Dynamo Magician Impossible starts again soon. If it’s previous series is anything to go by, this one is going to be a major hit worldwide. Steven Frayne AKA Dynamo has risen from the ranks of amateur magicians to become a household name in a very short time. How did he do it? We look at what we can learn from one of the most influential stars of the UK magic scene.
1) His biggest secret
Steven started magic as a kid, and worked hard at his technique for many years. He started practising while growing up in Bradford’s deprived Delph Hill Estate and took the opportunity to perform his magic tricks wherever he could. For Dynamo, there was no sudden rise to fame, it was a slow journey of learning the skills, getting out, performing and building up his knowledge and reputation. During the early days Dynamo consumed as much information about magic that he could, attended magic conventions and built a relationship with his favourite magic dealers. This way, Dynamo developed a keen eye for what was possible in magic, and what was missing in the market, for his style and persona.
• Initial Footwork: Dynamo is without question a ‘grafter’. Nothing was handed to him on a platter. The kid put himself out there as much as possible, talking to the magic shop, asking for feedback with other magicians and immersing himself in as much of the world of magic as possible. This gave Dynamo an excellent foundation for developing his techniques and for spotting the freshest, powerful tricks to build into his working magic routines.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Practice and learn as much as possible, and let your favourite magic shop know what you specifically like to learn, they can work with you to suggest new magic tricks that would be right for you.
• Reputation: Dynamo understood that to make it as a magician, you need to be seen. He wasn’t going to be taken seriously by agents unless he had a reputation that proceeded him. So where could he get that? Dynamo looked at his other interests, namely his love for hip-hop, and found a door he could knock on. The festival and music scene became his playground. Attending as many events as possible. Performing magic gave him access to the celebrity areas. This young kid in a baseball cap, doing amazing magic was extremely popular and soon he was networking with both celebrities and the media industry.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Get out and perform. Go to festivals, charity events and anywhere that people can see your magic and your reputation can build. We now live in a world where everyone has video recorded on their phones. By being out there performing, your skills will get shared and talked about!
2) He understands that people want more than magic.
Dynamo picked a target market for his magic. He understood that the quality of the magic tricks is second place to how an audience relates to the performer. His market was the young urban music fan, the student, and the celebrity watcher. Targeting his magic at this audience gave his magic a brand and a style that wasn’t being catered for in the UK.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Look at yourself and your personal style, what market do you closely match, show can you create a persona that fits that, that you can establish as your ‘brand’
3) He teamed up with excellent management.
Dynamo has an excellent manager. Because of this, he has reached a huge market and is guided through the jungle that is entertainment media. His management team open up new possibilities for him, and allows him to focus on developing great new magic, without being swamped by the day to day demands of marketing and business.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Send your magic CV to agents and build a relationship with the ones you trust and work well with. Build your reputation and move to being fully managed if that becomes right for you, once you are in a position to benefit from it.
4) He understands where the attention should be.
Some magicians are critical of how Dynamo presents his magic tricks. They argue that he lacks a unique personality and doesn’t ‘perform’ with much showmanship. However, others would point out that this is one of his strong points. Learning from David Blaine’s huge success, Dynamo puts all the focus on the spectator rather than himself. His character is unassuming. The trick and the spectator’s reaction are the most important elements of the presentation. He increases the power of this, by performing to celebrities that are a good fit to his target audience. Each time Dynamo performs for a film star or musician it’s just as exciting for the fans of that celebrity to see them ‘freak out’ as it is for them to be fooled themselves.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Be seen in the right locations for your target audience. When you are photographed performing magic, make sure the camera is capturing the audience going wild and having a great time, not just you standing in a group ‘doing something’ Be the background to the reaction you create.
5) He left his ego at home.
Dynamo Magician impossible is all about Dynamo. But as we discussed above, he is not fighting for attention. This is exactly the same as when you meet him in person. He is polite, funny and unassuming. Dynamo shows real interest in other magicians and loves to discuss magic with them. That’s why you often find him at many of the more serious magic conventions and he is a member of The Magic Circle. There is no ego about him, and this makes him a very likable guy.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Join in with magic communities and go to lectures and conventions. Become friends with other magicians and don’t try to come across as more successful than them. Share idea’s and help other magicians improve their technique as they help you do the same.
6) He understands social media.
Did you know you can follow Dynamo on Twitter? His twitter name is @dynamomagician. You can also join his YouTube Channel and website Dynamo World. Right from the start he engaged social media to help create his brand. He didn’t post videos of him doing magic in his bedroom, but instead, he had spectators film him while performing and then upload the footage. He tweets regularly so fans can interact with him.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Get as much footage of real world performing as possible and create a channel to show this off. Suggest spectators can film you and share the footage. Use Twitter to reach out to your audience and make sure your twitter name is on your business cards
7) He makes people care about him as a performer with a back story.
The format for Dynamo Magician impossible focuses on his back story, how he grew up and the people in his life. The messages contained in the series include themes such as how he loves his family, he understands how luck he is, sometimes fame is hard to deal with, he still hangs out with his old friends. His family is important to him. These insights into his character help to make audiences identify with him as a person.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Read this article on making people care about your magic tricks.
The Merchant of Magic can help you develop and put into action any of the suggestions above. The team give help and advice to magicians on all aspects of improving their magic. Email or call the team
There are also dedicated sections featuring new magic tricks to learn that fit the urban performer in the Dynamo Magic Tricks Section
Useful Posts:
Choosing Good Magic Dealers
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how about the lottery winnings that he predicted ahead? Also the newspaper article that he sketched weeks later?
