s who claimed she could read the colour of a card from looking at the back, but explains it was a fix. The spectator is given the deck to shuffle. The performer then shows the spectator the back of a couple cards and asks them to say what colour the card is. They are then instructed to do the same with the entire deck, dealing them into 2 piles. One card is taken from each pile and the spectator is asked what colour they are. The two cards are revealed, followed by the two piles which are shown to be totally sorted into red and black.

Double Think
This effect is done for 2 people. The 1st person is asked to stop the magicians rifle anywhere and remember the card he stopped on. The second person is asked to merely think of a card. Two cards are placed on the table by the performer, and they are revealed to indeed be the two selected cards.

Velvet Turnover
A double lift alternative where the top card is turned face up by the spectator. It is then turned face down by the performer and placed in the centre of the deck. The card is then revealed to be on the top. The move can be repeated.

Extreme Mental Effort
The deck is shuffled and the spectator is asked to look at a card and replace it into the deck and cut the cards. A second spectator is asked to take the cards and deal them one at time face down onto the table. The performer then names the selected card based on the reaction of the spectator to what he says to them. The performer also tells the 2nd spectator to stop at the exact time that the selected card is dealt to the table.

Invisible Deal
This effect is done with an imaginary deck of cards. The spectator is asked to deal the cards into a red pile and a black pile and select either pile. They are then asked to deal the cards into 2 piles separating the suits, and select either pile. They are then asked to deal the cards into an odd and an even pile and pick up one. The spectator does not reveal which pile they selected. The performer then makes a prediction and puts the card face down on the table. The spectator is asked to get rid of 2 cards from the ones they are left with. They are then asked to take a card in each hand, and are left with the card which has been predicted and left on the table.

Invisible dealing Force
The spectator is asked to put a card into their pocket. The performer imaginarily deals the cards into a red and a black pile, and the spectator is asked to get rid of one pile in their mind. The spectator is then asked the separate the remaining cards in their mind and get rid of one suit. They are then asked to separate the cards into number cards and picture cards, and get rid of one pile. They are asked to select one card from the cards which they have left, and this is the card which the have in their pocket.

Mental Forces
The spectator thinks of the card which you want them to pick. Derren details methods to force a couple of specific cards on spectators.

Sleights Taught
Lennart Green’s angle separation, Dai Vernon multiple shift, deck vanish, deck vanish without table, face up bottom deal, false cut, figaro transfer, impromptu haunted deck effect, Lennart Green’s windmill move, Mike’s move, open prediction, Richard Bush peek, rub-a-dub vanish, second deal, stop force, tabled bottom deal, Tameris’s subtlety,

Many of the effects are purely done in the words that are said to the spectator, and so require no actual sleight of hand. There are also some other moves which are part of the routines which Derren explains how to do but are not as such sleights.

Comments
Overall this is a very well made and impressive video. The material taught in this video is worthy of inclusion in any performers working repertoire, and the effects are definitely practical. There is a certain amount of humour throughout the video, and at the end you are treated to a comedy piece as well, which I really enjoyed. The material is not the sort of stuff that you can watch one evening and go out and perform the next day, and many of the effects will require work before they can be introduced to spectators. There is however a wealth of information contained in the video, and if you feel you are up to performing this level of magic then you won’t be disappointed with what you get.