The Heist
Posted by: NaimThatTune on 04 January 2006
Morning All,
So very seldomly do I watch television, yet last night (as I was putting the finishing touches to installing new aerial cables and re-siting my TV aerial away from my FM one) I stumbled on a Derren Brown TV prog featuring our very own Rod!
I enjoyed it immensely, and though I knew some of the NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) concepts that were being used, some were new to me.
Perhaps the programming that the subjects received will cause controversy (but then again they chose to become armed robbers of their own free will, right?). I'd be interested to know what anybody thought of the programme?
And Rod, can you still remember what item was at no. 15 on the list of 20 random things?
Cheers!
Rich.
So very seldomly do I watch television, yet last night (as I was putting the finishing touches to installing new aerial cables and re-siting my TV aerial away from my FM one) I stumbled on a Derren Brown TV prog featuring our very own Rod!
I enjoyed it immensely, and though I knew some of the NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) concepts that were being used, some were new to me.
Perhaps the programming that the subjects received will cause controversy (but then again they chose to become armed robbers of their own free will, right?). I'd be interested to know what anybody thought of the programme?
And Rod, can you still remember what item was at no. 15 on the list of 20 random things?
Cheers!
Rich.
Posted on: 05 January 2006 by Misguided Fool
I really enjoyed last nights show. It just went to show how weak willed some people are.
Was very surprised to see how many people went along with the shop-lifting. But how much of that was them guessing that it had all been organised?
I'd love to see if he could pull any of his stunts off on me.
Also interested to see what Rod has to add to last nights show on here (if he's allowed to that is).
Regards
Mark
Was very surprised to see how many people went along with the shop-lifting. But how much of that was them guessing that it had all been organised?
I'd love to see if he could pull any of his stunts off on me.
Also interested to see what Rod has to add to last nights show on here (if he's allowed to that is).
Regards
Mark
Posted on: 05 January 2006 by Bob McC
What are the 39 steps?
Posted on: 05 January 2006 by BigH47
An AA help programme?
H
H
Posted on: 05 January 2006 by rodwsmith
Hello!
Pleased you enjoyed it. I was shaking like a leaf, watching it without knowing what would and wouldn't be included was very intimidating.
Although I knew I hadn't compromised my integrity, I was aware that they could've edited it to make me look like a complete tosser, or at least a dreadful bore. Actually the leg-rubbing-contented-emotion-eyes-closed thing did look a bit, er, something else tosser-y...
I seemed to be on it quite a bit for someone who wouldn't shoplift any sweets, or electrocute an actor (well not "to death" anyway).
I can say that everything on the show was the truth and nothing but the truth, but certainly not the whole truth. It has been fascinating for me to see how they condense hundreds of hours of footage into 49 minutes of programme.
For my part I had guessed what the whole thing was probably about from his endless use of steal/theft/take/cash terminology, "accidental" pictures of armoured vans, and the gift of a very convincing replica gun. So when the shoplifting thing came up I decided that he wasn't going to convince me to steal anything. Not on telly anyway.
I was the eighth to go into the shop and most of the others had come back with armfuls, so I figured that the shop staff were either "in on it" or particularly crap at their jobs. So I devised the cunning plan of getting something for nothing by simply asking for it, on the basis that if they had been told to ignore people taking stuff they would probably let me. Not to be! They just laughed! However the footage could've been far more embarrassing than my "So, you're not in a position to give this to me then?" nonsense.
I was the first to do the Milgram thing and I rumbled it. One of the word pairs was "pink" and "oboe". If either he or I had seen the Peter Cook sketch then this would have been easy and I had so I delivered it with a laugh. He still got it wrong, so I knew it was faked (actually the noises/screams sounded faked). I accused them of being actors and got a slight smile from the man in the white coat so stopped then. They didn't show that!!! Nevertheless there is always a tiny percentage of doubt, and it was not a comfortable experience.
I wasn't involved in the last part so it was largely news to me, but I believe Danny was the one it actually "worked" on. He said he didn't have control and acted on impulse. The others I suspect did it for a laugh (although same end result I guess).
I can still remember that whole list of things (15 was carousel). However, more usefully, I can remember how it is done...
He's actually an amiable and funny bloke, and significantly shorter than me, none of which comes across on telly I think.
I don't regret the experience at all (learnt quite a lot of his simpler stuff), but I don't think I'd do another.
It's repeated on Friday on E4, but I think someone has put it on a dvd for me.
Rod
Pleased you enjoyed it. I was shaking like a leaf, watching it without knowing what would and wouldn't be included was very intimidating.
Although I knew I hadn't compromised my integrity, I was aware that they could've edited it to make me look like a complete tosser, or at least a dreadful bore. Actually the leg-rubbing-contented-emotion-eyes-closed thing did look a bit, er, something else tosser-y...
I seemed to be on it quite a bit for someone who wouldn't shoplift any sweets, or electrocute an actor (well not "to death" anyway).
