Miracle on the stage by Derren

A magician and illusionist who has made his name as the ultimate enigma will be bringing his latest show to the Royal and Derngate in Northampton next week.
Derren BrownDerren Brown
Derren Brown

Derren Brown presents Miracle from Monday to Saturday June 13 and he admits to getting a buzz out of touring live.

“Oh I love it,” he grins. “This is my 13th year of touring, six months every year so I love it. TV can be fun too– with my Apocalypse show a few years ago it was amazing to be sitting back watching it all unfold; as this guy goes through this end-of-world experience it’s like a huge practical joke really.

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“It’s huge fun but with so many people involved, monthsand months of preparation, things can often become quite frustrating. TV has its ups and downs, whereas with the stage, I think every aspect of it is fun. It’s my favourite time of the year.”

Bringing something new and innovative to audiences with each and every tour, the show requires a lot of brain power and planning.

Derren said: “I sit down and really think about it. I’ve written most of the shows with a guy called Andrew Nyman who directs the show, we co-write them together and another guy called Andrew O’Connor is part of the process too.

“So really the three of us sit around for a month or so and talk about what material will go into the show and what will shape it.

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“And then we have a month of rehearsing, getting it up on its feet until you have the vague sense that, ‘OK, that should work’. But it’s only really when you start doing it that first week, when you actually try it on real people that you know - you just have no idea how it’s going to work till you try it with a real audience.”

And for Derren, audience particpation is crucial.

He added: “In the last show, Infamous, I did a piece based on mediumship so I’m talking to people’s dead relatives and so on … it ended up being the strongest thing in the show but we made it in just one afternoon a couple of weeks in because another thing wasn’t working and I just said, ‘Oh, I’ll try that tonight.’ So it’s a funny process but audiences kind of teach me what works which is interesting.”

Travelling the country for the Miracle tour also gives Brown the chance to enjoy his new surroundings.

He said: “I get my days free which is something I don’t normally have in real life. It’s amazing to be able to potter round and go to book shops and things which I wouldn’t have the time for otherwise.

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“I’m not very tall or especially flamboyant, especially since I lost my little goatee, I generally don’t get stopped that much and if I do people seem really nice!”

Tickets for the show can be booked by calling on 01604 624811 or visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk.

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