Viewers believe they have discovered a crucial clue to how Dynamo escaped after being buried alive in a six-foot grave.
The 40-year-old magician, whose real name is Steven Frayne, performed his terrifying “final act” under his stage name live on air on the one-off Sky show Dynamo Is Dead on Thursday.
Dynamo had three crucial minutes to dig himself out of five tons of earth before he would suffocate.
The illusionist managed to reach the surface after two minutes and 47 seconds, and now some eagle-eyed fans have speculated about how he did it.
Viewers believe that a crucial 20 seconds between the floor falling on Dynamo and the camera angle changing gave the magician time to stand up so that he was close to the surface of the floor.
Viewers believe they have discovered a crucial clue to how Dynamo escaped after being buried alive in a six-foot grave
The 40-year-old magician, whose real name is Steven Frayne, performed his terrifying “final act” under his stage name live on air on the one-off Sky show Dynamo Is Dead on Thursday
The wizard then had to control his breathing as the excavator dumped the five tons of earth into the grave, but remained close enough to the surface to free himself.
Fans shared their theory about the illusion with X – formerly known as Twitter. Many agreed that the tricks were due to clever camera angles.
Viewers wrote: “The camera pans away from the bottom of the hole for about 20 seconds as the excavator drops the earth.” When the camera pans back, he is already almost at the top. From then on, it’s a breath control exercise.”
“Some of those tricks were good, but not that you think he's buried when the camera moves away, nonsense…”
“Did anyone watch what happened to Dynamo being buried alive?!! What apparently happened was that they threw a couple of buckets of dirt at him, the camera panned and he stood up before the tipper truck threw the 5 tonnes at him!'
“Wow, he did that without getting his face dirty!!!!” “Very clever what camera angles can do.”
“Lie down, pull back the camera, he stands up and leans over so he won't be seen as the earth dips at a low angle. When the soil is tipped in, it stands up, so it requires less distance to pull up and out. There are definitely earphones included too.'
“So when the camera moved away and you couldn't see the grave, he probably stood up or crouched down before the rest of the earth sank. “Then he held his breath for a while before climbing out.”
Some viewers believe that a crucial 20 seconds between the ground falling on Dynamo and the camera angle changing gave the magician time to stand up so that he was close to the ground's surface
The wizard then had to control his breathing as the excavator dumped the five tons of earth into the grave, but remained close enough to the surface to free himself
Fans shared their theory about the illusion with X – formerly known as Twitter. Many agreed that the tricks were due to clever camera angles
Others believed there might be a trick bar or secret compartment where Dynamo went when the excavator dropped five tons into the grave.
“I love @Dynamomagician but surely the funeral is set up like a WWE Bury Alive match and then the camera panned over here and went into the secret compartment?”
“I enjoyed the whole show and the news right down to the last trick!” “He had enough time to move to a trick edge away from the camera.”
The commentary was overlaid on footage of Dynamo digging himself out of his own grave.
It was said: “He did it.” The feat that Houdini failed to achieve. And this is the first time anyone has managed to escape a funeral without a coffin.
“Steven Frayne, what a legend. 'That's incredible.'
The Houdini reference goes back to American escapologist Harry Houdini, who started the trend in 1915 when he was buried under two meters of earth without a coffin.
Dynamo shared this poignant picture on Instagram of him saying goodbye to his former stage name
The magician said the show was called “Dynamo is Dead” because he believes it will be his “last act” under his stage name and he feels the need to “move on.”
However, as he tried to dig his way out, he panicked, and when his hand broke the surface, he was unconscious and had to be freed by his helpers.
British magician Alan Alan attempted the stunt again in 1949, but he too had to be rescued and was moments away from death when he finally emerged, shaken but alive.
Antony Britton tried in 2015 but also had to be rescued by rescuers. Photographers captured the moment his hand broke through the ground.
Illusionist David Blaine had more success in 1999 with a variation of the stunt in which he spent a week underground in a transparent coffin.