I can say that everything on the show was the truth and nothing but the truth, but certainly not the whole truth. It has been fascinating for me to see how they condense hundreds of hours of footage into 49 minutes of programme.
For my part I had guessed what the whole thing was probably about from his endless use of steal/theft/take/cash terminology, "accidental" pictures of armoured vans, and the gift of a very convincing replica gun. So when the shoplifting thing came up I decided that he wasn't going to convince me to steal anything. Not on telly anyway.
I was the eighth to go into the shop and most of the others had come back with armfuls, so I figured that the shop staff were either "in on it" or particularly crap at their jobs. So I devised the cunning plan of getting something for nothing by simply asking for it, on the basis that if they had been told to ignore people taking stuff they would probably let me. Not to be! They just laughed! However the footage could've been far more embarrassing than my "So, you're not in a position to give this to me then?" nonsense.
I was the first to do the Milgram thing and I rumbled it. One of the word pairs was "pink" and "oboe". If either he or I had seen the Peter Cook sketch then this would have been easy and I had so I delivered it with a laugh. He still got it wrong, so I knew it was faked (actually the noises/screams sounded faked). I accused them of being actors and got a slight smile from the man in the white coat so stopped then. They didn't show that!!! Nevertheless there is always a tiny percentage of doubt, and it was not a comfortable experience.
I wasn't involved in the last part so it was largely news to me, but I believe Danny was the one it actually "worked" on. He said he didn't have control and acted on impulse. The others I suspect did it for a laugh (although same end result I guess).
I can still remember that whole list of things (15 was carousel). However, more usefully, I can remember how it is done...
He's actually an amiable and funny bloke, and significantly shorter than me, none of which comes across on telly I think.
I don't regret the experience at all (learnt quite a lot of his simpler stuff), but I don't think I'd do another.
It's repeated on Friday on E4, but I think someone has put it on a dvd for me.
Rod
Posted on: 05 January 2006 by Misguided Fool
Cheers Rod. I'd really love to see if he could use his Jedi mind powers on me.
Regards
MF
Regards
MF
Posted on: 05 January 2006 by NaimThatTune
Hi Rod,
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and when I ran over it last night I remembered your earlier post saying you were a bit worried the editting could make you look like a prat - so I kept an eye out and thought that was handled very sensitively.
DB doesn't come across as having a big ego either, which is perhaps why I like him (but then again, I expect he knows the best way to portray himself).
Hopefully a lot of what you learnt will be of use to you in the future - I use memory techniques all the time to keep track of stuff like license keys for bits of software and so on.
I liked your remonstrating with the shop staff - 'Why don't you just give this to me?' Hilarious!
...and when I click my fingers, you'll wake up and go steal me a CDS3 from the next hi-fi show in Bristol...
Cheers!
Rich.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and when I ran over it last night I remembered your earlier post saying you were a bit worried the editting could make you look like a prat - so I kept an eye out and thought that was handled very sensitively.
DB doesn't come across as having a big ego either, which is perhaps why I like him (but then again, I expect he knows the best way to portray himself).
Hopefully a lot of what you learnt will be of use to you in the future - I use memory techniques all the time to keep track of stuff like license keys for bits of software and so on.
I liked your remonstrating with the shop staff - 'Why don't you just give this to me?' Hilarious!
...and when I click my fingers, you'll wake up and go steal me a CDS3 from the next hi-fi show in Bristol...
Cheers!
Rich.
Posted on: 06 January 2006 by Rasher
I enjoyed watching it, but it seriously worries me that someone would electrocute someone just because they are told to do so. I'm also not entirely sure why the three at the end did the robbery. Was it because they were programmed to do it, or were they feeling totally invincible and therefore wanted to do it? That would be worrying. I think you came out of it OK Rod, so no worries there about looking a pratt at all.
Posted on: 06 January 2006 by Mekon
Rob - if you find the Milgram experiment spooky (I have a copy of the original experiment somewhere, which was much more dramatic), you might enjoy reading about the Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by Zimbardo. Those two studies, and Hannah Arendt's stuff on the banality of evil were required reading on the Social Psychology intro course I used to teach.
NLP interests me, but not enough to devote any time to it. I have had someone try to use it on me, without success. They seemed to use fractured or ambiguous syntax to confuse, and then presented authoritative instructions whilst I was still working out what they were trying to say. Not sure if this represents the usual method.
NLP interests me, but not enough to devote any time to it. I have had someone try to use it on me, without success. They seemed to use fractured or ambiguous syntax to confuse, and then presented authoritative instructions whilst I was still working out what they were trying to say. Not sure if this represents the usual method.
Posted on: 06 January 2006 by rodwsmith
No more experiments for me, thank you Mekon.
However I notice Adam has turned this whole forum green perhaps in an effort to get me to rob a bank. Won't work, though I am too nice!
If he starts playing the Jacksons "Can You Feel It?" I'm off...
