He can walk on water, steal the strength of a heavyweight champion and float in mid-air like an angel. And when magician Dynamo materialises on stage in London this month to perform Seeing Is Believing he will become the first magician to ever headline The 02 and to beam his show live to our television screens.

Not bad for a boy from a Bradford council estate who was bullied at school and started out his professional life doing card tricks at a poker club in Walthamstow.

“I used to perform at Equal Chance," he explains, “In between the card matches they would get me to do demonstrations of card skills. They would never let me in the room when they were playing, or let me play with them though,” he laughs.

He lived in Walthamstow for three years when he first moved to London in 2001, bunking down on a friend's couch and then moved around to Covent Garden, Kingsbury, Highgate and Friern Barnet, performing at clubs like Scala, Mean Fiddler and Cargo.

These days he lives in affluent Hampstead with his wife of four years and counts celebrities including Lewis Hamilton and David Copperfield as friends. He has performed for JK Rowling at her Scottish home and tricked stars such as Will Smith and Tinie Tempah.

Dynamo says the 'stars aligned' for this trick with Tinie Tempah's album cover

This week he paid tribute to Paul Daniels, who died at his home in Berkshire on Thursday after being diagnosed with a brain tumour, saying he was always a joy to spend time with and a great inspiration.

He dedicated his Belfast show to him on Thursday night and wrote on his Facebook page: "Devastated to hear the sad news that Paul Daniels has passed away. Paul was truly a giant of the entertainment world who defined magic for over 20 years.

"As a working class magician from the north he was personally a huge inspiration for me and I know that he has inspired countless magicians around the world and will forever be known as one of the all time greats.

"My thoughts and best wishes go out to his family at this tragic time. RIP."

But while he will always remember what Daniels taught him, Dynamo, whose real name is Steven Frayne, was actually inspired to become a magician not by a professional but by his grandpa. And it is his love and respect for him that drives him to greater and greater heights with his magic.

“He was my biggest supporter and the one person who said to go for it," says Steven.

A World War Two veteran, Ken Walsh learned tricks to entertain his comrades in the barracks and used them back home to barter for rations.

“My grandpa had a small green matchbox," says Steven recalling the first time he ever saw a magic trick. “He showed me it was full of matches then closed it a shook it three times and you could hear the matches rattling. “He placed it on my hand and said ‘open the box Steven’ so I did and all the matches had gone.

“Before I could say anything he just walked off mysteriously, a bit like someone else I know," he chuckles.”

The 33-year-old has dedicated part of his show to that story and creates some magic inspired by the trick.

“It’s probably the most emotional piece of magic I do because he died four years ago. He actually passed away on February 29, a leap year, so this year is the first I’ve properly been able to commiserate on the day he passed away.

“In a way the whole show is dedicated to him and it’s his story I’m keeping alive.

“He inspired me more than anyone and if I can be that person in someone’s life and inspire them to do something incredible then I’m doing my grandpa proud.”

Enfield Independent:

Dynamo on stage. Photo:  Andrew Timms

Small and slight as a child (he still only weighs about eight stone) his grandpa first showed him how to do a trick, making his body seem heavy as a rock, to stop bullies shoving him in a wheelie bin. It worked, scaring his schoolmates so much they called him a demon child. And it was the time the bullies pushed into a local lake (he couldn’t swim at the time) that inspired his walking on water stunt across the River Thames.

“In a way I have been preparing for 20 years for this show because there are some ideas I had when I was a kid and getting into magic and it has taken this long to bring them to the stage. But the actual creation process was shorter than people might think, about six months.”

Steven has also had to battle with the effects of having Crohn’s disease, which he was diagnosed with when he was 14, and almost died from when he developed an abscess his bowel as a teenager.

It was while he was recovery from a near death experience in hospital as a teenager that he decide he wanted to have a career as a magician, drawing up a business plan which helped him secure £2,000 from the Prince’s Trust to start making videos for YouTube and he has not looked back.

His grandpa had three strokes the year Steven’s first television series Magician Impossible aired but the illusionist travelled back to Bradford to watch them with him on DVD and says: “It was the first time that year I had seen him able to raise a smile and it raised a tear as well because the first episode was dedicated to him. I’m so glad he got to see that.

“Hopefully on stage at The 02 he will be watching over me.”

Dynamo freaks out Pharrell

Steven has gone on to create four series in total and already has more projects on the go for when his tour finishes.

“I work really hard at what I do and have dedicated my life to it, “ he explains.

“I want to keep outdoing myself, not necessarily to win people over but I have never been one to back down from a challenge so if people doubt me or what I am capable of I will always come back and keep coming back harder.”

He adds: “To be the best at anything, not just magic, you have to dedicate your life to it and be prepared to get lots and lots and lots of knock backs. You have to have a lot of self belief and keep working hard and have sheer determination.

“I was a guy from Bradford on a pretty rubbish council estate, my mum and nan wanted me to get a proper job and I didn’t listen to their advice, I went against the grain and chose this career, that wasn’t even really a career, and I have managed to achieve everything I wanted.

“I wasn’t even supposed to get in the back door and I’m doing all this which is insane.”

The O2, Peninsula Square, SE10 0DX, March 29 and 30. Details: 0844 856 0202, theo2.co.uk, dynamomagician.com