Derren Brown

Most people's fear of being in front of an audience can generally be conquered by being completely on top of what it is they've got to do. ”

I never really enjoy the thought of fancy dress. ”

The big, fun, ambitious ideas tend to come out of the frustration of talking for too long about the smaller, weaselly ones. ”

A bedrock of insecurity made me want to impress and want to be the center of attention. ”

I was part of a very uncool group. It was a group that liked classical music. They were known as the Music School Gang or, less charitably, the Poof Gang. ”

I was a Christian when I was young and didn't know any better. ”

Being gay facilitated my capacity for shame. As a child, I carried around this thing that gradually became this big dark secret. When I came out in a newspaper interview at 30 I was expecting the reaction the following day to be like the climax of 'Dead Poets Society,' but actually no one really cared. ”

When I started doing magic I was quite obsessive about it. I didn't feel impressive and I had a strong desire to impress people. I was putting all my creative energy into learning and performing tricks, and it helps if you're not in relationships or doing the stuff other people are doing. But it's not necessarily a healthy way of living. ”

I love touring, more than anything. Doing the stage show is a more enjoyable process than TV. There are no safeguards but the payoff is the wow factor. ”

Relationships are very good at making you more conscious of yourself. Especially as you get older, you develop a crust around your madnesses and shortcomings that take someone else to recognize them. ”