Dynamo announced that the show is called “Dynamo Is Dead” because he believes it will be his “last performance” under his stage name and he feels the need to “move on.”
Earlier this week he opened up about his motivation behind the death-defying stunt, admitting he's had a difficult year following the death of his grandmother Nellie Walsh.
“She got me involved in magic and I felt like it had died with her. 'I had to bury the part of me that had died with her.'
He added: “When I came up with the idea [of being buried alive] I felt like I didn't have much to live for.
“But I realized that I have a lot to live for, that I have a lot more magic to give, and this is something I have to do for myself.”
Of the dangerous stunt, Dynamo admitted: “I think it's one of the most dangerous things I've ever done.”
“I felt like the weight of the world was on me and I was living in the dark, and that sums it up.”
“It's nerve-wracking and really shows how scary this is now.” “I'm excited to see what life will be like after this.”
This comes after the star revealed he was no longer able to perform following a flare-up of his Crohn's disease, which was caused by eating a piece of undercooked chicken.
Dynamo said problems with his medication caused his life to descend into a “vicious circle” as he felt physically well enough to perform but lost all joy in his work and fell into a deep depression.
In 1915, American escapologist Harry Houdini started the trend when he was buried under two meters of earth without a coffin
Dynamo with his grandmother. Earlier this week he said her death motivated him to attempt his “most dangerous” magic trick
In an emotional interview with the Sunday Times this week, he said: “When you take away the magic from a magician, you lose a sense of purpose.”
He revealed that he began self-harming and suffered an identity crisis, telling the newspaper: “Over the last five years, maybe even longer, I have lost the will to live at times.”
“For now, I'm happy to be alive.” However… I'll ultimately be happier when I emerge from this grave. Touch wood.'
As a teenager, he was diagnosed with the inflammatory bowel disease Crohn's disease. Dynamo had to have half of his stomach removed and suffered excruciating pain for years.
He turned to magic to distract himself from his health problems, becoming a household name in 2011 and gaining fame for his incredible street performances, card tricks and stunts.
But his chronic illness has plagued him all along and flared up in 2017 after he ate a piece of raw chicken at a fast food chain.
He disappeared from the public eye before speaking out about the effects months later, telling fans that he had been hospitalized with a combination of Crohn's disease and food poisoning.
The performer revealed that he was still dealing with the side effects of his steroid medication, including arthritis in his hands, knees, toes, ankles and neck.
Dynamo said that at times it got so bad that he “couldn’t shuffle a deck of cards.”
He vowed he would return to magic, saying he was working with “doctors and physical therapists and doing everything in my power to get to 100 percent.”
For confidential support, call Samaritans free from a UK phone on 116 123 or visit https://www.samaritans.org/ for more information.
How does he do that? He walks on water, strolls past skyscrapers and has a novel way of catching a bus
Dynamo levitated Lindsay Lohan, James Corden and Matt Lucas, performed card tricks for the likes of Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Gwyneth Paltrow and Will Smith, and forced Prince Charles to cover his face with a mix of terror and disgust during a skit He seemed to have dislocated his little finger.
He has also “walked” across the Thames, turned Austrian snow into diamonds, brought cardboard butterflies to life, turned Fanta into Coke and somehow managed to turn lottery tickets into banknotes on live television.
Steven's interest in magic developed and he began earning pocket money doing card and coin tricks in local bars and clubs.
Word of his talent spread, and at 17 he was invited to perform at a conference in the United States to mark the anniversary of the death of escapologist Harry Houdini.
It was a member of the audience at that performance who gave young Steven his nickname and shouted, “That boy is a dynamo!”
After dropping out of college, he received a £60,000 grant from the Prince's Trust to create a demo DVD of his “street” magic.
The video impressed TV executives at satellite channel Watch, which commissioned the first season of the Magician Impossible series, which made him a global sensation.
