A mind-reading magician plans to terrify audience members by revealing the most embarrassing cds in their collections.

Peter Campbell-Wells, who describes himself as “a bit more approachable than Derren Brown”, says comedy will play a big part in his Brighton Festival Fringe show Mental!

He said: “It’s a mind-reading show designed for comedy clubs, where I am playing everything for fun and for laughs.

“The thing is, if you go down the psychic route of contacting the dead it is not very cheery. But if you can tell a rocker in front of all of his mates that he is a secret Celine Dion fan, then it’s funny.”

After a career in journalism Mr Campbell-Wells took to the stage full-time five years ago. As well as performing at festivals he also attends psychic-themed parties and corporate events.

He even went head to head with a spiritual medium in Covent Garden, London, to see who was the most convincing psychic as part of London Ghost Week.

He said: “I have been doing magic since I was five and mentalism, without really knowing it, since I was about 10.

“It has been a very serious hobby all my life but it is only in the last five years that I decided to take the whole magic and mentalism side of things as my job.

“This is my first time at the fringe and I am really looking forward to it.”

Mental! will be at the Laughing Horse at The Quadrant in North Street, Brighton from May 11 to 16.

Tickets, priced £5 or £4 concessions, are available by calling 01273 709709 or visiting www.brightonfestivalfringe.org.