We recently connected with Ben Seidman and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ben thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, folks often look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight – but that often obscures all the nitty, gritty details of everything that went into the growth phase of your business. We’d love to hear about your scaling story and how you scaled up?

Some of the best advice I ever received was from David Copperfield’s executive producer and main creative consultant. (What do you expect? I’m a magician). He looked at me as a 22-year-old and said, “Yep, that’s it. Always be unique. Keep creating. Don’t stop.”

For context, we were in the middle of what is known in magic as a jam session which is a term for magicians performing casually for one another and sharing techniques and ideas. We were standing in his kitchen, which was conveniently located in the first mansion I had ever set foot in. I looked up to Chris as an amazing magic creator and extremely successful person. I had just performed an original piece of sleight of hand for him. He was impressed and showed me one of his, this went back and forth and I (very intentionally) proved to him that I wasn’t a hack: that I created my own material. I always felt this was important, but after talking to Chris that day, it became my religion.

This approach wasn’t the only thing that made me successful and led to the growth of the business. That happened for hundreds of reasons. But I think it’s one of the most important factors. The reason being: clients who want to hire a magician can hire literally any magician in the world. But clients who want was I do, only have one option. They have to choose me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For the past 20 years (exactly half of my life), I have been a professional magician, pickpocket, and comedian. I mostly perform at large corporate events, as well as high-end parties and theatres. I have a substantial TV resue having starred and guest starred on Netflix, Travel Channel, CW Network, Bravo, as well as features in Vanity Fair in WIRED.

I typically perform an hour-long show at live events as well as strolling close up magic which I usually throw in just for fun and added value. My job is to make live events awesome, funny, amazing and memorable.

I take great pride in the originality of my material and the fact that the show is a living breathing organism that can be customized to any group.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In 2020 every live entertainer lost their income.

After a month, when it became apparent that COVID-19 wasn’t going to simply blow over, I started writing and designing a virtual show, (literally a magic show on zoom). Even after the first performance which was bumpy and filled with tons of new material, it was clear that I had something. The word started to spread. Soon enough, I started getting calls from companies looking for ways to connect and entertain their teams. I kept developing the show with material designed specifically for the new medium.

The virtual business also scaled in an interesting way. My product is my show, and with live performances, I can only be in one place at one time. But with virtual, I was able to perform for companies based in NYC, London, Singapore, and Dubai, all in one day.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Former clients. Yes, it’s true that some people see me on TV and then reach out to my agent. But the vast majority of my bookings come from word of mouth. Full stop.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BenSeidman.com
• Instagram: @benseidman
• Facebook: facebook.com/comedyandmagic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benseidman/
• Youtube: youtube.com/thecomedyandmagic

Image Credits
Hanna Agar David Szymanski Allison Stock Rob Domenech