A new webseries has been developed by Kat Akingbade and Derren Brown, exploring the science behind scams and apparently paranormal phenomena. Episode 1 can be seen here.
In a style not too dissimilar to Project Alpha from James Randi, Steve Shaw and Mike Edwards, the Science of Scams team published seven hoax recordings of allegedly paranormal phenomena. Now, a few months later, they aim to reveal the secrets behind each hoax.
Viewers of Brown’s recent ‘How to Win the Lottery’ programme could be forgiven for dismissing the offer of a ‘reveal’ quickly, but unlike the lottery programme, the explanation in the first Science of Scams video appears truthful. Try to guess the explanation in advance…. and anyone who thinks thinks this bears similarity to James Hydrick’s apparent methods would be wrong.
James Randi commented on the lottery stunt today via video link to guests at The Amaz!ng Meeting, London. In response to a question asking for his opinion of the stunt, Randi stated that this was the first time he had commented on it and that “I’m very fond of [Brown]. We’ve never met, but I have corresponded over the years. But I think he made an error, or a faux pas, shall we say, in promising an explanation. The explanation offered was not an explanation. It was, though, fiendishly clever. Hats off to him. That was very, very good Derren.”
A full, though low-quality copy of Randi’s TAM London appearance can be downloaded here.