Derren Brown looking forward to amazing Midland theatres on Showman tour
Illusionist Derren Brown is back on tour and heading to the the region's top theatres as the entertainment industry gets into full gear now that the pandemic restrictions are easing.
His long-awaited - and by his own admission "improved" - stage tour titled Showman is up and running with dates at Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre this month and at Wolverhampton Grand next year.
The Surrey-born star, who started studying magic whilst a student at Bristol University, has made himself a household name through various hit shows including Miracle, The Push and Sacrifice which see him use covert psychological techniques, resulting in sometimes controversial stunts.
Like most people, he says the pandemic lockdowns has been a period of taking stock personally and an opportunity to make professional changes relating to his current offering. The tour had to be postponed like everything else in the entertainment industry due to the health crisis.
Without giving much away he said: "The show has been amazing with the responses stronger and better than any show we've done so far. This has been as a result of a mixture of things, we've had extra time to develop the themes and also it's quite a personal show. It has more of an emotional heart.
"It was written before Covid arrived. We were due to start the initial tour the week that lockdown began.
"It's ended up sitting very well in these times as we come out of lockdown and deals with how things in life an result in isolation, and how it's things like that which bring us together. So far the show and its themes have been well received.
"Just the idea of getting back on tour after a few years off has fit quite well.
"Most of the audiences now are people who have had tickets referred a number of times, due to rescheduling.
"I want to thank Wolverhampton for having me back. We're at the 'Alex' which is a lovely venue later this month and also next year we'll be doing some more dates in Birmingham at the Hippodrome.
"If you are coming to the show bring a small object of sentimental value or of personal meaning that you can hold in your hands. And don't worry you don't have to come up on the stage for this."
Derren explains that along with making changes to some routines and making more use of technology he also managed to move house to the countryside near London.
Showman is at the Alexandra Theatre October 26-30 and at the Grand Theatre June 21-25. For tickets see the websites.
