Derren Brown, Newcastle Theatre Royal, until Wednesday

What sets him apart from the likes of David Blaine is the way he keeps the audience on-side with his sharp wit. Oh and he does a spot-on impersonation of Stewie from Family Guy.

Right from the start it was clear the audience were going to play a major part in Derren's sell-out Enigma show, co-written as ever with Andy Nyman.
Before he even appeared, 60 people were invited to write their three favourite things on a piece of paper ('sandwiches, cricket and t*ts', wrote one wag) and toss them in a box.

Later another audience member (randomly chosen by frisbee) was asked to 'transmit' one of these words to Derren. He revealed it was 'glitter' but Derren had scribbled a number on his card instead. No match!

Or so he manipulated us to think.
"Is it Gary Glitter's prison number?," whispered my partner, causing me to splutter red wine.
Actually the link was almost as convoluted but since Derren asked the press not to spoil things by revealing too much, I'll keep schtum.

There was also a marvellous version of 80s board game Guess Who (or as Derren renamed it 'Guess Whom') using photos of the audience taken in the foyer. Arrive early if you're keen for him to make fun of your mug shot.

The second half took us on a spooky journey into the world of the Victorian psychic medium as Derren attempted to put us all in a trance. I can honestly say that I was in no way hypnotised and the jawdroppingly handsome genius planted no ideas in my head whatsoever.

After picking the most suggestible audience members, he did a brilliant job of cranking up the pseudo spiritualism to the max, making even American evangelicals look tame.

While Derren is clear about what he does - magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship - the audience is still bewildered about which skill, or combination of the above, is being used at any one time. And that's the way - I'm sure - he likes it.

The best thing about Derren is that his act is anathema to every so-called psychic medium who would have you believe their powers are supernatural. He's mastered the art of cold reading far better than Colin Fry, Sally Morgan et al and if he'd been lacking the integrity gene, could've made a mint from 0898 lines for the vulnerable and bereaved.

Instead the crowd are happy to pay £26.50 apiece to see Derren's honest fakery in action. The stunning finale is worth the ticket price alone. It may seem like a long set-up, but my god it's worth it.

We tried to dissect what we'd seen during our car journey home, but alas it was futile. Our only possible breakthrough was the hypnotised girl who drank a glass of vile vinegar. Could the vinegar have been contained in the cap alone for the benefit of the audience tester, while the hypnotee drank some other more pleasant substance?
The rest however, was utterly baffling.

"I don't want to think about it," I finally conceded. "My head's going to explode."
Now that's the mark of a damned good night.