Nothing Is Impossible: The Real-Life Adventures of a Street Magician (32 page)

SOMETIMES I WONDER
if my life has all been an illusion, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that reality is only what you make it.

It’s so crazy how things can change so quickly. Even though it’s taken twelve years of building towards this moment, it feels like the switch happened overnight. And because I had a whole decade of ups and downs, I feel like I’ve handled it better. There’s a reason that it took so long. And now, I certainly appreciate everything a lot more because I had to wait.

Dynamo: Magician Impossible
is now broadcast in 192 countries across the world. It’s on the Discovery Channel in South Africa and I have so many fans there now. Even in America, I get people recognising me. I used to film a lot of my close-up scenes in Covent Garden, but I can’t do that now because hundreds of people stop to watch and it gets out of control.

I think over time that a bit of a separation between the private and the public me has developed. Earlier on there wasn’t – I was just me, and you’d call me D, Dynamo, Steve, whatever. Now, though, there has to be a separation because Dynamo is a much bigger entity.

‘Dynamo’ is the public me now, whereas ‘Steven’ still represents my personal life. My girlfriend is one of the few people who actually call me by my real name. It’s been important for me to make a distinction between the two as it helps me keep things in perspective.

There aren’t too many differences between Dynamo and Steven. Maybe Dynamo is slightly more confident and more self-assured in his abilities. Whereas me, Steven, I’m still learning how to deal with fame, with my woman and business, and all the different things that are changing around me. Dynamo hangs out in the coolest clubs and bars all over the world, but Steven likes to stay in with his mates and watch a movie.

I look back at those days hiding away in my room

I’ve spent a long time putting my life into magic to get myself where I am. Along the way I have created an online family of followers; people who love my work and support me no matter what, which still surprises me. It’s not like I have the best interpersonal skills. I wasn’t allowed to play out much, because of the drug dealers on my estate. And it’s not as though I was in my house playing with friends or anything – I was just in my bedroom by myself practising with my cards.

I suppose I’ve had to educate myself, because even at school I was misunderstood. Most people would call me a ‘geek’ or a ‘loser’, but I just call it ‘being misunderstood’. There are a lot of people like me, though, the underdog who went on to do OK. From Steve Jobs to Pharrell Williams, people who were considered uncool at school are the people now working in the coolest professions doing the coolest things. These are people who are unafraid to do their own thing and that’s something that I really identify with.

Success does bring some difficulties, of course. I can’t pop down to the supermarket for a pint of milk all that easily any more. And, the more successful you become, the more things you become committed to and it does start to feel more like ‘work’ rather than the thing you just used to enjoy. In some ways, I miss the control and freedom that I used to have. But the experiences I’m living through my magic make me feel so privileged. Looking back at those days hiding away in my room, sometimes I thought I’d never see anything other than those four walls and now I have the whole world at my feet. The transformation is probably the most significant magic I’ve ever undertaken, but it’s no blink of an eye move this time. It’s been a slow burner and I hope I’ll carry on burning for some time to come.

ALTHOUGH I’VE REACHED
a certain stage with my magic, I never stop learning. One thing that has become a big part of my life in recent years is reading. I read as much as I can, including a lot of self-help and positive-thinking titles. Some of my favourite books include
59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot
by Professor Richard Wiseman and
One Minute Mindfulness: How to Live in the Moment
by Simon Parke. You can spend just a minute each day reading them and learn so much. With all the craziness going on around me, it’s very easy to allow the pressure to overwhelm me. Some of these books put things in perspective.

I read Russell Brand’s books, because he’s lived a crazy life. He’s one person who, from the beginning, has embraced fame. He wanted to be famous; he’s done everything to get to that point. By reading books like his, they open up my mind and get me thinking creatively, which in turn helps me create new magic ideas. Because I’ve had a certain amount of success, it doesn’t mean that I should stop pushing myself. I need to continue learning something new every day. I still have huge ambitions.

