DYNAMO: Right now, I'm gonna take you on a journey into my world.
I have never seen that before in my life.
Can't even speak about it.
It's craziness.
DYNAMO: In this episode, I head to the city of Rio de Janeiro
and go on a South American adventure.
From the world famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema...
To the heart of Ric's favelas.
(MAN LAUGHING)
Watch as I explore this magnificent city
and bring a touch of magic to the people of Brazil.
You Mafiosa.
My name's Steven Frayne, but most people call me Dynamo.
(BREATHE BY DELILAH PLAYING)
What's your name?
- Junior. - Junior.
- Giovanni. - Giovanni.
- Leandro. - Leandro.
- Tiago. - Tiago.
I'm Dynamo.
Do you have keys or money?
(TALKING INDISCERNIBLY)
Can I use your phone?
Can I use this'? I just want to use the headphones.
Watch. The key.
(ALL LAUGH)
Impossible! Impossible!
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
DYNAMO: I had landed in paradise,
thousands of miles away from the UK.
As I looked out across the ocean,
my life back home seemed like a distant memory.
Things had been going great for me in the UK,
and after many years,
my work was finally getting recognised.
But when my grandpa died, it stopped me in my tracks.
It felt impossible to perform without the man
who'd inspired me to make it this far.
Have you ever had a time in your life
when things just become so overwhelming,
you just want to disappear?
I needed to find a place that could re-inspire my love of magic.
A place where nobody knew my name.
Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in Brazil,
and a place full of magic and wonder.
During carnival season, over two million people descend
onto Rio's streets for the world's biggest party.
It was my first visit to Brazil,
and I hoped it would give me a chance
to bring my magic to an unexpected audience.
First stop, the beaches of Ipanema.
Hola.
- Hi. - Hi.
How you doing, you all right?
- You from here? - Si.
Yeah, yeah!
My name is Dynamo. What's your name?
- Camilla. - Camilla. And?
- Daisy. - Daisy.
Nice to meet you.
Do you girls like coconut milk?
Si. Si.
Yes? You don't sound like you like it too much,
so name a different drink.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
You want coffee?
What would you want?
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Orange?
OK, excuse me, can we have two coconuts?
Just two. Will you pick one?
And now, Daisy, if you pick one as well.
This one? You told him?
Oh, and you take this one, that one's yours, right?
That one was yours.
What did you choose?
- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) - Coffee?
And you chose orange, right?
Pour them out.
- That's a coffee. - (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
You wear rings? Ah, can I borrow this?
Butterfly, yeah? See that?
Watch.
(EXCLAIMS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
You can check it, right?
You want your ring back?
Okay, Come with me. Come with me.
Take the coin, place it in the machine.
And then... Yep. Then turn.
Turn, turn, turn.
Keep going, keep going. Keep going.
Look.
DYNAMO: As the sun set on my first day in Rio,
I took a stroll along the iconic boardwalk of Copacabana beach.
Rio comes alive at night.
I love to take in the sights and sounds of a new city.
Sometimes I see things that have the power to stop me in my tracks
and make me feel like a child again,
lost in the moment of pure magic and amazement.
I guess it's these moments that allow us to forget our troubles
and inspire us to the infinite possibilities around us.
You Mafiosa.
DYNAMO: As I ventured further into the city, carnival was in full flow.
The atmosphere was incredible,
and I wanted to bring a little extra magic to the festivities.
- Do you have a coin? - Yes.
Can you take it out?
I want you to draw a picture on there.
Perfect.
See that?
Take your hand and just hold tight.
- Here? - Yeah, yeah. Perfect, perfect. Right.
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
Come with me.
How much?
- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) - Ten?
Which one?
- This one. - This one?
Yeah.
You heard it?
Heard it?
Hear that? One thing, yeah?
(SINGLE OBJECT RATTLING)
Can you stamp on it?
Look!
That's crazy.
I just can't understand how he does it, you know.
I'm just baffled by it. It was just crazy.
DYNAMO: I love Ric's street culture.
Everywhere you look, something is going on.
From dancers and street performers, to the locals playing poker.
Point to one carol, yeah? Point to one.
Take it out and show everyone.
- Take one of these, yeah? - Yeah.
And then...
Right.
Just say stop.
_5toP- _stoP-
Right there? Right there? Look. You stopped me right there.
- You Mafiosa. - DYNAMO: Mafiosa.
As darkness fell, the local kids rushed to the popcorn stall.
It's kind of like an ice cream van back home
except it sells popcorn.
Watch this one.
(CHILDREN SPEAKING INDISCERNIBLY)
Can I use this? What is this? What is this?
Popcorn.
See that. Yeah?
Taste it, taste it, taste it.
It's real?
Right.
Look. Nothing here. Watch.
That evening, I headed down to the Sambodrome
for what is one of the greatest shows on earth,
and possibly the largest street party on the planet.
It's incredible to see so many people coming together to celebrate like this.
The sheer spectacle has the power to break down all cultural barriers,
and can be understood in any language.
I guess this is the reason why I got into magic in the first place,
to find a way to bring people together,
to make a connection.
I wanted to meet some of the people of Rio,
so I headed away from the crowds of the Sambodrome
to a bar on the outskirts of the city.
Do you have a good imagination?
- Do you? - Yes
Okay.
I want you to think of a playing card in your imagination now, yeah?
So think of one card.
I have cards here, I'm going to put cards down.
Just say stop.
- Stop. - This one right here?
And you could have had these two. You could have stopped these.
You stopped me on one card and you've been thinking of a card.
Yes.
Si, Si.
- You've got a good imagination. - Not this time.
I'll try and take it a step further. So I've got the card, yeah,
and we'll put it in the pack.
- You see it's facing downwards, right? - Okay.
I'll push it in slowly.
In your imagination, I want you to turn the card over.
- Okay. - In your imagination your doing that?
Okay.
Yes. Si, si, si.
How about we try one more?
This time imagine you're tearing the corner off the carol,
so tear the corner off. Yeah?
One more thing with your card.
I want you to imagine the candle's alight.
Imagine you're burning the card now.
Imagine in on the back. Yeah?
Turn it over. Be careful, it's hot. Turn it over.
Beautiful!
DYNAMO: At night, the streets around Copacabana are filled
with street performers and entertainers.
One of them was challenging tourists to match his ball juggling skills.
When it came to my turn, it seemed like the perfect opportunity
to take everyone by surprise.
DYNAMO: The next day I headed up to the Chapeu Mangueira favela,
one of the numerous shanty towns built into the steep hills behind Ric's coastline,
to meet up with the one of the local residents, and my friend, Tiago.
- How are you? - How you doing man?
Ready to go? Yeah cool, we'll go to your house?
- Yeah. - Let's do it.
The favelas aren't a place you can just walk into alone,
so Tiago had offered to take me on a tour of his local community.
His house sits on the very top of the fa vela,
with stunning views of Copacabana Beach and Christ the Redeemer.
It was a long walk up the steep, narrow streets to get to his place,
where his mum had prepared lunch for us.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Dynamo, my friend.
Hey.
Please.
Yeah. Awesome.
Okay.
You are from London, huh?
Not from London, from a small town
- four hours from London... - Yeah.
...called Bradford, in a place called Delph Hill, an estate.
I suppose it's similar to the favela,
but it's different-like. There's not as many steps.
(BLASTING NOISE)
What is that?
- They had the football on. - A football match?
- On the beach. - (BLASTING CONTINUES)
That sounds like a different type of football than I've played before.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
We're going to play a little game, yeah?
- So I'm going to pour some water, yeah... - Yeah.
In this cup.
- So the water's in this cup, right? - Yeah.
I'll move it around.
Which cup is the water in?
- That cup. - That one, yeah?
Yeah. No?
(LAUGHS)
We'll try again, yeah? This time you...
Which one has got the water in?
- It's that. - This one?
One last time. Yeah?
Which one is the water in?
The water disappears. You know where the water went? Watch.
Back in the bottle.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Thank you for my dinner.
Thank you. Thanks for bringing me to your home.
After lunch, Tiago took me on a tour of the fa vela
to meet some of the residents,
but first I had time for a quick shape-up from a local barber.
After the barber's, we continued our tour of the fa vela.
Most of the locals could only speak a little English,
and my Portuguese isn't great,
so I really had to depend on my magic to break down the language barrier.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
- English. - English?
- Yeah - And you speak English.
Yeah. You speak English. Yeah, yeah good. That's good.
I speak English, no.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Watch.
This, can you do this.
Do it on. That way, on.
Watch.
See that. No?
Do this.
Like this, please.
(LAUGHING)
For many of the kids living in Chapeu Mangueira,
the fa vela is their playground.
Despite its reputation, it is seen as a lot safer
than the tarmac of Copacabana and Ipanema,
and the kids play freely along its narrow streets.
Watch.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Yeah. Look, look, look. Look.
This hand. This here.
(LAUGHS UPROARIOUSLY)
Yeah, so...
(EXCLAIM IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Do this, do this.
It goes...
(GRUNTS)
Open.
One of these. Can I have two?
After I performed for the kids, they challenged me to a game of football
on a dirt pitch at the top of the fa vela.
There was no way I could lose,
playing my national sport against a bunch of six-year-olds.
This will be like taking candy from a baby.
My team against yours. Yeah?
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Let's go.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
From the top of the favela, you can see the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer,
which looks out across Rio,
and is one of the most iconic landmarks in the world.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
- This? - This is bingo.
- We should play. - You want to play?
- Yeah. - Why not.
- We got the one game of bingo, yeah? - Yeah.
I want you to pick anybody,
and I'm going to make that person win the next game.
Okay.
Her name is Vernia.
Vernia. Yeah? Vernia, you're going to win this next game.
(PEOPLE CHUCKLING)
Play the game.
(CALLS NUMBERS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(CALLS OUT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(ALL CLAMOURING)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
Um...
See this? See that?
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Watch...
Juliana.
DYNAMO: It was my last day in Rio,
and I'd been truly inspired by the places I'd seen and the people I'd met.
From the idyllic beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema
to the energy and spirit of Chapeu Mangueira favela.
I'd been infected with carnival fever
and will never forget this magical place.
(LIGHTNING CRASHING)
For the first time in ages, my troubles seemed like a distant memory.
But before I left, I needed to visit one of the great icons of Brazil,
Cristo Redentor, the statue of Christ the Redeemer.
It was a long journey up into the mountains by cable car to the base of the statue.
And as the mist rolled in, it was impossible to tell
if I'd have a clear view of this incredible landmark when I arrived.
For some reason, I imagined that the statue would be a quiet, tranquil place,
set high above the madness of city life,
but when I arrived, the place was packed with tourists,
all trying to get a picture of the gigantic statue.
I needed a way to create a lasting memory of my trip to Rio,
an image that would remind me of this magnificent city.
- Could you take a picture of me? - Okay.
One sec, I want to go over there.
(PEOPLE CLAMOURING)
NARRATOR: Next time on Magician Impossible...
(EXCLAIMS IN SURPRISE)
You got to be kidding me, man.
(TYRES SQUEALING)
I don't know what happened right now, man.
Awesome.
I have never seen that before in my life.