Derren Brown talks ahead of Birmingham shows

And yet. And yet. And yet.

At the start of the year, Derren was persuaded to take a small show to a London theatre. The idea was that he’d perform some of his Greatest Hits – just like a rock star. The reviews were great, Derren had a great time and the clamour for more shows began.

He’d already got work booked in New York, from whence he’s just returned, but he managed to crowbar a mini-tour into an overcrowded schedule.

And so through July and August, when everyone else is partying at festivals, flying off to Greece or playing with the kids in the park, Derren will be plying his trade. He’s organised a low-key tour, playing just three-nights at each venue – half the normal amount – with the first shows planned for Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre, from Monday until Wednesday.

He agrees for his publicist to arrange one interview with his favourite provincial newspaper – that’s us, toot toot – and sparkles as he walks us through what to expect.

“So, Derren,” we say, “we can expect a spellbinding evening of showmanship and magical genius. Discuss.” He laughs, deflecting the faux compliment and honing in what he’s planning.

“The show is called Underground and it’s made out of some of my favourite bits from previous shows. I’ve had seven different shows over the last 14 or 15 years. I’d planned to take a year off from touring and have a bit of a break and then this idea came up of doing a ‘best of’. I did it quietly in London earlier in the year, in a small theatre, but it went down very well. I wasn’t sure how people would feel about seeing things that they’d seen before but they enjoyed it and it made sense to tour it.”

That doesn’t mean, of course, that he slavishly recreates some of the mind-bending illusions that we’ve previously seen at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre, Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre and elsewhere. He’s approached it creatively, looking to re-imagine and re-invent some of his most popular moments on stage.

“Yes, of course. It’s important that it became its own show so that it didn’t just feel like a ‘best of’. So the material, although similar, has changed a bit. Underground has given me an opportunity to revisit and improve things. It has its own narrative.”

At first, he imagined it would be an easy show to perform. He figured he’d simply be treading over new ground, sprinkling a little magic dust as he stepped. Not a bit of it. He’s found himself more immersed than usual as he’s linked disparate illusions together. “I thought it would be easy but it ended up being much more difficult and much more involved than I anticipated. The end result is that it’s probably the best show of the lot.”

Though Derren planned a year off, it’s no surprise that he’s back on the road. He’s a road hog at heart, an habitual tourer who enjoys visiting the nation’s theatres and arts centres to dazzle and delight.

“I love it,” he says. “I love being on the road. Normally it’s a week in each place but this is purposefully done to be shorter runs so it’s there and gone. I get time during the day to work or write and do things quietly. Then during the evening, the show is always fun. If you’ve had a bad day, the show clears everything out of your head.”

Being on stage is something special. An almost indescribable experience, Derren holds 1,500 people rapt, very nearly in the palm of his hand, as they hang on his every word and move.

“That time on stage, when the audience is with you, is incredible. It’s sort of like being the best version of the yourself that you can be. I get to be charming and in control and the things you normally aren’t in real life. It’s the loveliest feeling. Of course, if it goes wrong, it’s horrendous.”

It seldom goes wrong.

But there’s the rub. Derren – Mr Mind Control – frequently feels like the very opposite of his on stage persona. He started his career performing magic because he felt inadequate and unimportant. He wanted people to like him, to be impressed. And while he seems to be in control on stage, for many years that persona simply masked his own feelings of social inadequacy or ineptitude. Rather than feeling in control, he felt as though he was on the outside, perpetually uninvited to some imagined Great Party of Life. He no longer feels like that, of course. Over time, he’s developed confidence and higher levels of esteem.

“I started off as a hypnotist. I saw one perform at university and decided that that was what I was going to do. I was quite insecure so the idea of controlling people really appealed. The idea of performing was great. I wanted people to be impressed and like me because I didn’t feel that impressive in myself. In the Venn Diagram of my needs and insecurities, being a hypnotist crossed over for lots of different reasons. Then I got into magic. But it took me a long time to realise that people don’t want us to impress them. In order to be popular, we have to do the opposite.”

Derren, who promises absolutely that he never uses his mind control when he’s off duty to, say, get an upgrade on a flight to business class, or to get a discount for plumbing, has creative hobbies when he’s not working. He wrote a book, Happy, which took three years. “It was a delight. I was writing a book in the day and doing a show each night.” He also paints and takes photographs in the little spare time he has. “I love to paint. I do portraiture. And photography is a big thing. I want to put together a book of street photography.”

But mostly, mostly, he just works.