Derren Brown Mind Reader - An evening of wonders - TNT

Neither as dark nor as disturbing as his last West End show, Derren Brown's latest offering is still mightily impressive. There's no more lying on broken glass or hammering a nail up his nose, but Brown is a consummate showman who knows just how to manipulate not only an individual (as he does in his current TV series) but also a crowd. Once again, audience participation is crucial – who's summoned on stage is decided by flying Frisbees sent skimming across the auditorium. Men, it seems, are better candidates for some kinds of psychological manipulation than women(something to do with the way they process information, perhaps?) but he works his mental magic on both sexes and there's even the chance for one lucky individual to win £5,000.After the interval, he reappears in sombre tails to make a table levitate and, miraculously, managed to divine not only what a guy in the stalls was hiding (sunglasses) but also the make and date of purchase, and then to deduce from the handwriting on a randomly selected opaque sealed envelope that the person in the upper circle who wrote it was a middle-aged lady who'd led an overland trip to Kathmandu.Brown insists repeatedly that he has no psychic powers and uses no stooges, but (as with his genial New York counterpart Marc Salem whose more intimate show this increasingly resembles) his uncanny ability to read – and control - our minds leaves me completely and admiringly baffled. Go see for yourself.
Garrick, Charing Cross Road, WC2. (0870-040 0083). Tickets £40- £22.50. Until June 7