Whit Haydn was born to minister (
Disciples of Christ)
William J. Hadden, Jr. and Margaret Shumate (daughter of
Whitney Shumate and
Jessamine Shumate), an elementary school librarian. At a summer camp at the age of 10, Haydn witnessed a magic show by a
Methodist minister who was an amateur magician, and Haydn reportedly stayed up all night trying to figure out what he had seen. This became the beginning of a lifelong fascination. Three local North Carolina magicians—Dick Snavely of Raleigh, Bill Tadlock of Rocky Mount, and Wallace Lee of Durham—became mentors for the young magician. At fourteen, he borrowed money for a bus ticket to one of the major American magic conventions,
Abbott's Get Together in
Colon, Michigan, having convinced his parents to let him take the long bus ride alone. He graduated from
JH Rose High School in
Greenville, North Carolina, and attended college at
East Carolina University in the 1960s, where he also became heavily involved in the
civil rights and anti-war movements. He left college in 1969 to challenge the
draft, and became one of
Pitt County's first
conscientious objectors. He did some alternative service at
New York University Hospital, but after being released from C.O. status, and the job, when he flunked the physical (due to poor eyesight), he started doing street magic in the
West Village. In 1970, he went back to school at
Lynchburg College in
Virginia, receiving a B.A. degree in
philosophy and comparative religion in 1972, after which he attended
Virginia Theological Seminary in
Alexandria, Virginia to become an
Episcopalian priest, though he continued performing magic to help support himself at the school.
Reginald H. Fuller, a well-known New Testament scholar, saw one of Haydn's performances at a student/faculty party, and suggested that Haydn's passion might lie not in the ministry, but in magic. A few weeks later, Haydn dropped out of the seminary and turned to magic full-time. Working as an actor/juggler/magician with a touring political theater under the direction of Bob Leonard, The Road Company, Haydn continued to develop his magic performances. In the mid-1970s he performed at the prestigious
Magic Castle, where the Master of Ceremonies,
Billy McComb, stumbled over the name "Hadden", so he,
Dai Vernon,
Kuda Bux and some other well-known magicians encouraged Hadden to change his name to something easier to pronounce. They settled on "Haydn"—pronounced as "Hāden." McComb became a mentor and major influence on Haydn's career. Haydn is the co-founder (with Chef Anton) of the "School for Scoundrels". Since 1996, this program has held a four-week course once a year at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, to teach magicians, gambling experts and law enforcement officers the history, psychology and methods of street scams such as
Three-Card Monte,
Fast and Loose, and the
Shell Game. Haydn currently lives in
Los Angeles with his wife, Nancy Magill. They work together on
Pop Haydn in the 21st Century – a live theatrical variety show. In this steampunk-oriented reinvention of a 1910 medicine show, Pop sells his Amazing Miracle Oil, pitches Magnetized Water, demonstrates the ability of a Tesla Coil to bend the force of gravity with the help of Tesla Girl and reads people's past and future through the Sphere of Destiny. Whit is named for his grandfather, Whitney Shumate, and is the grandson of artist
Jessamine Shumate. He has one grown daughter, Jessamine, and two grandchildren, Carmen and Jack. ==Awards==