Nothing Is Impossible: The Real-Life Adventures of a Street Magician (28 page)

On this particular evening, Nellee Hooper was throwing a party. If you don’t know who Nellee is, well, he’s a legend. This is the guy who has produced hits for Soul II Soul, Massive Attack, Madonna, No Doubt, U2, Björk… the list goes on and on.

Nellee was hosting an event for a new company that he had just set up, called Talent House. It was basically about taking British talent out to America and introducing them to the right people.

This event was unreal: there were only fifty people in attendance and they were all Hollywood elite. You had everyone from Paris and Nicky Hilton, Benji and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, Russell Simmons, Bow Wow, Jermaine Dupri, T.I., Sacha Baron Cohen and his wife Isla Fisher. I had been invited along to entertain them with my magic.

One person I met there was Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We just fell into conversation when I received a message on my phone from my sister. It was a picture of my brand-new niece, Ruby.

Anthony leaned over and smiled, ‘Ahh, who’s the kid?’ I told him she was my niece. ‘Oh, I love kids, you’ve got to see pictures of mine,’ he said, pulling out his phone. We spent the next twenty minutes looking at photos of his children and having this full-on conversation about our upbringings.

My friends will always ask me, ‘Oh, what was so-and-so famous person like?’ and it’s really hard to say. Most famous people you meet, you rock up, do some magic, they say ‘cool’ and off you go. It’s only the very few, like Ian Brown or De La Soul, that I make proper friends with. With most celebrities, they don’t have time to hold a conversation or you end up chatting about industry stuff. Whereas with Anthony Kiedis, we had an impromptu but genuine, natural conversation about life.

He was the coolest guy I’ve ever spoken to, ever. I’ve chatted with a lot of cool people, but he was something else.

The next day, I went to film the adidas advert. The concept was that of a ‘House Party’ and we shot it at the Warner Brothers studio in the Chevy Chase house from the National Lampoon films. It’s an iconic location and as a movie fan, it was great to get to see it in the flesh. The ad was jam-packed with stars, from David Beckham to Estelle, to the designer Jeremy Scott,
Run DMC, Russell Simmons, Young Jeezy and Missy Elliott. The crew filmed as we danced, threw cake around, jumped on beanbags – but of course the real party happened when the cameras weren’t rolling.

My dressing room was next to Missy Elliott and Estelle and so we spent lots of time together, hanging out and listening to music. I ended up chilling with Russell Simmons outside the house, while Run from Run DMC chatted to Method Man and Redman, who were running around causing mayhem in their typical style!

I remember sitting with Missy on the fountain that can be seen in the opening titles of
Friends
, talking to her about the magic that I do and the music that she makes. It was so surreal.

Honestly, there are only certain times I can really say this, but ‘only in LA’. What a city.

I COULDN’T MENTION
LA and not talk about my boys. I didn’t realise it when we started filming, but in some ways,
Dynamo: Magician Impossible
is like magic’s version of
Entourage
. Or
Dynamo: Magician Impossible
is like
Entourage
with magic.

The show is set in LA and features an actor and his best mates from Brooklyn having the time of their lives as they navigate their way through new-found fame and fortune.

Like the TV series’ main character, Vince, I roll everywhere with my boys. They have been there for me throughout everything – the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows. I couldn’t make a programme about me without showing the guys who make up such a huge part of my life. With the second series in particular, I think people really got to see another side of me through my friends’ presence in the show.

There are quite a few people who make up my ‘entourage’. I couldn’t possibly namecheck everyone in this book, so apologies to those not mentioned here.

Firstly, there are my boys from Bradford. There are the guys who I grew up with and who are my friends for life. Without their help, support and encouragement, I’d never have made the move to London and pursued my career. These guys are my core group of friends who have been with me pretty much every step of the way.

Marcus and I go way, way back. I was friends with his little brother, who I knew from the MAPA youth club on Delph Hill. I didn’t hang out with Marcus too much, but one time I was in town and his brother had to go to work, so we ended up chilling out for the day.

