I took the card off the shelf and opened it.

“SEE. You never did do as told.
HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

I laughed out loud in the shop and thought it was so similar to Derren’s story about his granddad’s box that it might even have been the inspiration! I got to give him this card! Is there, by any chance, a show on his birthday? YES! And not even very far! Off I was to Crawley, and what a night I had!
I was also interested to see how the show changed since last year as it keeps getting polished up on the way.
Unlike in my previous reviews in which I wrote about as many things as I could, here I’ll pick out only a few moments were most remarkable for me – I apologise anyone who’s annoyed with that…
Crawley seems to be a bit economical displaying street names, so I was nearly late and I could just catch the on screen notice that there would be a countdown when Derren comes in, we were to sing Happy Birthday and he knew nothing about it. The staff did a timing not any less precise than with the tricks – it worked out perfect and I wish someone filmed Derren’s reaction, it took him a while to get back on track!
As the show started on, I noticed that, strangely, the frisbies were very attracted to me, which never happened before. The first one, after spending a split second on the balcony where Derren meant it to, hit my shoulder. I quickly grabbed it, and, unsure what to do as it wasn’t one for the stalls I stood up with it and he did ask me to throw it back to him. I nearly missed the stage – those who say he calculates who the frisbees go to should try!
As the next ones were shooting around my head I couldn’t help thinking that it must be a matter of time to get on stage… but when it finally happened it felt unbelievable!
“What’s your name?”
“Rita.”
By the time I got to the stage I was so nervous I was gripping on the frisbee I must have left marks on it, and it took me ages to realise Derren was repeatedly calling my name trying to get my attention. I finally stopped.
“Rita, could you please throw the frisbee back to the audience and go back to your seat, I’m sorry about that.”
Flippin’hell, he remembers me from last year! But sending me back?? Am I dangerous, or what?
“Why?” I asked nice and loud so people could hear it.
“Okay then, come on” he changed his mind instead of providing an explanation.
Or it was to let me know what would happen in the future if I’m trouble – but the instigation of his ongoing general encouragement to people not to be too predictable was just one stronger.
Being as nervous as I was it was all the more funny when he said he’d ask me to try heroin. Then he turned the cards face up showing that they were all different and in random order. For a moment I could see the Ace of Clubs at the bottom of the pack, and I was very curious to try something I’ve not yet seen: to pick the bottom card which is already level with the tin foil. I was sure that his reflective explanation was misleading and that, as usual, his actual method would be one that gets it right regardless of the spec’s choice, so I wasn’t worried when he gave my plan a permission with his “take any of the cards” wording. He’ll just talk about watching the reflection as normal, while I can have a quiet laugh knowing that this time it couldn’t have been the case.
So I slid the bottom card on the foil and wrapped it up.
Low value red number card, he said.
I must have seen that ace wrong or he’ll change his mind in a moment.
But he didn’t and it WAS the Ace of Clubs! He couldn’t have been further off!
And as I did nothing but what I was told, he had to explain why.
“I’ve got this wrong” he turned to the audience “and I’ll tell you why: because Rita’s been to the show before. What most people do is this” he said, picking a card from the middle of the pack and putting it on the foil “while what Rita did was this” and he repeated my move as accurately as if it was played from tape, then he explained the reflective tin foil.
“Did you know how I did it?” he asked, presumably meaning the real explanation.
“No” I replied, meaning that I only knew the false one – of which now I was nowhere near as convinced that it was false!
“Let’s try this again” he said and now he was careful to ask me to pick a card “from somewhere the middle”. (I’m wondering if he permanently stuck to this wording after this night or if he did any other precautions to make as sure as possible that it wouldn’t happen again – someone from the later shows please let me know:)
I again did what he asked and this time it was a low value red number card. The rest of the predictions of the trick were spot on as well.
I looked at the audience; they were in quite dark, especially with the stage lights on me. This reminded me again how absurd the claims were about him picking people with the frisbies, and also relaxed me enough so I could start thinking.
