Tom Binns

Sunderland psychic Ian D Montfort - the comic creation of Tom Binns - is back with a vengeance, not to mention some troubled spirits from the other side.

Simultaneously taking the mickey out of celebrity psychics he also practises the same astonishing techniques as Derren Brown. I cannot fathom how Binns manages to land upon such exact readings of the audience, but he does it with a deliciously dark wit.

Tom Binns is perhaps most famous for his hospital radio DJ character Ivan Brackenbury, however this Radio 2 pilot focuses on his other comic creation: Ian D. Montfort, the Sunderland Psychic ("not to be confused with the Sunderland Psycho").

Binns' character is a parody of just about every TV psychic you've ever come across, complete with lame explanations of how his powers come about. Take Montfort's explanation of how angel cards work: "They're angel cards, that's how they work."

Due to the nature of the character, most of the laughs comes from interaction with his audience, and in this pilot his special guest, Melanie Sykes. Look out for the scenes in which he tries to embarrass the crowd...

Binns' characters are impressive, but can one, or even two, of his personas carry a whole radio series? Given the positive feedback to this pilot we might just find out...

Ian D Montfort is a Derren Brown-Tommy Cooper hybrid

Writer, actor and stand-up comedian Tom Binns mixes Tommy Cooper and Derren Brown in his new Edinburgh Fringe show.

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