Ewan's Musings

"Russian Roulette" Watch

Now that was tension. Last night on Channel 4 saw Derren Brown play Russian Roulette with a live bullet. Suprisingly, he survived. Vikki was really unsure about the program and what he was doing, but given that he showed the whole 'How I recruited the Bullet Loader' and how he was choosing someone that he could read it made rivetting watching. And then of course the showmanship of the last five minutes when we started at chamber three (they were all numbered) and he clicked round till firing chamber one (which was the live round) into a sandbag instead of his head.

Phew! Having watched it with a critical (magical?) eye I'm pretty sure he was on the level. Okay there were a few camera angles that I would have liked to see, but on the whole (and knowing Derren Brown's previous work) this was a genuine reading of where a volunteer placed the bullet.

If you listen closely to the show, he actually told his volunteer where to put the bullet. Okay it was couched in a few sentences as a subconcious suggestion, but it was there. Clear as day. It was all a matter of choosing someone on the night who would listen to him. All the best magic has a bit of a gamble, and all the best magicians know how to reduce those odds. Just as Derren Brown did here.

This whole show was excellent television, and once the furore of the people who are afraid of copycat problems dies out (if someone has access to a gun, and then plays Russian Roulette then aren't they a bit thick and deserve to 'do a Darwin?'), then this program is going to have the same sort of memories as Ghostwatch and Paul Daniels escaping from an Iron Maiden.