Dynamo - Nothing Is Impossible: My Story

CONTENTS

About the Book

When youre a kid life can seem tough; tougher for some than others. But the darkest of times can also be the most enlightening.

When his late granddad showed him magic for the first time, Steven Frayne knew there was more to life than hiding from bullies. He had a destiny. A calling. In that moment Dynamo was born: the most exciting magician of the 21st century.

Since then, Dynamo has shocked, thrilled and amazed men, women and children from all walks of life, all over the world. With his mind-blowing illusions, he has catalysed a whole new era of magic.

Now, in his very first book, Dynamo invites you to join him on a breathtaking journey across the globe. Be prepared to levitate Lindsay Lohan in Singapore, transform snow into diamonds in the Austrian mountains and walk on water across the River Thames. Along the way, he reveals how to make the impossible possible, what it takes to pull off the greatest stunts man has ever seen, and why everyone needs magic in their lives.

This is no illusion. This is the real story of the awe-inspiring Dynamo.

About the Author

Dynamo was born Steven Frayne in December 1982 in Bradford. He grew up on the notorious Delph Hill housing estate, where he was raised by his mother while his father spent long periods in prison. At the same time, he was forced to battle a debilitating form of Crohns disease as well as playground bullies.

After being introduced to magic by his beloved granddad and receiving a loan from the Princes Trust, he carved out a career as one of the most respected magicians and illusionists in the world.

His TV series Dynamo: Magician Impossible broke all viewing records for UKTV channel Watch and won three Broadcast Awards.

Dynamo now lives in London where he continues to dream up even bigger and better illusions to prove to the world that really nothing is impossible.

Dedicated to the man who inspired all of the magic in this book,
Kenneth Walsh (1927 2012)

PROLOGUE

THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

STANDING ON THE banks of the River Thames, I shivered slightly in the early evening breeze. With the Houses of Parliament lit up in front of me, and the doleful toll of Big Ben ringing in my ears, I could feel my stomach churning nervously.

This was it. This was the moment Id been building up to for what seemed like the whole of my life. It all felt so surreal.

Back home in Bradford, I knew the man who had got me here, Kenneth Walsh, my great-grandfather, or Gramps as I call him, would watch this; maybe even the kids who used to pick on me and push me around. As I teetered on the edge of the riverbank, a crazy kaleidoscope of everything that had happened in the last twenty-eight years raced through my mind. As clichd as it may sound, my whole life flashed before me.

I thought of all the people who had told me Id never amount to anything; the tough times growing up on my estate; Gramps showing me magic for the first time; the teachers who sneered at my dreams of wanting to be a famous magician; the years working clubs around the country to make ends meet; shuffling my cards for hours in a hospital bed; impressing everyone from Prince Charles and Jay-Z to Will Smith and Chris Martin; the knock-backs that at one time threatened to derail my career; and the moment I was given the name Dynamo.

Since the age of twelve, magic had been my life. It was all Id thought about, all day, every day. Every waking hour (and even in my dreams) Id be conjuring up new ideas, new illusions, new ways to bring something special to the world. But never had I faced anything on the same scale as the challenge that lay before me now. I was about to walk across the River Thames.

Taking a deep breath, I nervously lifted my right leg. As my foot touched the surface of the increasingly choppy water, I heard a loud gasp. Above me, a crowd of people had gathered on the banks of the river and on Westminster Bridge.

Shock, surprise and anticipation clouded their faces. I felt the water flowing beneath my feet, soaking through my trainers, sending shivers through my body. I could feel a strong wind gusting across the river, making my heart beat even faster.

I was doing it. I was standing on water. There was no turning back now.

As the audience swelled from ten to 2,000 people, I tried to clear my mind. I had walked on water before at a swimming pool but never on a natural body of unpredictable water. The Thames is a different beast. It has incredibly strong, incalculable undercurrents and theres always a lot of traffic. Completely unpredictable. One wrong move and I could be sucked under the murky water the kind of vanishing act I would never want to undertake. Over fifty people a year lose their lives to this almighty river, so I had to carefully judge each step as the waves rolled around me. Until now, I hadnt understood the gravity of what I was attempting to do.

Nevertheless, I could feel the excitement running through the crowd as more and more people gathered. The energy made my hair stand on end. The power from the spectators was keeping me up there, keeping me afloat. I looked across to the Houses of Parliament, a view I had admired many times, but not really looked at until today. These grand old buildings had seen so much history unfold but would also be witness to me, Steven Frayne from Delph Hill, trying to make his own mark on the world.

For my very first television series, I wanted to do something iconic. It was vital that I captured the hearts of the nation. I had one shot to communicate and connect with people fail, and I would be back in my hometown of Bradford, making ends meet with my street magic. Succeed, and I would take a giant leap towards being among the great entertainers of our time. I knew that if I was to make my name in the competitive field of magic, then I had to do something huge. Until relatively recently, the idea of walking on the moon was as inconceivable as walking on water. I wanted needed to prove that with hard work, determination and a little bit of magic, nothing was impossible.

Id joked with my manager and close friend, Dan Albion, for years about walking across the Thames. I always said that if I ever got my own TV programme I would walk on water. And now, what seemed like the impossible had happened. I had my own show and I had to live up to my word.

I continued on. The water rippling under my soles. The crowd cheering. My knees knocking Normally, when Im nervous, I touch my tummy. But, given the importance of keeping my concentration at that particular moment in time, I managed to resist the urge. I swallowed my fear, steadied my nerves and carried on. Determination gripped every cell of my being and I took another step and another. And then I heard the roar of a speedboat engine and the flash of a blue light came into my peripheral vision