|
|
Magic Legend Wayne Dobson Dies
Bob Gill
Star
television magician Wayne Dobson passed away peacefully just before noon today,
the 7th July, following several months of debilitating illness. He was 68 years
old.
Born in Leicester, England, Wayne Dobson became well known through various
television appearances in the late 1980s and 1990s. He honed his style of
superlative magic based around fast-talking patter and one-liner humour. It won
him work as an opening act on tours with top performers such as Freddie Starr,
Dean Martin, Dame Shirley Bassey, and The Shadows. He also began getting guest
slots on television shows. In 1988 he was hired as a support act for Engelbert
Humperdinck in his residency in Las Vegas, where he won positive attention and
gained invaluable experience of entertaining at the highest level.
Following his show-stealing performance at The Royal Variety Command Performance
in 1989, he made weekly guest appearances on the Joe Longthorne television show.
This led to ITV commissioning his own ITV series Wayne Dobson - A Kind of
Magic from 1991 to 1993, appearing with his regular assistant Linda Lusardi.
He made several more appearances before the Royal Family. Following this, he
toured the UK with the largest live stage illusion show in the country for two
years.
During this career peak at the age of 31 he learnt he'd contracted Multiple
Sclerosis, and whilst the condition gradually worsened over the next years he
was able to continue in live performance until 2003 when he toured with the Joe
Pasquale live show. Eventually though, as MS caused paralysis to spread to his
feet, then took the use of his hands and slurred his speech, he ceased live
performance for the public.
Wayne then built a business - which became DTrik with Mike Sullivan - selling
his magical routines, illusions and creations to other magicians the world over,
and he appeared at magicians' conventions around the world up until two years
ago. His Saturday midday show Wayne Dobson & Friends was a sell-out staple of
the annual Blackpool Magicians' Convention. By 2023, although his MS finally
made it impossible for him to appear live on stage, Mike Sullivan developed an
AI avatar of Wayne that allowed Mike to fly the Dobson flag and for Wayne to
make his appearances, albeit via AI.
Throughout his career Wayne received every major accolade the magic industry
could bestow on him, including the Maskelyne Award and Hon. Life Vice Presidency
from The Magic Circle. In the 2010's he also became an ambassador for the
Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre (MSRC) charity and was an inspiration to the
disabled, whether magicians or not. In 2023 his biography Wayne Dobson Legacy
was published and became a best-selling magic book among the magic community.
Wayne was married twice, and the last decade saw him living alone in his
specially adapted apartment where magicians from around the world would visit
him to discuss magic and take lessons from him. He enjoyed close friendships
with a host of show business stars, who delighted in Wayne's indefatigable good
humour. Joe Pasquale dubbed Wayne, "the funniest man I know", and TV
psychological star Derren Brown said of him, "...simply, Wayne is a legend."
Bob Gill, 7th July 2025