Derren Victor Brown (born 27 February 1971) is a British magician, psychological illusionist, mentalist, and skeptic of paranormal phenomena. He was born in Croydon, South London, and studied Law and German at the University of Bristol. While there, he attended a show by the hypnotist Martin Taylor, which inspired him to turn to illusion and hypnosis as a career. Around 1994, he worked as a conjuror, practising the traditional skills of close-up magic. In 1996, he started performing stage hypnosis shows at the University of Bristol under his then stage name of Derren V. Brown.
Brown has also done performances relating to mind-reading. Shortly after, he was commissioned to do a pilot for his Channel 4 television series, Mind Control.
