Dynamo (magician)

Dynamo: Magician Impossible is a fly on the wall documentary series that followed the life of Frayne. The series was produced by Frayne's own production company Inner Circle Films and Phil McIntyre Productions for UKTV and Universal Networks International.[25][26] The series reached over 30 million viewers in the UK[27] and over 250 million viewers worldwide across 193 territories.[28]

The four-episode first series aired from 7 July 2011 until 28 July 2011.[29] To launch the show, Frayne walked on water across the River Thames outside the Houses of Parliament, in front of a crowd who had gathered on Westminster Bridge.[30] The first series was filmed in London, Miami and Los Angeles, and had 6.69 million viewers in the UK, leading to UKTV renewing the show for a second and third series in February 2012.[31]

Series 2 of premiered on 5 July 2012, and was again four-episodes in duration.[32] The show generated 7.67 million viewers in the UK and won the award for Best Entertainment Programme at the Broadcast Awards,[4] show of the year at the Virgin Media awards[33] and was shortlisted for Best Entertainment Programme at the 17^th National Television Awards.[34] This series also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Entertainment Programme.[35]

In 2013, Frayne travelled to New York City, Ibiza, South Africa and London to film content for the show's third series. The first episode, filmed in New York City, was broadcast on 11 July 2013 and was viewed by 1.35 million people. The series was again nominated for BAFTA's Best Entertainment Programme award,[36] alongside Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Derren Brown: The Great Art Robbery and Strictly Come Dancing.

A fourth and final series of the show was commissioned by UKTV in 2014, which aired in the September of the same year.[37] In this series, Dynamo performed street magic in California, India, Paris, London, Manchester and Bradford. For the third year running, Dynamo: Magician Impossible was nominated by BAFTA for the Best Entertainment Programme award.[38]

On 19 December 2013, Watch broadcast Dynamo Revealed, a documentary in which Frayne spoke to the then BBC Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe about the steps he took to grow from rough area of Bradford to the magician that he is today.[39][40]

In 2016, Watch commissioned an hour-long TV special titled Dynamo A-Z, which saw Dynamo go on a retrospective, alphabetical journey featuring clips of some of his most memorable magic tricks from Dynamo: Magician Impossible.[41]

Frayne continued his work with Watch to bring his live arena tour, Seeing is Believing, to TV screens across the United Kingdom. Dynamo Live at The O2 followed Frayne as he embarked on the biggest live magic performance in British history.[42] The show was broadcast live across the UK on Watch.[43][44]

Frayne has appeared and performed on multiple TV shows, including Friday Night with Jonathan Ross,[45] Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood,[46] the MTV EMAs and more. He has also featured in advertisements for the likes of Adidas, Samsung and Pepsi, and has appeared on the catwalk for Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief.[47]

Frayne's media appearances have regularly involved magic stunts with celebrities. In May 2009, Dynamo levitated comedian Matt Lucas four feet off the ground in front of a crowd at the Emirates Stadium in London.[48][49]

Frayne collaborated with Pepsi Max in 2013, where he levitated next to a London Bus driving through Central London.[50] The stunt attracted media coverage from across the globe, including Good Morning America[51] and Sky News. Later in the year, Frayne worked with Mercedes-Benz to create a video called Dynamo vs Coulthard, featuring Formula One driver David Coulthard.[52][53]

In 2014, Frayne worked with Hunter and became an integral part of their London Fashion Week show. Frayne appeared to levitate and then made models, including Suki Waterhouse, vanish in front of the crowd which included Stella McCartney and Anna Wintour.[54][55]

2015 saw Frayne work with Fiat to launch the Fiat 500X. Frayne made the car appear in a beam of light in front of a live audience at the Copper Box Arena in London for the car's pre-launch event. The live performance was a result of three years of work and preparation by Dynamo.[56][57]

In March 2017, Dynamo worked with Betfair to help the FC Barcelona team bond with a series of unconventional training techniques.[58] Dynamo first appeared at the club's training ground, before working on visualisation exercises with the likes of Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto.[59]

Frayne has made multiple charitable media appearances for Comic Relief, Sport Relief and Children in Need. In 2010, he appeared on BBC One's coverage of Sport Relief, where he appeared to turn lottery tickets into cash in front of singer Robbie Williams and presenter Davina McCall. He then later performed a levitation in front of comedian James Corden and a live studio audience. The following year, Frayne appeared on Comic Relief, highlighting the work that British Airways had done to raise money.

Dynamo has appeared on networks and shows including ESPN, the BBC's Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Young Apprentice and more. In 2013, Frayne was flown out to Hollywood to film with pop band One Direction, as part of 1D Day. He also opened the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing with a magic and dance routine.[60]

In February 2018, Dynamo appeared in an episode of Amazon Prime’s The Grand Tour,[61] and in November of the same year, he made an appearance for Prince Charles' 70th birthday,[62][63] where he performed on ITV's We Are Most Amused and Amazed.

In 2014, Frayne announced his first live tour, Seeing Is Believing.[64] Frayne's ambitions for the show were high, commenting to the press that “[he was] hoping that like [he] did for magic on TV, [he could] reinvent the live magic show and produce something fans have never seen before.”[65]

Dynamo was initially booked to play a 10-date run of shows in the UK,[64] but following high demand for tickets, the run was extended to three years and 145 dates, where he sold over 750,000 tickets and filled arenas across the UK, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.[6][7][8][9][10]

As part of the tour, Dynamo became the first magician to headline The O2, London.[66] He performed at the London venue three times, with the final show being screened live on TV.

Frayne has written several literary accounts which revolve around his upbringing, his personal story, magic and his relationship with the artform. In 2013, Frayne released his debut book Nothing Is Impossible: My Story, which became a Sunday Times Bestseller[67] and was described as “a terrific read” by TV personality Jonathan Ross.

In 2017, Frayne released Dynamo: The Book of Secrets, a fully illustrated beginner's guide to modern magic with tips, tricks and some of his best kept secrets for new, aspiring magicians to learn.[68] The Book of Secrets reached number 1 position in The Guardian's Paperback Non-Fiction chart.[69]