Entry for October 20, 2007

I have been reading Derren Brown's book "Tricks of the Mind" today, and it's an intriguing read. Surprisingly, he gives away a lot of the tricks of his trade - and the book ranges widely on magic, hypnotism, mind-reading and so on and so forth.
The section on hypnotism has put me in mind of my pal Dezzo, who used to do a bit of impromptu hypnotism when we were at school under the moniker The Great Dezondi. Under his expert guidance - gleaned from books in the "Adults Only" section of the library - friends an acquaintances would fall asleep, pretend to be spider-man and (entertainingly, if not entirely ethically) watch blue movies imagining that they were "Lassie Come Home". (This last one always puzzled me - for most adolescents it would surely have been better to induce the opposite hallucination - just think of the savings in video hire).
The Great Dezondi reigned supreme for the all too brief party season of 1984. He'll now be forty just like me. I like to imagine him nowadays after a dinner party, his guests- perhaps the ban manager and his wife - a little tipsy after too many after-dinner ports. Then, after a little encouragement, he slips out the room, and returns in a velvet smoking jacket.
A little later, a stranger passing an open window on a warm summer night might hear the gentle mesmeric voice of the Great Dezondi: "Don't worry Mrs Brown - you're quite safe - look - the little collie has almost found its way across the river."