Born in Leicester, Wayne was just a youngster when he discovered the fun of magic for the first time, becoming spellbound when, at a children’s party, he witnessed a magician tear up some tissue paper and turn it into a bunch of flowers.
The determined young Wayne poured all his heart and soul into learning the magic arts and, at just 16 years of age, became the youngest-ever member of the Leicester Magic Circle.
In 1977 he was a joint-first prize winner in the close-up competition at the IBM British Ring Convention. This led to his television debut on BBC’s Blue Peter, and at just 21 he decided to become a professional magician.
Wayne soon achieved great things on the notoriously difficult British magic circuit – his original style of magic, complete with hilarious split-second one-liners, was enchanting increasing numbers of people.
Before long, he was opening for the likes of Freddie Starr, Shirley Bassey and Engelbert Humperdinck – and even the late, great Dean Martin was a fan, and took him to Las Vegas for a residence.
Back in the UK, he was asked to perform in the 1989 Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium, where he scored a great success with an act in which he was assisted by boxer Frank Bruno and sports commentator Harry Carpenter.
This led to him being offered his own TV series, and Wayne Dobson – A Kind of Magic was born, airing nationally on Saturday nights on ITV, with Linda Lusardi as his assistant, and at its high point had audiences of 11 million.
Wayne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1988, and although he knew this would eventually come to limit his mobility, he determined to carry on working to his fullest potential.
In 2004 he was awarded the Maskelyne, the highest award in the world of magic, for outstanding individual achievement by The Magic Circle, and in 2005 he founded DTRIK, featuring Wayne’s range of magic products.
To this day Wayne continues to perform, and also lectures at magic clubs, at home and abroad – few people out there are as devoted to magic as he is.
