A few years ago I had the delight of meeting and befriending one of the greatest stage magicians around, a true master of the old-time patter and a gentleman to boot, Pop Haydn. Pop is performing his signature show this Thursday, April 4, at Magicopolis in Santa Monica, CA — discounted tickets are available on his website.
Here’s an excerpt from a recent interview with Pop — I love this guy:
We don’t have fraud in nature. The universe is not set up to fool us. If we find facts in nature, they’re usually pretty much what they appear to be. But when humans are involved, there is always the possibility of cheating and trickery. And that’s what magicians are here to remind us about, how easily we can be fooled, when there’s another human being using deception…
You [the public] can’t invent the solution [to a magic trick] because you don’t have the technology. You don’t know the technology of deception. We have a whole deception of camouflage, mirrors, pick pocketing, lock-picking, acting, costuming, lighting, deceit, trickery, lying. All kinds of stuff at our disposal that we’ve studied, that gives us an edge over someone who doesn’t know that technology. Because any technology that is sufficiently advanced looks like magic. Our technology is a technology of deception. That’s what looks like magic to people. (read more)
I was pleased to feature Pop at our Machine of Death Magic & Variety Show a little while back. Here’s an excerpt from his performance! (It starts with me & Ryan North chatting for a bit; Pop comes on stage around at around 2:45.)
If you’re in the L.A. area and free on Thursday night, I highly recommend Pop’s show!