Blog Archives

School for Scoundrels at the Magic Castle:


Pop Haydn

Pop Haydn

School for Scoundrels at the Magic Castle in Hollywood will begin on Sunday, November 6, and continue on Nov 13, 20, 27, and also on Mondays, November 7, 14, 21, 28. School for Scoundrels is a course taught at the Magic Castle every November since 1996.

Pop Haydn and Chef Anton (two-time national trick-shot champion at pool), teach the class together.

The course attracts lawyers and law-enforcement personnel, as well as magicians, students of gambling and history, and many who just find the subject fascinating–you don’t need to be a member of the Magic Castle to sign up for this course, and no previous knowledge or skills are required.

The course is $160 for the eight hours–two hours a night, once a week, for four weeks.

You can switch nights from Monday to Sunday or vice-versa–each week the same lesson is taught on both Sun and Mon at 7:00 pm.

This course teaches the basic sleight of hand, psychology, history and importance to magic of the three basic street swindles: Three-Card Monte, the Shell Game, and the various games of Fast and Loose.

We believe that the street hustler makes a better role-model for the modern close-up magician than the card cheat which has been the model since the turn of the century.

We believe that street hustlers have much to teach that is of huge benefit to magicians, especially those who work corporate walk around, trade-shows, or private parties where they need to gather a crowd, hold their attention, control their thinking, and get them to do what they want them to do.

Contact Magic University, and talk to Mark or Nani Wilson at (800) 367-8749 to sign up for the course. $160 for all four nights.

Magic Castle Tonight!


Magic Castle

I will be performing tonight and tomorrow night in the W. C. Fields Bar at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood. It is my favorite room to work at the Magic Castle, and I won the Castle’s Magician of the Year award in that room in 2005. This award has only been given twice.

I look forward to working at the Magic Castle every time. I have been a member since 1975, and won my first performning award there in 1979 (Stage Magician of the Year).

It is also a very good lineup this week featuring:

CLOSE-UP GALLERY
Early Performer
Hannibal
Late Performer
Mathieu Bich

PARLOUR OF PRESTIDIGITATION
Early Performer
Francis Menotti
Late Performer
Chris Capehart

PALACE OF MYSTERY
Tina Lenert
Mike Caveney
Jay Johnson

W.C. FIELDS BAR
Pop Haydn
Friday and Saturday

SAT. & SUN. BRUNCH PARLOUR KIDS’ SHOWS
Chris Capehart
Kids’ Shows Start at 12:15PM

HAT & HARE LOUNGE
Michael Grandinetti
Friday and Saturday

THE PELLER PROJECT
Brandon Scott
Paul Draper
Friday and Saturday

For information about the Magic Castle: www.magiccastle.com

Magic Castle tomorrow night:


Pop Haydn in the WC Fields Bar

Pop Haydn in the WC Fields Bar

 

I will be in the W. C. Fields Bar at the Magic Castle on Friday and Saturday this week (Oct 14-15), with continuous shows from 8:00 pm to 12:00 am. It is one of my favorite rooms in the Magic Castle. Doc Eason and I are the only performers to have won an award for this room. I like it because it is rowdy and people can feel comfortable getting loud and boisterous.

I will be working on some new things, including my new Benson Bowl Routine. There is video of my prior performances in the W. C. Fields Bar HERE.

Please come down if you can. message me if you want to come but need a pass.

Magic Castle, W. C. Fields Bar, 7001 Franklin Ave, Hollywood, CA

The Rising Card


This is the last of the Close-Up Gallery clips I am putting up on my Video Gallery.

Intricate Web of Distraction:


This is my original routine for the color-changing knives, a great classic effect of close-up magic. This is called “The Intricate Web of Distraction.” The routine is available on DVD from School for Scoundrels, and the knives designed for my routine are available from Joe Mogar as the Whit Haydn Color Changing Knives.

I have been digitizing a number of video tapes for my new website at Pop’s Website, and I have one more to go to complete the set.

There are half a dozen stage and parlor clips and a dozen close-up clips at my Video Gallery.

Pop does Phoenix Aces:


This is my performance of Cliff Green’s wonderful effect, the Phoenix Aces in the Close-Up Gallery of the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

Cards to Pocket:


This is from a performance in the Close-Up Gallery at the Magic Castle in 2007. This is my Cards to Pocket routine, a card trick I have been doing since about 1985. The ending was inspired by a magic move of Johnny Paul’s, where he vanishes the deck and then pulls it out of his waistband, fanned.

 

Pop Haydn performs his own version of Winged Silver


This is a newly uploaded video of a 2007 performance in the Close-Up Gallery at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. This is my own version of Coins Across/Winged Silver.

I like this routine for the false explanation of the method. The common explanation of magic is that it goes “up your sleeves.” Here, the spectator’s common explanatory concept of coins going up the sleeve becomes the effect itself.

Air Force Magic Surprise:


I found this video of one of my published routines, The Chicago Surprise, being performed by an Airforce Staff Sergeant.

I thought he did a great job, and I complimented him on it. Here is his reply:

“My name is Wilder Rua I’m 31 years old. I have been loving magic since I was 12 and started practicing when I was 17 and found a magic shop in my home town in New Jersey. I mainly enjoy close up to small parlour style of magic. I joined the air force in 2001 have been married twice and am still married.

“Plans are to start to do close up walkaround  professionally while still on active orders and continue full time when I retire the military.

“I started off with simple color Monte and easy to do effects and then I moved on to more advance books and vhs tapes. Art of astonishment was a big influence early in my life them moved on to more performance style books like Eugene burger.

“Some influences have been Paul Harris, Derek Dingle,  Larry Jennings, Pop Haydn, Doc Eason.

“Where a lot of magician tend to start with children magic, I have tried my best to avoid it. I find myself to be more of an adult performer kind of like Rich Morotta. I don’t have a character per se when I perform and find that it plays well for me to just be myself the magician. I have always gotten compliments for being that way. I have been told that it gives me better rapport with my audience. Ah, its a good thing in some ways and maybe hinder me in others cause I can’t do certain effects that rely a lot on being a specific type of person. Ie Ted Lesley or Rick Mauer where their bizzare magic and mentalism takes a specific style of performing.

“I have been in the Air Force since 2001 and have been stationed in Wyoming, Iceland, Montana and Texas.

“I reside in Texas as of right now and even though I am a military police officer by trade right now I work as a combat arms instructor.

“Magic has made of possible for me to speak to large crowds and has helped me relate to people. I use magic in my classes and pretty much any time I can.

“I hope to visit the Magic Castle one day just to see where many like yourself and other icons have performed.”

–Wilder Rua

Thanks for your service, Staff Sergeant Rua, and for doing such a nice job with my routine. Cheers!

Neil Patrick Harris talks about twins:


I served on the Board of Directors at the Magic Castle with Neil Patrick Harris, and now he is the President of the Magic Castle. He is a really good person, and a very good, hard-working president for our club. Here he talks about his twins: