Derren Brown: Only Human at Lyceum Theatre Sheffield Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

The very start of the show, before the curtain even comes up, shows videos of people who have sent them in post show to confirm that what Derren predicted in the show had happened to them! This is encouraged part way through the show, with the details of how to send the video in put up during the interval.

There aren’t many people that could lead a stage and show single handedly for over 2 hours, other than with assistance from audience members and crew that film participants at times so that you can see some of the action projected live on the back of the stage.

I used to like watching Derren Brown on TV but was always left wondering how much was staged or set up for TV rather than real. The show relies heavily on audience participation, for which Derren sends out various things to get volunteers, including a screwed up paper ball and frisbees. He suggests passing them on if you don’t want to participate, which allows for audience members to opt out if they don’t want to go on stage. The skeptic in me still came away from this show wondering whether anyone in the audience had been planted, although his way of allocation seemed genuine and the way they could be passed around until they reached someone that did want to participate also suggested this.

As the show is all about suggestion and manipulation, as a reviewer I have been asked not to divulge the actual contents as it would spoil the anticipation and surprise when seeing it. However, I recognised some of it from his old TV shows, which was then interesting to see live, knowing there wasn’t any behind camera trickery going on to get the end results!

Derren discusses whether we genuinely have free will in several parts of the show, then manipulates a person or people to say or do what he wants them to. At times I could tell from the way he was saying something that he was guiding them in a particular direction, although it was really interesting to see and understand that. The show was very clever though and still led to several ‘wow’ moments. I found the overall show a little long and felt some sections could have been a bit faster paced, especially prior to the interval.

Part of the show links to Nostradamus, his predictions and whether he was really someone who could see into the future or whether he just wrote a large enough quantity of things that people have pulled out key ones they want to link to major events. So parts of it were also quite thought provoking. I’m not entirely sure that the section straight after the interval fully fitted with the rest of the show, even though it carried the shock factor. Despite the warnings before it happened, it seemed a little out of kilter with the rest of the show, which was much more light hearted than that part.

Some of the final section of the second half made the whole show worthwhile though and pulled together some of the earlier parts really well, to culminate in leaving going, ‘Did he really just pull that off in that way?’ and ‘How did he actually do that?’ when you’re trying to pull all the pieces together.

The stage was plain sight throughout the show, with drapes to the edges that had different things projected on them. There were a few props used, that were brought on stage, but it largely remained fairly bare. Lighting was used to intensify points of the show, for enhanced effect, which complemented those parts really well.

The Lyceum is in Sheffield city centre and is easy to find, with both street parking and a large Q Parks nearby (You can pick up a card from the theatre for the first hour free at the Q Parks).

It was definitely entertaining. Derren is a skilled showman who is able to command impressive stage presence and audience interaction. His storytelling holds the whole show together. At times it felt like he was just having an informal and casual chat with the audience, before it then led to his purpose and intention in saying those things. There is mind reading, illusions and some hypnotism thrown in with heavy suggestions. It’s probably not one to repeat seeing (unless trying to fully analyse how he does things) as once you’ve seen it, you know the outcome of the various sections, but well worth going.

Rating: 4/5

Tickets cost from £15 to £80

Derren Brown: Only Human is on at the Sheffield Lyceum from 14th to 18th July 2026.
For more information or to book tickets visit https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/derren-brown-only-human-2026 or call the Box Office on 0114 249 6000
Sheffield Theatres, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA
https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/

Photo credit to Pamela Raith