Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DYNAMO: My health hell
Ulster-bound Dynamo on health hell
MAGICIAN Dynamo has told how a crippling illness left him fearing he’d never perform again.
In the aftermath of a massive UK arena tour in 2015 and 2016, the performer was struck down by Crohn’s Disease and arthritis so badly he couldn’t shuffle cards.
Ahead of a series of intimate shows in Belfast this weekend, the 36-year-old said: “The shock of it was petrifying. I literally felt like my world was falling apart around me.”
Bradford-born Dynamo, real name Steven Frayne, has built up a reputation as one of the world’s top magicians and that was cemented in a 113-date UK tour.
But in March last year photos appeared showing him looking unrecognisable.
At that point, Dynamo revealed the weight gain was a result of medication he was taking to treat Crohn’s Disease.
He told the Mirror: “It wasn’t a decision to talk about it. It was more of a necessity because the paparazzi had pictures of me looking not like myself and they were going to run a story that wouldn’t have necessarily been truthful of what the situation was.
“So I spoke to my wife and my team, I was trying to keep it down low. But when we knew the pictures were going to come out we thought we’d address it and tell fans what’s going on.
“While I was in hospital there were times when I didn’t even know if I’d be able to perform magic again.
“I’d been diagnosed with arthritis on top of my Crohn’s, which meant I couldn’t even shuffle cards, let alone do any of the stuff I used to do.
“I’ve had Crohn’s since I was 14. I don’t find it uncomfortable to talk about it.
DIAGNOSED
“But I know there are a lot of people who can have it diagnosed when they’re young and it can be at a time when they’re going through puberty and they don’t want to talk about that kind of thing.
“I wasn’t thinking about being brave or I wasn’t nervous about it.
“But I thought it was the right thing to do to get the right information out there.
“It’s not something I feel embarrassed or feel ashamed of. I think it’s important that young people know that they can live with it and they can live an amazing life.”
Dynamo was quarantined in a hospital room for two weeks because of his illness but he used that time to develop his latest idea.
The Abandoned Room is an intimate show that would allow him to perform magic even if his body wouldn’t let him.
Dynamo said: “I was in quarantine where they thought it was contagious. So literally I did feel kind of abandoned. That’s where the title has come from.
“While I was in hospital I was thinking, ‘Right, how can I still perform magic without physically having to perform it myself ’.
“Initially it was a way of combating the illness just in case things didn’t get back to normal.”
The routine comes to the Europa Hotel on Saturday and Sunday with four performances in total, in front of fewer than 150 people per show.
Dynamo said: “I did 40 shows back-to-back in London and over Christmas we thought it would be great to take it on tour.
“I’ve actually found the intimate shows are in some ways more challenging. You’re so much closer, there’s no room for error.
“The illness has allowed me to create something amazing from a dark time.”
I was in quarantine where they thought the illness was contagious DYNAMO YESTERDAY