Derren Brown: Showman at Apollo Theatre

Derren Brown’s Showman is riding the wave of one of the strangest times in living memory: the coronavirus pandemic. The illusionist’s tenth stage production opened in London on 9^th December and will be at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, until 18^th March 2023. For a performer whose very bread and butter are strangeness, shock and the unexpected, it’s hardly surprising that this piece, alchemised as it was during the pandemic, is his best yet.

Derren Brown shows are notoriously difficult to review for one very simple reason: at the beginning of the performance, audiences are requested not to divulge any details. On press night at the Apollo Theatre, Brown reiterated this request himself, speaking directly to reviewers and asking that nobody even hint at the specific contents of the night. “I’m sorry,” Brown said, in his usual charming and ever-so-slightly self-deprecating manner. “I appreciate that this makes your job difficult.”

Showman is Brown’s most emotive work to date. His shows are always personal, always skilfully relatable, but this time he’s tapped into a new level of honesty and, frankly, emotional pain. And the audience was brought along on this journey beautifully – the mood was poignant, sad, but ultimately unifying and wildly uplifting. Audiences were asked, via social media, to bring with them an item of sentimental importance. These talismans played a vital role, drawing the audience in and bringing us together. Togetherness, self-forgiveness and growth, were thematic threads throughout the evening, but the mood was never that of a group therapy session or a TED talk (a pitfall of so many Netflix comedy specials recently). Through and through, this was a Derren Brown production, every bit as astounding and jaw-dropping as ever. It was just that this time, you got the feeling that it meant a little bit more.

Many performers seek to metabolise raw feelings through the creation of a beautiful spectacle. In Showman, Brown seems to have been striving to do just that. And at the same time, he has created something that may help audiences, in some small but not insignificant way, to stand on a different footing with their own feelings of confusion, uncertainty, anger, sadness, regret, and even grief. In short, Showman is more than a magic show.

Abby Moss
Photos: Mark Douet

Derren Brown: Showman is at Apollo Theatre from 9^th December until 18^th March 2023. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.