Adieu
Rod
However I notice Adam has turned this whole forum green perhaps in an effort to get me to rob a bank. Won't work, though I am too nice!
If he starts playing the Jacksons "Can You Feel It?" I'm off...
Adieu
Rod
Posted on: 06 January 2006 by BigH47
Now I understand the green after watching The Heist.
Some off that programme was really scary.
Do you manage ALL french wine Rod?
Howard
Some off that programme was really scary.
Do you manage ALL french wine Rod?
Howard
Posted on: 06 January 2006 by rodwsmith
Hehe. I know, my job title really doesn't make sense without the company name after it. Apparently these (and surnames) were removed at Channel 4's suggestion to stop us being "traceable".
Makes me look like I should have a stripey breton shirt and a string of onions round my neck. Not that I'm one to stereotype of course.
Most of us just met up to watch the E4 repeat tonight. What a hoot. Danny "have you got a family" is fine about it. He's such a pleasant bloke, it was so out of character for him to be threatening.
I'm very glad I got out of it when I did. The serious side is what DB actually achieved I guess.
I think it maybe deserved two programmes - I heard tonight that they had 450 HOURS of film - not a cheap programme to make I think.
Still dinner and a night at Brockett Hall was a bonus, and the gun and blank c.d. must be worth something one day!
Makes me look like I should have a stripey breton shirt and a string of onions round my neck. Not that I'm one to stereotype of course.
Most of us just met up to watch the E4 repeat tonight. What a hoot. Danny "have you got a family" is fine about it. He's such a pleasant bloke, it was so out of character for him to be threatening.
I'm very glad I got out of it when I did. The serious side is what DB actually achieved I guess.
I think it maybe deserved two programmes - I heard tonight that they had 450 HOURS of film - not a cheap programme to make I think.
Still dinner and a night at Brockett Hall was a bonus, and the gun and blank c.d. must be worth something one day!
Posted on: 07 January 2006 by Derek Wright
How did they back out from you being requested to pay for the evening meal
And what is the process for learning lists very quickly
And what is the process for learning lists very quickly
Posted on: 21 January 2006 by TheRedHerring
Go on Rod......... tell us........ please 
Posted on: 21 January 2006 by rodwsmith
Hmmm. Google time I think.
It certainly works, but I am not sure it is within my ability to communicate it in writing on a forum.
The (original) meaning of "mnemonics" should be your starting point. I used to think this was simply the old "Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain", "Mary's Violet Eyes Make John Sit Up Nervously Probably" initial letter thing, but actually it's origin was pictorial.
Our visual memory is way stronger than that which we use for words. You may remember a car journey that you made precisely once, tens of years ago, but have difficulty remembering this week's shopping list, or people's phone numbers.
Forming visual attachments makes it easy (unlike explaining how to do so..!)
It is an elaboration on the old "gun, shoe, tree" thing that you may remember someone teaching you in childhood. Brown's version is obviously much more sophisticated as it goes for higher numbers too, although what he actually taught us was how to develop our own.
Sorry to be so vague!
Seriously, it's worth spending a few hours mastering a system as it gets more powerful the more you use it.
I am, however in training for a marathon, so I find I spend quite a lot of time alone with my thoughts, counting in pictures, planning conversations with 'people' on the virtue of new cars (driven often) versus new shoes (worn once if lucky) and so on...
Derek, sorry I missed your question. I should insert one of those red faced smiley things here and admit that the "pay for dinner" bit passed me by. I was, you see, at the opposite end of the room, and not inebriated in any way. Oh no.
They just said it had been a mistake. Which we all believed, obviously.
It certainly works, but I am not sure it is within my ability to communicate it in writing on a forum.
The (original) meaning of "mnemonics" should be your starting point. I used to think this was simply the old "Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain", "Mary's Violet Eyes Make John Sit Up Nervously Probably" initial letter thing, but actually it's origin was pictorial.
Our visual memory is way stronger than that which we use for words. You may remember a car journey that you made precisely once, tens of years ago, but have difficulty remembering this week's shopping list, or people's phone numbers.
Forming visual attachments makes it easy (unlike explaining how to do so..!)
It is an elaboration on the old "gun, shoe, tree" thing that you may remember someone teaching you in childhood. Brown's version is obviously much more sophisticated as it goes for higher numbers too, although what he actually taught us was how to develop our own.
Sorry to be so vague!
Seriously, it's worth spending a few hours mastering a system as it gets more powerful the more you use it.
I am, however in training for a marathon, so I find I spend quite a lot of time alone with my thoughts, counting in pictures, planning conversations with 'people' on the virtue of new cars (driven often) versus new shoes (worn once if lucky) and so on...
Derek, sorry I missed your question. I should insert one of those red faced smiley things here and admit that the "pay for dinner" bit passed me by. I was, you see, at the opposite end of the room, and not inebriated in any way. Oh no.
They just said it had been a mistake. Which we all believed, obviously.