The Gathering by Derren Brown

Derren Brown’s “The Gathering” is a captivating live performance filmed at a secret venue on May 18, 2005, featuring an audience of diverse individuals, including students from Roehampton University, celebrities, psychologists, psychics, taxi drivers, and magicians. The show aired on May 29, showcasing Brown’s extraordinary abilities in mentalism.

During the performance, Brown demonstrated his remarkable skills by recalling specific streets, page numbers, and grid references from the Greater London A-Z map, alongside recreating pseudo-psychic feats such as mind reading and remote viewing. A highlight of the show involved hypnotizing the audience, leading them to forget the events for about thirty minutes after leaving the venue. The word “forget” was subtly displayed on the backdrop throughout the performance, enhancing the experience.

After the show, various audience members shared their experiences, with some unable to recall any details yet still expressing awe at the performance. One of the standout moments featured a London taxi driver who was asked to select a street and mentally navigate a route. This was visually represented by drawing a line on a map made from A-Z pages. At the conclusion, an envelope that had been on stage the entire time was opened, revealing a card with the chosen page number and coordinates, a marked acetate route, and a receipt estimating the fare at £8 for the journey from Buckingham Palace to Shepherd’s.