We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ben Zabin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ben below.

Ben, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with inspirations and heroes. Are there any historical figures you look up to?

Leonardo DaVinci is one of the most inspirational figures of all time for me. He endlessly pursued all his passions and interests with an open mind, everything from art to military weapons to dentistry to architecture. He was always learning, discovering, and wondering… it’s his sense of endless sense wonder that sticks out to me and is something I try to embrace with everything I do.

Ben, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been a magician my whole life and it was always what I wanted to do. I dropped out of college to pursue being a full-time magician, however that was harder than I thought it would be so I resorted to selling weed. As my weed hustle grew, so did my magic business until I was performing on cruise ships overseas while selling weed back home until it all came to a halt when COVID hit. The idea of a weed themed magic show had always been on the back burner, so I used my COVID unemployment money to move across the country to Portland, OR and launch Smokus Pocus- a 420 magic show- in May of 2021. Since then, I’ve brought the show to thousands of cannabis enthusiasts across the country as well as launched a Canadian branch of the show. For the first time in my life of being a magician I’ve created the show that I would personally want to see by trusting my gut, my process, and my long-term vision, even when up against seemingly endless hurdles. I’m proud to combine my loves of magic, business, and cannabis to create a unique experience that is at the beginning of what I think will be a major rise of entertainment at the intersection of cannabis and culture

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When the pandemic hit, both work doing magic shows on cruise ships and my weed hustle completely halted. I used my COVID unemployment money to move from Boston to Portland, OR, sight unseen, to launch Smokus Pocus. Since then, the show has grown fast (over 7500 tix have sold in our first year and a half) and this growth means constant investing, so everything I earn goes right back into growing the show. At our first long-term residency in warehouse in Brooklyn (where we basically built the theater), I raised the money by applying for every credit card I could and then maxing all of them. Although the show has made a lot of money, it still has a long way to go to bring it where I want it to be, so I’ll probably be sticking with frozen pizzas for a little while longer.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Being the face of my business, I’ve been the recipient of a LOT of negative remarks and feedback directed directly at me across many platforms. By maintaining a sense of humor about things and not taking myself too seriously, I’ve been able to deflect unfavorable aggressions in order to focus on what really matters.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SmokusPocus.com
• Instagram: @SmokusPocusShow