The Continuing Adventures of a Discerning Boulevardier

I’ve begun teaching one of my models, Katrina White, how to take pictures.

Here’s my photographs from the last shoot she did with her friend Lior.

Katrina’s doing a great job.

My photo of Lior.

(more…)

Katrina White on the new PX 600 from the Impossible Project

It turned out to be a dark and stormy day which canceled our plans to shoot outside, so i did the only thing I could.  I bought 3 yards of cheap fake black velvet to use as a background and leaned a halogen lamp against a chair for light.

All photo’s below taken with the Fuji X100

Long exposure.

Whit “Pop” Haydn is the winner of six “Magician of the Year” awards from the Magic Castle and was Vice President of the Magic Castle from 2006 to 2010.

I’ve always had an interest in magic and since I’m building my street camera I thought it would be nice if I learned a few tricks to do in between photographing people.   In looking for magic routines to perform I quickly noticed one performer who constantly impressed me every time I saw him, Pop Haydn.  After discovering we lived relatively near each other I decided to contact him and ask if he would like to be featured in my blog, luckily for me he said yes.

Pop Haydn at the Magic Castle.

Driving to his house, I had no idea what to expect.  When Pop opened the door the first thing I saw was a 250,000 volt tesla coil that he had done up in a steampunk style for “The Pop Haydn Post-Modern Medicine Show.”  This is the point I realized I was in for an interesting day.

In case your wondering the “Pop” character is a time traveler from around 1890-1910 who has taken a liking to this modern era. By the way, the spark you see is very real, and was a bit terrifying in person.

 Pop turned out to be just a wonderful person with a charming southern accent and an almost “need” to entertain the people around him.  After getting me something to eat, he started telling me about his interest in the magic and history of the late nineteenth century.

Now thats the face of an honest man.

Pop has done extensive research into nineteenth century confidence men, mostly focusing on Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith and his band of one hundred con-men in Skagway, Alaska during the 1890′s.  Pop has even been to Skagway many times to do research with the original source materials.  His goal in doing this was to integrate the techniques of the flim flam man with that of the magician.

Pop at the Magic Castle.

After photographing Pop’s Tesla coil, using my Polaroid 110b (because it contains no electronic components for the coil to fry), we left for the Magic Castle.  Pop was teaching a class for his “School for Scoundrels” where he instructs magicians on how to integrate con games such as three card monte, the shell game, and the endless chain into their acts.

The Magic Castle is a members only club for magicians, and it is one of the most opulent places I have ever been.  The Castle was once a Hollywood mansion built in 1909, but has been extensively renovated with many of the windows and interior details taken from old european buildings and famous movie sets. Pop pointed to a window and told me it came from a 600 years old irish pub, and the hello Dolly bar is the actual bar from the movie “Hello, Dolly.”  Besides just dripping in luxury, the Castle seems to be the closest thing I’ve seen to an actual “living museum.”  The past there is palpable, walls filled with props from two centuries of performing, photos of current and past masters peer down from oak walls.  (Some of those masters have never left, their ashes residing in the frames of their portraits.)  All the while magicians share tricks and slights, they talk and laugh.  There was a real sense of camaraderie and strangely, for Los Angeles, I had the feeling that the pecking order here was defined by skill and not by any monetary measure.

Pop demonstrating his “Ambitious Card” routine.

In the class I attended Pop was discussing the importance of developing a character for your performance as well as general theatrical practices.  Many magicians spend thousands of hours developing their magical skills without really thinking about the stagecraft.  How to turn, how to bow, how to carry yourself on stage.

Pop Haydn’s partner and co-founder of the School for Scoundrels, Chef Anton.

After the class Pop gave me a grand tour of the Castle, introducing me to everyone we saw.  This was a treat, everybody we met had an obvious respect for Pop and paid me much more attention than I would have otherwise recieved.  I cant lie, it was somewhat intoxicating.

While we were photographing in the classroom of the Magic Castle a group of people wandered in and wanted to see a trick, Pop did not disappoint.

Returning to Pop’s house, he made coffee and we talked.  He spoke of his time in the Episcopalian seminary and being a street performer in New York.  He told me of his times during the civil rights movement and how women should be encouraged to enter the field of magic. He spoke of people he performed with down through the years.

Honestly, this was the most magical part of the evening.

Pop looking quite diabolical with the control for his “teleportation machine.”

Pop also told me of his time as a carnival barker where he learned sometimes you have to down-sell a pretty good (but not great) act.  In this case, Spidora the half woman, half spider.  He said it was done with mirrors and was a pretty good effect, but if you tried too hard to sell it to the crowd they would feel gipped.  Spidora was something you had to wander in and see for yourself that it was good.  Then you would go tell your friends (because how else would they know) and then they would all come see the spider lady. There is some deep wisdom in this.

So how do you down-sell a carnival act, you sound bored about the whole affair.

Listen to Pop Haydn as a bored carnival barker.

I man you can trust.

I would like to thank Pop Haydn for allowing me to both photograph him and to just hang out with him,  I can say with a good heart that the time I spent with Pop was the most concentrated fun I’ve had in years.

Thanks Pop.

Pop has a new show coming to Santa Monica in January at the Magicopolis. The show is called “Pop Haydn in the 21st Century” and features fire magic by Sophie Evans, Music by Bonnie Gordon and Dave Bourne with the Medicine Show Band.

Also check out Pop’s website and blog.

www.pophaydn.com

www.pophaydn.wordpress.com

Pop’s youtube channel