Wondermark Calendar -- Limited Edition
I was honored to be mentioned in a limited edition Wondermark Calendar by my friend David Malki. David is an incredible person, and a wonderful creator of the fantastic. You can find his work at Wondermark.com
Author Archives: Pop Haydn
Happy Birthday, Champ!
The Champ
Mohammed Ali turns 70 today. Happy Birthday, Champ!
Ali was one of the genuine heros of my generation. I was lucky to perform for him twice, and stole his watch both times. He has wrists like two by fours. He is the type of celebrity that makes me feel weak in the knees just being in his presence. I admire him so much.
“I’m expected to go overseas to help free people in South Vietnam and at the same time my people here are being brutalized; hell no! I would like to say to those of you who think I have lost so much: I have gained everything. I have peace of heart; I have a clear, free conscience. And I am proud. I wake up happy, I go to bed happy, and if I go to jail, I go to jail happy!” –Muhammed Ali, 1967
Magic Castle Back!
Magic Castle Main Dining Room
I went to the Magic Castle Sunday night with Magill and John Collins of Weird Review. Everything is looking great, and everything but the Hat and Hare and Museum was open. That will open on February 6, Burns Night.
The recovery from the Halloween fire at the Magic Castle is moving along well. As you can see by this photo, the place looks even more beautiful than before.
This photo is by my friend and house photographer, Najee Muwwakkil Williams of Hocus Pocus Focus.
Lots more still to be done, but everything looks great. Things are more open and welcoming, and much brighter.
Great job by the staff and by the BoD and BoT!
Special thanks to Neil Patrick Harris, Erika Larsen, West McDonough, Jim Bentley, and also to the maintenance staff.
I look forward to working in the Palace of Mystery Jan 30th–Feb 5th.
Where did Google go?
Wikipedia Blackout: 11 Huge Sites Protest SOPA, PIPA On January 18:
Huffington Post on the Black Out
Don’t let politics take away our freedom.
Talking with Joe Franklin…
Joe Franklin
Photo by Jim Herrington
Last week, I met the legendary Joe Franklin–once the undisputed king of Late Night television in New York City, and possibly the inventor of the television talk show. I was very impressed.
I was introduced to him in his office near Times Square by Alex Shlaferman.
What a charming and interesting gentleman Joe is! He welcomed us in to an ongoing discussion with two or three friends of his who are morning regulars in the office coffee gathering.
Franklin’s office is neatly stacked floor to ceiling with papers and tapes and vhs videos and other memorabilia.
He is extraordinarily friendly and interested, and knows everything there is to know about silent films, Tin Pan Alley and early show business.
Out of the stacks of tapes he found with ease a segment of his show featuring Bill Cosby and Kamarr the magician and popped it in a VHS player.
Kamarr was his good friend, he said, and had been on his show numerous times. In this sequence, he makes a stage size dove cage with three doves vanish close up at Cosby’s seat while Joe looks on bemused. Franklin said that he was the one who got Kamarr on Letterman years later.
I found this video on YouTube with Kamarr in Joe’s office:
From Wikipedia:
Joe Franklin (born Jose…ph Fortgang on March 9, 1926) is an American radio and television personality. From New York City, Franklin is sometimes credited with hosting the first television talk show. The show began in 1951 on WJZ-TV (later WABC-TV) and moved to WOR-TV (later WWOR-TV) from 1962 to 1993. After retiring from the television show, Franklin concentrated on an overnight radio show, playing old records on WOR-AM on Saturday evenings. He currently interviews celebrities on the Bloomberg Radio Network.
An author, Franklin has written 23 books, including Classics of the Silent Screen.
His 1995 autobiography Up Late with Joe Franklin chronicles his long career and includes claims that he had dalliances with Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and that Veronica Lake “threw herself at me, but I always refrained.”
He has appeared as himself in countless films, notably Ghostbusters and Broadway Danny Rose.
Frankin’s show was often parodied by Billy Crystal during the 1984–1985 season of Saturday Night Live. Franklin was also a pioneer in promoting products such as Hoffman Beverages on the air.
There is more information here:
Pop Haydn at Santa Clarita
This video is from the 2011 Cowboy Festival. I have performed at this festival since 2005. Magill and I love it and always have a great time.
I will be appearing once again at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival held this coming year on April 19 – 22, 2012 at Melody Ranch Movie Studio.
I will be performing just on Saturday and Sunday at the Medicine Show Stage, along with Professor Dave Bourne and the incredible John Reynolds. I will be doing some magic and pitching the Amazing Miracle Oil.
It is a wonderful festival, with lots to see and do. It is great for the kids, with farriers, leathersmiths, rope spinners, campfire cooks, and other demonstrations of the skills of the range, as well as cowboy poetry readings, and lots and lots of cowboy music. There is great food to eat, and the ambience is wonderful–it is the set of the HBO show Deadwood. It is a wonderful place to come dressed up in Old West duds and take photos. Steampunk is welcome.
Pop Haydn at Melody Ranch
Karin McKechnie, Pop Haydn, Jan Harness at Melody Ranch
For more information about the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, go here: http://www.cowboyfestival.org/
The Senior Pitchman’s Reunion
In 2008, the first Senior Pitchman’s Reunion was held in Las Vegas. All pitchmen over 60, no Johnny Come Lately’s. These are the men and women who pitch svengali decks, kitchen gadgets, mops, shamwows, knives and all the other products that are demonstrated and sold in flea markets, carnivals, streets, malls, mega-stores and television.
Nancy Magill and I attended this wonderful convention and interviewed the participants for hours, with Magill manning the camera. We released those in a School for Scoundrels DVD “The Senior Pitchman’s Reunion.”
In 2010, we went to the second reunion and will be releasing a DVD soon from those interviews.
Nancy Magill
Pop Haydn
Pop's Soapbox 