Quotes from Derren Brown

Most people's fear of being in front of an audience can generally be conquered by being completely on top of what it is they've got to do.

I've got a house full of taxidermy. It's like a museum. I have about 200 pieces in total, all ethically sourced.

Hypnosis is just suggestibility; you see it in certain people.

There's something a bit embarrassing about saying you're a magician. It immediately suggests all these horrendous cliches, let alone that you're a grown-up doing a child's job.

Things I've done in the past always make me cringe a bit. When I think back to being a Christian. Proselytising to people, that makes me cringe.

Psychic, illusionist... I'm just doing the things that I find interesting and worthwhile.

I was allowed to do whatever made me happy. I can't think of a better or more worthwhile approach to parenting.

I love touring, more than anything. Doing the stage show is a more enjoyable process than TV. There are no safeguards but the payoff is the wow factor.

I came across the idea of running towards the things that frighten you. Once you go and do it, you realise that the fear of it is far more powerful than actually doing it.

When we find ourselves in groups or with charismatic individuals, we might do things we wouldn't ordinarily do.

A bedrock of insecurity made me want to impress and want to be the center of attention.

I have a couple of dogs and I live with my partner. We just like to sit and read and I'm generally quite quiet.

I remember Doritos launched a new flavour and the question was whether I could use my skills - as they perceived them - to make people desire and want to try this new flavour. But I like to be in control of the things I do and feel proud of them.

Magic should get under people's skins.

Yes, I've had a slight feeling of wanting to reclaim some of the lifestyle I had in my 20s, which means poncing around in what amounts to pirate clothes.

When touring I get to travel around with my best friends, do a show I love and I'm confident people will enjoy, and have all the adrenalin that comes with performing.

I was part of a very uncool group. It was a group that liked classical music. They were known as the Music School Gang or, less charitably, the Poof Gang.

For a long time, I couldn't just sit and have a conversation with people at a table without showing them a trick. I thought you just had to impress, it was about impressing, which of course is what you do if you don't feel very impressive.

If you're a comedian, it's a bit of a choice whether or not you want to be funny when you're not performing because it might feel disingenuous. In the same way, I don't show people magic tricks in social situations any more.

A lot of unconfident kids do tricks because it's the quickest route to impressing people. You can stand behind something amazing and people think you're amazing.

When I started doing magic I was quite obsessive about it. I didn't feel impressive and I had a strong desire to impress people. I was putting all my creative energy into learning and performing tricks, and it helps if you're not in relationships or doing the stuff other people are doing. But it's not necessarily a healthy way of living.

Mentalist is the technical term for what I do and it covers everything from psychic medium through Uri Geller, through to magicians doing tricks with a mental theme.

When you're made to be frightened within a safe context, like watching a horror film, you have that tension/release which triggers all those happy chemicals that feel good.

I'm not very sociable. If I get invited to a glamorous event I probably won't go. That world does not really appeal to me.