Derren Brown

I was in Leeds, just starting out, and I was hypnotising one person up on stage. Suddenly I had members of the crowd unsuspectingly go to sleep on me as well. ”

I have got friends that I have got to know and found out that, the first few times I was with them, they were just thinking that everything I was doing was some kind of weird mind game, which is hysterical, really, because I couldn't be any less like that. ”

If you're a comedian, it's a bit of a choice whether or not you want to be funny when you're not performing because it might feel disingenuous. In the same way, I don't show people magic tricks in social situations any more. ”

People are just passively accepting what you tell them, so if you are on TV there is that greater responsibility to be true. ”

I was allowed to do whatever made me happy. I can't think of a better or more worthwhile approach to parenting. ”

We go through life owned by the stories we tell ourselves which are often historic and charged narratives - things we've learnt since childhood that we don't even consciously realise are going on. ”

As a performer you often feel that you're the child and everyone else is a grown-up. ”

In terms of self-esteem and confidence I think I'm generally quite healthy. ”

You have to realise that hypnosis doesn't exist: it just works on people's natural suggestibility, their expectations and capacity to unconsciously role play. You can't make someone do anything they don't want to do. ”

I had a natural aptitude for wanting to be the centre of attention and a definite skill for annoying people. ”