Derren Brown: The Events

Misdirection is a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another

He made the audience think he was in the costume, however it was someone else. We were misdirected in thinking it was him, however he managed to swap over, in all the space of a few seconds by distracting us. If you had seen it, you would understand.

The explanation is sufficient.

I've been to one of his live shows and the misdirection is indeed outstanding especially in the way he uses subliminal messages just when talking. That doesn't predict the balls however but I'm sure he'll worm that method into his explanation somehow. He's a devious chap.

Listen to what he's said. I think he's fooled us all. "...four events of misdirection" to name but one extract.

Whilst I've enjoyed all the theories about split screens and DVE and so on, does Derren Brown ever use camera trickery for his tricks - would he not want something that would have stood up to having an audience in the room at the same time? Alternatively, perhaps he's trying to make a (somewhat superficial) point about television and people's gullibility?

What I'd like to be the solution: the balls were white because they were coated with some sort of thermal paper, with a laser or other targeted heat source mounted in the lighting grid which could warm them up sufficiently and precisely enough to produce the numbers.

I highly doubt it's camera trickery - generally that's something illusionists really shy away from. Also if it is C4 will probably get accused of fakery or something ridiculous and slapped with a Daily Mail hate campaign.

As I said before, the misdirection is to follow, this is not the trick. It was split screens.

I posted what I believe was correct and what will happen to the http://derrenbrown.channel4.com/derren-brown-the-events-win.shtml site, they have not posted it.

The lottery number prediction was a setting of the illusion

Saturday Night, someone will win the lottery thanks to derren!

Post it here then.

don't think its fair, will PM though

Why not? When he did the horse racing special, he revealed that as being a fairly basic editing trick. However in that case there was a twist at the end which wasn't explained.

He'll do the same here I reckon, not all will be explained

I think bambuster is essentially right.

I think the 'trick' itself was quite a straightforward split screen camera trickery.

However, all Derren's comments about "a year of my life" and his nervous energy were designed to make us think there was more to it.

I really think he wants us to think (rather like "The System") he recorded millions combinations of film to be able to play out the right one.

The show tonight I believe won't reveal that it was simple camera trickery but instead give misdirection and hints about predicting patterns of numbers, which is all bollocks.

However, being a Derren Brown event there is guaranteed to be a twist at the end, that leaves everyone astounded. That's when it gets really clever. I predict that he'll show that he hid the numbers somewhere earlier this week- In a newspaper advert or billboard or something to baffle us more!

Here we go then.