I realised I forgot that there can be other audience members too who saw the show before, especially that this one was the sixth in a row; and, knowing the explanation in advance, they’re likely to spot that now there was no chance for Derren to watch the reflection. If he still gets the card right, he just lets them know that the method he reveals is not the real one.
So instead he spectacularly fails and catches me out, making it all the more convincing!
I was flabbergasted how clever that was – it took me three or so minutes to work it out while he had about three seconds to plan it. He might have had it all in his head from the moment he saw me peeling off the bottom card, especially if this situation was rehearsed. I did think of doing something slightly unusual without going against his instructions if I ever got on stage (who was on about throwing a spanner in on the C4 website?), but actually doing it, getting a result I thought they would make sure not to let happen, then watching Derren up close turning it all to his advantage was an amazing experience.
A side note – just as well I had seen the show before as there still were bits and pieces might have been spoken too fast for me to understand otherwise. When, just after having done with the second card, he turned to the audience and his back to me and told them something that was not part of the show and got a big laugh, I could only catch two words of it, “clever cow” (which is, from the point of the original expression, sounds rather like an oxymoron to me). Anyone who was there and could understand that bit please let me know what it was
Meanwhile he started his serenade to the third card I wrapped up, and it was really funny when just as I thought “tell not to laugh to someone you’re doing this meowing inches away from”, he told me “especially you don’t laugh, you’re right here!” LOL
The rest of the show went according to script but I couldn’t pay attention any more (or at least not to the small details I wrote about before, like, what happens to envelopes or to the curtain behind that suitcase on the table), which is a shame because there were some changes that made it better, especially in the finale, which was more compact without losing anything from it. This time one of the big envelopes was given to front row audience members earlier on – but when he asked it back at the end, they told him that they didn’t have it.
“You don’t have it?? Where is it, then? What, you hid it outside? Why? Now it could be just any envelope!”
After some more scolding he had them to fetch it back – I couldn’t quite understand it myself why they did it but at least it wasn’t me the only one playing up that night (I asked him after the show if the finale was always ok and he answered yes as I hoped .
Waiting outside the stage door after the show. A staff member stuck his head out to see if we were there, then went back in.
Not only we didn’t have to wait long but Derren turned up with a cake! Then he counted the thirty-or-so of us and said it would be a very tiny slice for each but everyone was so busy chatting, getting things signed and taking photographs that quite a bit of it was left, which, besides giving me a chance to get a proper slice (it was a very sweet chocolate and marzipan cake) it also gave me an excuse to stay around.
“Hi Rita” he said when he saw me “it was nice to see you on stage this time.”
“Yes, thanks for letting me on… I did NOT know what would happen! I thought you’d had your ways so it didn’t matter what I did” at this point he looked a bit uncomfortable “then I thought, OMG what have I done?”
“Oh, that’s all right… you haven’t done anything.”
“Thanks… I did think it later that you might have got it wrong more because you was supposed to than because of anything I did.”
Oops… he pretended not to hear this one
I gave him the birthday card and said it was so spot on he might already have been given one. I got the Devil’s Picturebook signed now I had a white pen. Someone asked me to take a pic so I asked for the same in return.
Before this night I thought about seeing one of the shows that will be filmed, just because it would be nice to have a professional DVD of a show I’ve been to and Wimbledon is not too far either, but I won’t go to any more Enigma shows. I had absolutely everything out of this one and I don’t think anything can top it.
And if I ever catch a frisbee again and Derren sends me back to my seat, I won’t ask why

this blog is great fun and yes a lot of the info in it is correct,some of it is absolute rubbish even delusional and some of it is cheekily tongue in cheek suggested by people trying to distract people from the methodology

but whatever Derren has earned a fortune.we have all been to see him and some of us to the different versions of his shows a few times and he is great value for money-i just wish Andy Nyman would get more credit than he does