TV magic

Derren Brown has done series and specials. He is, most people believe, happy to use camera trickery.

He did something a few years ago where he ‘predicted’ winning lottery numbers. There was lots of waffle on the show, stuff about the ‘wisdom of crowds’ or whatever, then he made a prediction on six balls. But we didn’t see them.

After the real numbers were called, his choice was turned around and they matched. So, no prediction here – that would mean telling us what the numbers were gong to be before they were drawn. This was postdiction, telling people what the numbers are after they are drawn. I can do that.

Most people who have a theory suggest there was some kind of very clever split screen effect. That on the side of the screen where the balls are is a freeze frame, hiding an assistant putting the correct numbers up. Apparently, when the numbers are revealed, you can see them move slightly, a mismatch between the freeze frame and the actual balls.

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