It was someone’s birthday and Marcus asked, ‘Do you want to go to the party and do some magic?’ I said, ‘Yeah, cool.’ We were already in the town centre and because I lived in Delph Hill, which was ages away on the bus, he just said, ‘We’ll go to mine across the street first and you can borrow some of my clothes.’ So, we went to his house and partied that night and then we
literally saw each other every day after that for three months straight. Although he still lives in Bradford and we can’t meet up daily now, he’s my best friend. Marcus is one of those guys who never had a lot, he’s never had it easy, but he always sees the positive side of things. He’s always smiling and never unhappy. He’s a really positive influence on me because if I do get down, I think of Marcus and get myself together.

Alex’s real name in Aloizy – but Alex is a lot easier to say. He used to drive around in a Citroën Saxo and was always there for me if I needed him. He’s always up for a laugh. He has a wife and kids now and is working as a joiner in Bradford.

Johnny was the kid who was a bit richer than the rest of us. He lived in an amazing house next to my school, Wyke Manor. Everyone always used to go, ‘Whose house is that?’ He didn’t attend our school, but the first time I met Johnny he walked through the school with a couple of his friends and one of them had a fight with some guy. His mate just rolled in, decked the guy, and walked back out again. Everyone was like, ‘Who
was
that guy?’ He and his friends were skateboarders, so when I went to a skate park I ended up skateboarding with them. We just started to hang out from there. Johnny now works as a mentor at a school for kids who have been expelled from other schools.

Bolaji was always the quiet one of the group and also one of the most hardworking. He’s always gone out of his way to stay in touch. He’s studying to be a pilot. If I ever get to the stage where I can have a private jet – Belaji, you’ve got to be my pilot!

Dennis is from the neighbouring town of Huddersfield. It was Dennis who taught me to dance at MAPA. Without him I might not have found my signature shuffle. He also did the choreography for
Concrete Playground
and my stage show. He continues to work with me today.

Obviously, since I’ve moved to London I’ve met a lot of people in my personal and professional life. They’ve been so supportive and made the transition from Bradford to London so much easier. Asif, Titanya, Stef, Chris, Luti, Alfie, Gilera, Sean, Tony, Gary, Darren, Maria, Paula, Hattie, Daisy… are just a few. Not forgetting my production and camera crew. Don’t worry, guys, I consider you friends as well as colleagues!

There’s one other person from London who has become one of my best friends and biggest supporter – my manager Dan.

Behind every successful entertainer is a strong team. You can’t achieve much if you don’t have people around you who you can trust. Other than Gramps, I owe a lot of my success to Dan, who has been my manager since 2003. That’s a long time in anyone’s book, but it’s even longer when you consider that we’ve only really been properly successful for the last two years. Before that we were doing all right, but it’s been a long, hard struggle to reach the point I’m at now. And Dan has been with me for most of that journey.

Without good management, then you can be lost as an artist. You need someone who you can trust to help you navigate your way through not only the pitfalls of business, but also things like arranging to pick you up at 3 a.m., covering for you when you’re sick and making sure you get a break and something to eat when you’ve been working for twelve hours solid. It’s the same in real life as it is in business. You need to have a solid team of supportive people, who care about you and will be there through your bad times as well as your successes. Without good friends, you’re nothing.

It hasn’t always been easy. This crazy journey I’ve been on has tested our friendship at times, but we’re family now. He’s like my mouth and ears. I’m not really that great when it comes to
discussing the ins and outs of business. I like to go in, wow people and then let Dan get us the best deal possible. He understands me and my magical mind better than anyone and he understands what I’m trying to achieve.

He’s been a mentor, a brother, a friend and a manager. In some ways, some of the biggest tests we’ve had have been over the last two years and together we’ve both adjusted to the increasing pressure. There’s a lot more riding on everything now and we both have to ensure that we don’t make mistakes.

I want to sustain my career. I want to show people that I’m not a one-trick pony. I want to keep the magic alive. I want to leave a legacy and that’s what I’m working towards. If I thought I could do all that on my own, I’d be a fool. But thankfully I have Dan.

CHAPTER 13

FLYING HIGH IN THE FAVELAS