Derren Brown blew everyone away as he remembered his late father in Showman (Picture: Channel 4)
Derren Brown dedicated his latest show, Showman, to his late dad in a really emotional moment.
Inviting four random audience members to the stage, the star magician asked them to each bring a sentimental object with them.
Throughout the trick, the mentalist picked the objects up at random and was able to correctly state which belong to which person, as well as the story behind them.
The objects included a pregnancy test, which Derren correctly figured out belonged to a woman whose first daughter is named Natalie, as well as a necklace gifted to a man from a friend in New Zealand.
There was also a special brooch from someone’s grandmother.
In a really sweet moment, Derren correctly identified that a Scrabble letter belonged to a man whose grandma had recently died, and it was a nod to his love of playing board games with her.
The magician reflected on his relationship with his dad (Picture: Channel 4)
He invited audience members to the stage with sentimental items of their own (Picture: Channel 4)
As the magician told the story, the audience member broke down in tears as he reflected on his loss and his love for his late grandma.
And that wasn’t the only mention of loss in the Channel 4 special, as Derren mentioned his late dad multiple times with little anecdotes.
In his penultimate act, he explained that his dad died at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, adding that he felt ‘guilty’ for how it had to happen and that he didn’t have a proper send-off.
‘It was the weirdest thing because they just suddenly looked like tat, they just looked like stuff you’d find in the back of a junk shop,’ he said while introducing the trick, referring to bits and bobs he found around the house after his dad died.
‘It was like they had no meaning at all, and yet they were so meaningful, they sort of became more and less significant than they had been before. It really struck me that the right sort of object has the power to remind us what is truly important to us.
The four participants were spread out, much like how Covid funerals had to be (Picture: Channel 4)
One audience member brought a Scrabble tile as a nod to his love of playing games with his late grandma (Picture: Channel 4)
He burst into tears as Derren identified his object (Picture: Channel 4)
‘If I could understand what is important about these objects to you four, I would understand you a bit more, we all would. We’d look at you differently, with more empathy.’
Derren proceeded to reflect on his relationship with his dad.
‘I’ve said that my dad and I didn’t always connect when I was younger and then, of course, he died and that was that. It really struck me, this very clear thought of… oh, well then. That was the relationship. It wasn’t that we didn’t connect, it was just that we connected like that, in a slightly hit-and-miss way, as fathers and sons do, and that was ok. I’d spent a lot of my life thinking it was supposed to be better and different.’
He went on: ‘If you’re gonna lose a dad, losing a dad during a global pandemic means to things. First of all, he has to die on his own. I couldn’t be with him, mum couldn’t be there holding his hand and talking to him, he just had to sort of die, probably wondering where we all were.
‘And secondly, you don’t get to have a funeral. Unless you choose for it to just be the four of you, sat two metres apart with no touching. Which is a shame.
The mentalist proceeded to correctly identify all audience member’s special items (Picture: Channel 4)
The venue was filled with emotion as he spoke about his own loss (Picture: Channel 4)
‘Dad always said half-jokingly that he’d have loved a gospel choir and loads of people, a big list of things for a fun funeral and we just couldn’t do any of those things and no funeral means you’ve got no way of finding closure for the guilt you feel for leaving him on his own, or a way of giving him his proper big send-off.
‘So you look for another way if you can… like writing a show.’
‘Twas a really powerful speech, but the ending of the show was even more heart-wrenching as he did, in fact, bring out a gospel choir to belt out That’s Life by Frank Sinatra.
Fulfilling the wishes for his late dad’s funeral that they couldn’t have, the magician had audience members in bits.
In a truly incredible moment, he brought out a gospel choir to close the show, which is what his dad wanted had he had a normal funeral (Picture: Channel 4)
An image of Bob Brown was displayed on the screen as Derren waved goodnight to the audience (Picture: Channel 4)
He also showed messages from people receiving end-of-life care about their biggest regrets (Picture: Channel 4)
He created the show in his dad’s memory (Picture: Channel 4)
As the show came to a close, he displayed a big picture of his late dad on the screen behind him, as the crowd applauded.
On TV, a black screen closed out the performance, reading: ‘For Bob Brown, 1939-2020’.
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Reacting to the poignant tribute, Twitter members hailed it ‘beautiful’ with one saying: ‘What an absolutely beautiful tribute to his dad. Im crying my eyes out and in full adoration of Derren Brown’.
Another tweeted: ‘This COVID stuff is so sad. Poor Derren Brown, losing his Dad during the pandemic’.
‘Absolutely in pieces by the end of @DerrenBrown’s Showman tonight. As well as the usual magic masterpiece, it was also a beautiful tribute to his dad. Having lost our dad suddenly and unexpectedly, it really resonated and I suspect speaks to lots of people. Unexpected and lovely,’ wrote another.
Derren Brown: Showman is available to stream on All4.
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