Floating out of a double-decker bus
Dynamo hovered 15 feet above the tarmac, the palm of his right hand resting gently on the roof of a double-decker bus, waving to the stunned crowd
THE TRICK: Dynamo hovered 15 feet above the tarmac, the palm of his right hand resting gently on the roof of a double-decker bus, waving to the stunned crowd as he floated serenely through central London in a public relations stunt that made his series famous should make by Magician Impossible.
HOW HE DOES IT: Levitation tricks typically work in two ways: either the subject is suspended from hidden wires, or a hidden platform or bracket secretly holds them in place.
The fact that this trick took place outdoors, in broad daylight, and on a moving stage makes the latter explanation the most likely.
The position of Dynamo's body would allow a support beam to run along his outstretched right arm (the underside of which is hidden in shadow) to a support between his mage's shoulder blades.
WALKING ACROSS THE THAMES
Dynamo followed in Jesus' well-worn footsteps and casually hopped over a gate next to Westminster Bridge on a summer evening in 2011
THE TRICK: Dynamo followed in Jesus' well-worn footsteps one summer evening in 2011 and casually hopped over a gate next to Westminster Bridge and began walking gingerly across the Thames.
After about a hundred meters he was bundled into a passing police boat and taken away.
HOW HE DOES IT: Close-up images suggest that Dynamo didn't so much run “on” the murky Thames as over an invisible platform just beneath the surface.
In fact, two flat-bottomed canoes passing between the magician and the shore in the middle of the trick seemed to accidentally stumble upon such a hidden object.
It is now suspected that the police boat was a fake filled with actors.
Strolling down a skyscraper
THE TRICK: It was well after dark when Dynamo appeared on the roof of the LA Times' Art Deco headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.
To catch the attention of passers-by, he appeared to jump from the roof, but his fall suddenly stopped when his body reached a horizontal position.
He then calmly walked along the side of the landmark building at a 90-degree angle to the vertical before hopping onto the sidewalk and disappearing into the night.
HOW HE DOES IT: This trick is all about the lighting.
Specifically, it was a collection of dazzling megawatt floodlights at ground level.
These bathed the magician's front in light, but created dark shadows behind him, where a climbing rope and tether were probably hidden.
Slowed-down footage of the stunt posted on YouTube appeared to show the harness pulling on the back of Dynamo's shirt as he landed on solid ground.
GETTING MATT LUCAS SWIMMING
The clever dynamo upped the ante in 2009 by helping 14th comedian Matt Lucas achieve a similar feat
THE TRICK: Old-school stage magicians levitate feather-light assistants wearing skimpy bikinis.
The clever dynamo upped the ante in 2009 by helping 14th comedian Matt Lucas achieve a similar feat.
The stunt at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium was staged to publicize a charity fundraiser.
It's a long-standing favorite of the Bradford magician, who performed similar levitation tricks in several episodes of his TV show – most famously on Lindsay Lohan.
HOW HE DOES IT: This is a straightforward version of the “bus trick.” As with most outdoor levitations, this was likely accomplished using a hidden horizontal platform rather than hidden ropes or wires. However, there is no video footage of the stunt as it was only carried out for a newspaper photo opportunity.
That raises a third possible explanation: that the photo was created using computer tricks.
WALKING THROUGH A GLASS WINDOW
The wizard disappeared behind the screen before quickly reappearing on the sidewalk on the other side of the store window
THE TRICK: The venue was a glitzy celebrity party on the ground floor of a shop in central London.
With footballer Rio Ferdinand and a selection of well-groomed soap stars looking on, Dynamo handed his jacket to two bouncers who held it in front of him to create a shoulder-high screen.
To the confusion of his audience, the magician then disappeared behind the screen before quickly reappearing on the sidewalk on the other side of the shop window as if through the glass and scurrying away.
HOW HE DOES IT: This appears to be a clever reworking of an age-old favorite trick of stage magicians.
Unsurprisingly, what we can't see behind Dynamo's makeshift screen is crucial.
Traditionally, the solid window discreetly slides up (once the screen is in place) to reveal a secret hatch through which the wizard can escape.
After removing the privacy screen, the window returned to its original closed position.