Hayden Childress
Magician, Mentalist, Urban Illusionist
Official website of NYC Magician Hayden Childress. Creator of acclaimed NYC magic show Urban Illusions. Thought provoking magic and mentalism. As featured in Timeout New York and Penn & Teller: Fool Us.
New York, NY
Hayden Childress blends analog art, psychological misdirection, and New York grit into magic that feels personal, cinematic, and impossible!
Now Appearing
NYC's Underground MAgic Show
Every weekend in NYC’s East Village 20 guests gather to experience an underground magic show in New York City. Part magic show, part art installation, part social experiment… part something else.
About Hayden
- Profession: Magician, Mentalist, DIY Conceptual Artist.
- Homebase: New York, New York
- Experience: Stage and close-up magic.
- Bespoke commissioned performances for groups like Google, Microsoft, Airbnb, Gatorade, The Super Bowl.
- Creator and performer – Urban Illusions in New York City. A 20 seat magic show that blends surrealism, psychology, sleight of hand magic, and cultural commentary.
- Interests: Analog photography, art, espresso, technology, music composition, world travel
“What a great routine… every moment is just beautiful…”
-Penn and Teller
See It For Yourself
Urban Illusions
An underground Close-Up Magic Show in New York City
Every Weekend in NYC's EAst Village. 20 seats.
Urban Illusions is Hayden’s residency magic show in New York City. It explores the illusions we live in every day using sleight of hand magic.
Expect top-tier sleight of hand magic, analog surrealism with VHS tapes, records and photographs, and a one of a kind atmosphere that lots of people described as “dreamlike” – so Timeout wrote that too.
The closer you look at the show the better it gets. Experience it for yourself.
Private Performances
Tailored for Stage, Close-Up, Or Interactive Settings
Groups like Airbnb, Salesforce, Google, IBM, and Gatorade collaborate with Hayden to create unique experiences for their employees, interns, clients, executive off site events, etc.
Whether it’s mingling close-up performances that escalate throughout the night, a banquet with 500 guests, or a full sit-down show for 20 people in a private room, Hayden tailors his performances to fit that moment.
Have something in mind? Send a message.
Let Hayden answer your questions
In my world, magicians and mentalists are the same thing.
Mentalism is a genre of magic trick that is themed around the mind. I’m being pretty loose with that because, frankly, I view all magic tricks as “tricks on your mind”. It’s often “pick a word” instead of “pick a card”.
To answer the second half – no. There is no such thing as a person who can legitimately study your body language and tell you that you thought of the letter “G” based on your eye twitching or “micro-expressions”. There is no deeper science or analysis involved. These are magic tricks.
However – the illusion of that feeling can be created so convincingly that it feels real – and this can be used as an artistic vehicle to explore deeper ideas – so that’s what I love. I’m more interested in WHY you chose to think about the number 7, than demonstrate my “powers of influence”.
I’ve created my work to be experienced in real life, and I feel putting it in a short video form on a telephone dilutes the magic.
That said I’m not anti-video. I have a tv performance on my site and I am currently working on a short film based on my show Urban Illusions.
If you are seriously interested in working with me but need some proof that I’m as legitimate as I say, send a message through my contact form and I’ll send you a raw, unedited video or two from a live performance that expires after 24 hours – just like a magic trick!
Currently I am focused on my residency show Urban Illusions in New York City. We do four shows every weekend. Tickets are $95-$145. Come and experience it yourself!
Yes – if it’s the right fit.
Send a message, tell me more about what you have in mind, and I’ll see what we can do.
I’d say so, yeah. I enjoyed answering it though – so maybe it wasn’t so useless after all.