Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge: Magician pushes man to the edge of murder in new show

Brown will persuade 'an unwitting member of the public into believing that they have pushed someone to their death'

What makes people susceptible to the kind of radicalisation which leads them to fight for Isis? Derren Brown, the “psychological illusionist”, promises to shed light on the phenomenon of extremist conversion, with a controversial new experiment exploring how charismatic individuals can ultimately persuade people to kill.

Famed for his large-scale stunts, the hypnotist and “mentalist” has previously used his powers to expose the “manipulative” art of faith-healing. He also sought to persuade a group of businessmen and women to take part in an armed robbery.

In his latest Channel 4 special, to be broadcast on 12 January, Brown investigates the power of social compliance by “persuading an unwitting member of the public into believing that they have pushed someone to their death”.

Viewers will see the results of an elaborate set-up, in which a subject’s susceptibility towards authority figures gradually transforms into compliance towards the most extreme requests. Brown’s underlying motive is political.

“It’s particularly relevant with our political situation, with people being radicalised into doing bad things, but it can also operate on a private, quiet level socially,” says Brown. “When we find ourselves in groups or with charismatic individuals, we might do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do.

Darren Brown’s latest trick, convincing a man to nearly push someone off a building, took four months to set up (Paul Bellsham)

“What the show asks is whether the mechanics of social compliance can be manipulated to push someone off a building to their death. Could it be taken that far?”

Brown explores why some people might be more susceptible to radical influences. “It is just a personality trait,” he says. “What you see in the show is a compliance test, where we can very quickly see who is more compliant in the group.

“You may not be the sort of person who responds well to a hypnotist on stage, but you might find, for example, that a doctor administering a placebo to you is something you respond well to. We all have it in one way or another.”

The exact details of the experiment, which took four months to set up, will be revealed on the night. But Brown disclosed that his subject is 29-year-old Chris Kingston, who is unaware he’s being filmed or manipulated.

The setting is the gala launch of a fictitious charity called Push. Brown’s illusion involves special effects, stunt co-ordinators and 70 actors. Kingston doesn’t realise “it’s all an enormous fabrication and that every person he meets is an actor”.

“Slowly, starting with the most innocuous deviations that they’re cajoled into, it builds and builds.”

Brown insists no distress is caused to his (willing) participants. “Within five minutes of the end happening, they were fine,” he says. “But it’s amazing how malleable people become. We think we’ve got these values and morals that we could never transgress, but all that goes out the window.”

‘Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge’ ; Channel 4 on 12 Jan