Widely celebrated and popular UK magician Dynamo was on top of the world. Performing magic tricks on big city streets, Dynamo went on to become the first British magician to sell out arena shows, and he famously walked across the water of the Thames. His documentary, Dynamo: Magician Impossible, received a BAFTA nomination for Best Entertainment Program in 2012, but his new series, Dynamo: Beyond Belief (SBS, Saturdays from 18 April) documents a journey to hell and back, when his stellar career was derailed by chronic arthritis.
While bedridden, Dynamo didn’t wallow, but instead got busy planning his comeback. Magicking up over 200 new tricks, he determined that once the medication wore off and he got the all-clear, he’d be ready.
The three-part Dynamo: Beyond Belief follows him from the start of the illness along the road to recovery. Candid interviews with him at his worst moments contrast with the elevating clips of his close-up street tricks to large-scale stunts, all leaving spectators thrilled and awed, gasping in disbelief.
Dynamo: Beyond Belief is a wild ride. Unannounced, he appears in locations including a Tokyo royal tea room and a notorious Mexican Barrio, eliciting hair-raising encounters with the people he meets unawares. If they weren’t adventurous experiences enough, he also sates his curiosity about what it’s like to drink vodka shots in the Russian underworld.
Dynamo’s startling comeback as shown in this series is tempered by his . As we watch this three-part special, we hope he makes a full recovery and is again able to wow his fans former and recent with his incredible feats of that ever elusive sprinkle: magic. Get well soon, Dynamo.
Three-part series Dynamo: Beyond Belief premieres on SBS on Saturday 18 April at 7:30pm, with the following episodes airing at the same time on Saturdays 25 April and 2 May. Catch up with episodes at SBS On Demand after they go to air.
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