Derren Brown is one of a crop of new magicians who have taken magic beyond its old and traditional boundaries.

As can be seen from his latest Channel 4 series, Mind Control, his particular branch of the craft concentrates on the psychology of magic.

"I have to learn people's patterns, step inside their heads, then I can play," he says.

In which case, for Derren, standing before 865 anxious heads at this sold-out date must spell out playtime in capital letters.

For the audience members, though, it's slightly worrying fun.

The show relies almost entirely on audience participation.

Initially, there was nothing much different to what regular viewers of his TV series are use to seeing on screen, short thought-pattern games that involve trying to prevent him from guessing left or right to which hand or envelope a specific item or cash prize lies in.

However, the most impressive part of the first half came when he proved that he had memorised the entire residential section of the Worthing phone directory by giving out the numbers of audience members who knew they were listed.

Despite firmly denying any use of stooges or spiritual powers, the second half followed a much darker direction and was almost too spooky to be believed.

It began with a sance where an audience member, chosen at random, correctly gave a specific description of a personal friend of Derren's who had passed away through information being fed into her mind by Derren himself.

A ouija board followed which resulted in the name of an unsuspecting audience member being spelt out before Derren proceeded to roll off accurate information about a relative of her own who had passed.

With a mind that thinks at the speed of lightning, and for the majority of us who can just about remember our own telephone number let alone a whole directory, it was hard to keep up with him in places.

Saying that though, the first half didn't contain anything much new for a live version of his show and was predictable in some parts.

However, he definitely showed that life can be one insane playground of fun when you possess the powers of prediction that he does.

Review by site user Matthew Keegan