My name is Whit Haydn, but all the kids call me Pop, and many of my friends do as well.I was born in Clarkesville, Tennessee, and grew up in Greenville, North Carolina.I attended East Carolina University for a couple of years, but I finished college (Lynchburg College) and went to graduate school (Virginia Theological Seminary) in Alexandria, Virginia.My mother and her family were from Martinsville, Virginia.I now live in Los Angeles with my lovely and dangerous wife, Nancy Magill.I have a fourteen-month old granddaughter, and another grandchild on the way. My lovely niece Margie has just given birth to my new great nephew, Mason. I am a very lucky man.I am the Vice-President of the Academy of Magical Arts, Inc.(Magic Castle) in Hollywood, California. Magic Castle, HollywoodThe Magic Castle is the private clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts--an organization of about five thousand people from all over the world who are magicians or who have an abiding interest in the art of magic.I have won six performing awards at the Magic Castle, for performances in the W.C. Fields Bar, the Close-Up Gallery, the Parlour of Prestidigitation and the Palace of Mystery.I am a full-time professional magician and fake Bunco Artist. I am fascinated by the con men of the the "Old West," and especially the Alaskan Gold Rush of the 1890's.Men like "Soapy" Smith, "Canada Bill" Jones, George Devol, Doc Baggs, Frank Tarbeaux, and Ben Marks are sort of weird heroes of mine.I love the short cons--the shell game, three-card monte and the like--and I think of magic as basically a con.My web site is: Whit HaydnMy business partner, Chef Anton , and I have run a web-based business called "School for Scoundrels" since 1996.Chef Anton is the two-time National Trick Shot Champion at Pool.We sell books, DVDs and props for all kinds of cons and hustles, as well as magic. All highest quality for the discerning professional.We also teach an eight-hour course on short cons called "School for Scoundrels" at the Magic Castle .At School for Scoundrels, we teach the technique, psychology, history and application to magic of the basic street swindles Fast and Loose, Three-Card Monte, and the Shell Game.Our students include police and law enforcement, gambling experts, magicians and historians.Our course, and later our web-based company, took its name from the 1960 movie "School for Scoundrels" starring Terry-Thomas and Alastair Sim.The remake of that movie is just coming out in September of 2006, starring Jon Heder and Billy Bob Thornton and also called "School for Scoundrels" .The original 1960 movie was based on the books of Stephen Potter--One-Upmanship, Gamesmanship, and Lifemanship. These are funny and enlightening books for any budding scoundrel.Our web site is: School for ScoundrelsWe also have the Scoundrels Forum . Here is a place for anyone interested in magic, short cons, big cons, cheating at cards, dice, and other games, pool hustling, prostitution, scams, and any of the soft rackets.The forum also has members who are interested in the history of the theater and the relationships of various kinds of show business with the development of modern advertising and marketing.We have sections on carnival and side show, circus, burlesque, vaudeville, medicine shows, chatauqua, dime museums and more.We also are a home to re-enactors, especially those who perform magic, juggling or swindles in many different historical periods.We have Medieval, Renaissance, Old West, and Pirate eras represented, as well as those of the Revolutionary War, the War Between the States and the Roaring Twenties.There are also serious historical areas for research into the history of confidence games. We have famous historical con artists families represented on the board, including the Lou Blonger and Soapy Smith families.The School for Scoundrels sponsors a charity fund raiser every year at the Magic Castle for the Vernon Fund, and it is called Soapy Smith Night.This always takes place on the eve of Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith's death in a gunfight in Skagway, Alaska which happened on July 8, 1898. It is an 1890's costume event, and is a lot of fun. Video of the last Soapy Night is in my movies section.We also have a wiki site, Scoundrels Wiki , and a photos and videos gallery, Scoundrels Photos .Scoundrels Magazine is a blog for School for Scoundrels.Scoundrels Trading Post is a classified ads site for magic, show business, circus and carnival memorabilia, collectable gambling apparatus, books and DVDs on magic, con games, gambling history, and other "scoundrel stuff."Please stop by and check it all out.So all you soiled doves, gamblers, grifters, bar girls, carnies, strippers, three-card monte and shell game men, twists, hookers, molls, mobsters, mechanics and cheats--or anyone who is a scoundrel at heart--this might be the school you really wanted to attend in the first place...School for Scoundrels.Check it out here: Scoundrels Forum--Whit HaydnWikipedia BioInternet Movie Data Base BioTalent Match BioMy Web SitePop Haydn MySpaceMyspace Layouts - Myspace Editor
