Embedded Commands

One of the more interesting tricks mentalist Derren Brown supposedly uses is known as the "embedded command". One of Derren Brown's more famous sequences involves him convincing actor Simon Pegg that he really, really wanted a BMX bike for his birthday.
You may not be able to view the above video due to Youtube geographical restrictions in which case a cursory explanation of what occured may happen. Brown asks Pegg to write down what he'd really like for his birthday. Brown gives him a BMX bike. Pegg is delighted. Brown asks Pegg to read out what he'd written down and it is not a BMX bike.

Brown subsequently explains that he has loaded his preliminary conversation with Pegg with "embedded commands", sentences within sentences that encourage Pegg to think about BMX bikes and how great they are.
If you can't watch the video and just read my text above you probably think  the trick is rubbish. Whereas if you can see the video you are probably marvelling at Brown's prowess as a mentalist. This is not accidental.

The truth is that this trick has almost nothing to do with embedded commands. The trick depends on the fact that the actor (it is not accidental Brown very often uses celebrities) knows he is expected to play along with Brown who is subtly indicating what Pegg should do. Pegg is under and enormous amount of pressure to play along: if he doesn't then he is good to have a really awkward and embarassing few moments with Brown where Brown acknowledes it isn't working and the footage is junked. Playing along is what Pegg does, he's an actor.

This is, in fact, how a great many of Brown's tricks are accomplished, and is often a component of tricks where other techniques are used. 

Does this mean embedded commands are nonsense? A concept Brown simply made up? Interestingly, no. Used in the right way they can be very effective. But, they have limited utility for a performer because they are percentage moves that don't always work. We'll examine the concept in more detail in subsequent posts.