I want to change the face of magic. I want, in years to come, when someone mentions the word ‘magic’, for people to instantly think of ‘Dynamo’. If you look at my predecessors, whenever you think of magic, the image of David Copperfield comes to mind, or in this country, Paul Daniels. But in a hundred years, when I’m long gone, I want people to think of my name like they think of Houdini. I want to leave a legacy that is that strong.

When I reflect on everything that has happened in my life so far, I do feel like I’ve finally arrived. I have enough confidence to say that now. I’m getting record-breaking viewing figures and winning awards left, right and centre. I was voted Britain’s Coolest Man by
Zoo
magazine. Me! The school’s biggest geek!
Broadcast
magazine put me at number one out of the top 100 chart of TV talent. Reggie Yates was in that chart, David Beckham, and many other amazing people, and I got number one. I was even nominated at the National TV Awards, against Michael McIntyre – which he won. I didn’t mind losing though – I like the guy. And, hey, you can’t win ’em all!

One of the most defining moments of my magic career came in October 2011 when I was invited to join the Magic Circle, whose members include David Copperfield and Derren Brown. It’s a very secretive organisation so all I can really reveal is that I’m an associate member of the Inner Magic Circle and I was given the prestigious Silver Star. It’s a great honour and, best of all, something Gramps would have been proud of. We had talked about me joining the Magic Circle since I was a kid.

ONE OF THE
biggest things I wanted to achieve was to make my mum proud. It is probably one of the things that has spurred me on the most for all of these years. My mum gave birth to me when she was seventeen, so I think she missed out on a lot of teenage fun.

After she had me, she had to go back to school and so my grandparents looked after me a lot of the time. I think she sometimes feels bad about that, but she shouldn’t. It isn’t her fault. She was so young, just a kid. I know she’s really proud of me, but sometimes I get the sense from her that she feels like she’s not allowed to be proud.

People say to her, ‘You raised a good one there.’ I get the impression that sometimes she thinks, ‘
Oh, I can’t take credit for it
.’ But she can! Because she’s my mum and she’s always been there for me. She’s always supported me, no matter what
happened, and all she’s ever wanted is for me to be happy. My mum never told me what to do. If I wanted to do something, she said, ‘Try it.’ She always believed in me, and not all parents do that. Mum would rather I take my own path. I love that and I love her to pieces.

In some ways, magic has brought me closer to my family, but in others – with my dad, for instance – it’s pushed us further apart.

I didn’t have a clue where my dad was for most of my life. He was in and out of jail so much and I never heard from him. Once, when I was about eighteen, I spoke to him and one of the first things he asked me was, ‘Do you have any friends who want to shift some stuff for me?’ I was like, ‘You got me here to do a business deal rather than because you wanted to see your son for the first time in fourteen years?’

My mum recently had a visit from one of his friends to say that my dad was in hospital and in a coma. My dad’s friend said the doctors thought he might only have a day or two left to live. He wondered if I might want to visit, but I didn’t go to see him. I don’t see him as a dad so I thought it might be strange. And as he hadn’t personally requested, I chose not to go. A week later, my mum went to see my dad for peace of mind. He was out of the coma and making a great recovery. He didn’t mind that I hadn’t gone to see him. He understood. Of course, I’m glad he’s still alive. Although I don’t see him as a father, I wish him a long and happy life. I’ve had my manager Dan and my friends, girlfriend, family and colleagues around me who have given me so much support. And, even though Gramps isn’t with me now, everything he taught me is. He lives on and is still supporting me in his own ways. His wise words are in my memory – there whenever I need them.

CHAPTER 15

DREAMS CAN COME TRUE

I’VE ACHIEVED SO
many of my dreams in the last few years. There are still lots I haven’t – but you’ve always got to have a dream, right? And I often find myself in places that make me feel like I’ve come full circle. I see a little bit of Delph Hill wherever I go and it really hammers home why I need to carry on doing what I’m doing. But a moment that spurred me on more than anything happened when I visited Ukraine in 2005. Saying that it made me appreciate what I had is an understatement.