Hi Maznah
yes great magic!
Simple: beyond the elusion effect,he manifests demons and deities.
I watched many of his videos. I believe Dynamo is beyond human nature. He came from other planet.
Glad you enjoy the shows, Series 3 is being filmed at the moment, so not long mow until we have some more of his magic to watch on TV.
he is god gifted, I think so
i too think he is from other world
Definitely he is more than a magician, he is a wonderful guy. I like his quick moves and controversies. He wants to be in news.
Thanks man i know all how to do that but i can’t find a express myself in public you have shown a away to go.Thanks.
Pls guide me to learn perfoming magic like dynamo., am his biggest fan. I want to become like him, i know its not possible but nothing is imposible either..! Pls pls pls i woud really be greatfull to u even if i learn half of what dynamo performs. Pls mail me back to my mail id., syedathar82@gmail.com with lot of expectations.
hey,i’v watched each and every episode of dynamo,and found that there is no limit of people entertainment and fun.when ever i watch him on TV. i think if i could b like him or could make people laugh and entertained.so that anything i have to do.me also want to learn magic tricks like dynamo to entertainment people.so..if u have any idea to let me learn this magic tricks,pls.let me know,i’v been finding the way to let the people have fun and entertainment.but found no way,i think this is the right way ….help me pls…
jeetsony00@yahoo.com
dianemo is a good magisian
Indeed he is! Thanks for dropping by and posting Harish
Is he a Human? Really awesome.
nice and very helpful
good luck 🙂
my gramma could move things and me and I do not believe this is something amazing ,but it can help you if you are in danger,you can predict numbers by yourself and good luck
i wanna learn how to move stuff from here and there and the ability to levitate ! wow it would be my dream come true if i could do all those strange stuff !!! 🙂 I was a sceptic before , but now things have changed, so thanks to David Blaine , my first eye opener and Dynamo ! the real hero, some kind of a superhuman indeed ! :)) I always love to talk about Magic coz its cool and hence very unusual !, so love to comment ! 🙂
Hey Dynamo,
My name is PANKAJ and i am from india and i watched your every episode in HTV18 and i love all your tricks really you are awesome great ……to define you i have specific word but you are son of GOD.
i’d really thankful to you if you lean me magic like you.
with lot of wishes
Pankaj
India
Its all about you beliveing in yourself. You get more reaction from love in this world than you do hate .thank you
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
How to vashikaran
If it only was all about the technique, like you say in the article… then that would make it soooo easy. I don’t think simple magic tricks can separate tea from water. I know exactly how he’s doing all these ‘tricks’ and I bow to him for mastering this. I’m still trying to work on the basics. He’s probably not gonna see my comment, but he would know what I mean when I say that if it wasn’t for his grandad, the tricks would not come so easily to him
r u serious that u know it….cause then u r sure it is not a trick…
A really talented magician, I really like his shows.
dynamo ur magics r jst mind blowing…i also want to learn these tricks nd want to entertain ppls.u r d best.
fGiebn This is one awesome blog post.Really thank you! Much obliged.
I want to have powers like dynamo. even if he is getting help from the "others"
It would be nice if he could control the weather and stop all this flooding from happening…lol
Watch the platelets shift and try to control that !
Inner core ionisation and polar shifting effect that would be interesting……..
See the different effects and regions with the Northan lights.
too big a challenge?
All the best
Psyclone
Dynamo has really done an awesome job. My fav magician. Nobody is like Dynamo.
I Love dynamo. i love magic
I like your tricks all of them.
I want to learn magic from “THE GREAT DYNAMO”
I think both Troy and Dynamo are amazing. I also like their personalities very much. I cannot imagine how they do what they do. I have been wondering. Do we have these powers within each of us, and they have logged into them, or are they something else? I am intrigued.
Nice and innovative and
very useful information
UK Illusionist
Thank you .
I think dynamo is great magician I have ever seen..
I m big fans of ur
so plz come at jehanabad, Bihar in India for your show…
Dynamo is great magician i am impressed i never seen like that………….
so plz can u come in Assam in Tezpur i will be happy that much only…………..
I must say i preferred the publish. Genuinely appreciate it! Fantastic.
An enormous thanks to your article. Thanks Once again. Significantly required.
i was deeply impressed by Dynamo’s magic ! (beyond magic)
I also have deep intrest on doing Magic.
I want to learn Magic. But i have no idea where to learn Magic. How it can be possible? please !
I just want to give a word of advice to all those who are interested in magic,
1)don’t pay attention to anyone who has negative comments in regards to magic.
2)associate yourself with the right people(the ones who motivate you in what you are doing)
3)watch movies that boost up your desire to do magic like for example Now You See Me,Merlin,Harry Potter,The wizard of OZ,e.t.c
4)Also watch videos from other magicians like Dynamo,Yif(my favorite),Criss Angel,David Blaine,JB Ben,Wayne Kawamoto,Chris Korn,The Happenings and Ben Saidmen.e.t.c
5)DON’T GIVE UP YOUR INNER DESIRE,A JOURNEY OF 1000MILES BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP,NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.
6)LAST THING don’t cheat yourself if only tricks would make someone rise to the top of the world in magic all of you who are interested in magic would have made it because tricks are very simple to learn and perform instead seek to know and do whatever you can to discover the hidden side of magic that’s were the secret lies..
-thank you for creating this website i really like it keepup the good work and am also interested in real magic and tricks as well.