Derren Brown review

Derren Brown–Only Human Birmingham Hippodrome – 2nd June 2026

Mind controller, illusionist, magician or all of these? Derren Brown is fast becoming the household name in the UK for theatrical magic these days, and as a fan of the art I applaud him.

His latest touring show Only Human teeters on the brink of spring in Hull, so as the weather is perking up, so is the anticipation from the packed crowd tonight for this new show. Mild spoilers ahead.

A busy start to the show, as soon as Derren’s bouncy arrival to the stage signifies some of the female crowd having to leave. Straight away people are puzzled, whispering and pointing. Apparently it’s a safety aspect for a gas being used onstage for another effect.

Spectator involvement is heavy in all Derren’s shows as frisbees are spun out to the crowd to select people. Derren’s genial manner puts those on stage at ease as he reads minds about people and their photos stored in envelopes. It’s only been 10 minutes and my jaw is on the floor, so it’s going well.

Derren is naturally funny with his act and it helps to push the show along. Old Victorian stories about magicians of old are told and weird things happen to spectators.

The big spectator event in the middle of the show will remain secret, but it’s epic, bizarre, fantastic and somewhat scary. Was it hypnosis, mind manipulation or illusion? We may never know.

So many tricks to see, it was a visual feast and hard to keep up with the magic. Even a trick with Smarties was performed.

Towards the end of the show all the threads came together and a trick featuring the whole audience finished the night. For those who bought a programme, even that featured a magic trick!

Astonishing theatre that isn’t seen enough in the modern day, but hopefully Derren continues to push the boundaries more and more.