Funnily enough,” says Derren Brown in talking about Showtime, the production with which he’s this week regaling audiences at Birmingham’s The Alexandra, “it was written pre-lockdown, about how the things in life that feel most isolating actually tend to be the very things that we share. And then this literal play-out of that idea happens - globally! So that has remained at its heart. It has a gentle thread about how we share our human difficulties, and the value of remembering what’s important.”

Showtime is not an easy production to review. Understandably, Derren has requested that its content remains as closely guarded a secret as possible, to ensure it’s a fresh and unexpected experience for future audiences. So I’ll be careful what I write... 

Suffice it to say, if you love Derren Brown, you will absolutely adore this latest enterprise. The standing ovation at the end of the evening provided yet another unequivocal thumbs-up for the man who’s spent his career bamboozling brains and making the impossible somehow seem possible. 

The production is well-titled; Brown is a showman par excellence. He had his audience eating out of the palm of his hand last night, and no doubt manages to do so each and every time he treads the boards. We were totally transfixed, not to mention baffled, befuddled, beguiled and sometimes simply lost for words. 
A master of illusion he may be, but he also manages to be very human and very ordinary; an accessible genius who’s eager to give his loyal fans a white-knuckle ride that they’ll never forget (unless he hypnotises them into doing so, of course!). 

Showtime is a splendidly interactive production too, with various members of the audience joining Derren on stage to assist him in his jaw-dropping endeavours.

If the evening has a downside, it’s simply that you’re so desperate to see the sure-to-be-stunning outcome of everything he does that the set-ups can sometimes seem to take forever. 

And no, Derren won’t be to everybody’s taste. I know several people for whom the wow factor of yet another breathtaking ‘trick’ simply isn’t enough. Their argument runs that if he’s not going to explain how he does what he does, then all he’s really doing is showing off, time and time and time again. 

I’m pleased to say that I’m not a student of that particular school of thought. I’m far happier being awestruck, amazed and astonished - and spending my journey home scratching my head in utter bemusement at the sights that I’ve seen.

Four stars

Reviewed by Sue Hull at The Alexandra, Birmingham, on Tuesday 6 September. Derren Brown Showman continues at the venue until Sat 10 September.