By day three of Glastonbury, it’s a welcome time for a pick-me-up, something jaw-dropping, perhaps even magical. At Guardian Live at the Astrolabe theatre, members of the audience were treated to an impromptu show from Steven Frayne, the magician formerly known as Dynamo. “I’m a bit like Prince,” the Bradford-born entertainer jokes, having laid his old name to rest recently. As interviewer Zoe Williams and the crowd looked on in wonderment, Frayne reminds everyone why he’s one of the UK’s most gifted performers, as he brings people up on to the stage for one of his famous card illusions. On the surface, this is literally one of the oldest tricks in the book. But Frayne brings a nimble – and yes, dynamic – edge, demonstrating his “Dynamo shuffle” where he moonwalks as he jumbles his deck.
With kind-of-self-taught magic, does it feel limitless, Zoe asks. “The more experience I have in the world, the more I can keep pushing the boundaries,” says Frayne. “For me, it’s not actually about what I do, it’s about the way it connects with you guys.”
