Magician Ben Zabin brings the cannabis-inspired “Smokus Pocus” to Olympia on Friday, Jan. 28.
Courtesy photograph
“Smokus Pocus” is, as far as creator Ben Zabin is aware of, the world’s first cannabis-themed magic present.
The one-man present, coming to Olympia on Friday, Jan. 28, consists of tips based mostly on sobriety checks, loads of bowls and bongs, and an look by an enormous smiling inflatable joint.
The mixture of tokes and tips was a pure one for Zabin of Portland, who launched what he calls “the world’s dopest magic present” in Could and just lately started taking it on the highway.
“I’ve all the time cherished magic,” he advised The Olympian, including a number of sentences later, “I’ve all the time cherished weed.”
In reality, he bought the stuff after he dropped out of Emerson School in Boston, the place he went to review the leisure enterprise as a part of his lifelong quest to be a full-time skilled magician.
Although he has carried out usually ever since he performed associates’ birthday events as a child, Zabin didn’t make a residing at magic till he got here up with the thought for “Smokus,” which is as a lot about comedy as it’s about mind-reading and making issues disappear.
“There are plenty of laughs,” he mentioned. “I’m not taking myself critically up there. I similar to to have an excellent time with everyone who comes.”
Lots of these persons are, after all, stoned. “We get individuals coming in with very, very bloodshot eyes,” he mentioned.
His website’s header options an undulating emblem of a red-eyed rabbit in a hat floating on a background of smoke.
When it was identified that it wouldn’t take the best magician to amaze the stoned, Zabin laughed good-naturedly, mentioning that loads of non-smokers attend his reveals within the firm of weed-wacky associates.
“I’ve tried to construction my reveals so it’s an hour stuffed with actually trippy tips which can be going to blow the minds of each the stoned and the sober,” he mentioned. “I need this to be a very nice present, not only a actually nice weed present.”
He hedged a bit when requested about his drug use earlier than reveals. “I typically want I used to be in a position to be stoned through the reveals, however it in all probability wouldn’t be a terrific efficiency if I used to be tremendous, tremendous baked,” he mentioned.
However he was clearly considering clearly when he packed up his automotive and moved to Portland to launch the “THC-induced magical extravaganza” (one other of his slogans for the present).
“I knew the Northwest was going to be the place,” he mentioned. “It’s a hashish hub. Hashish is ingrained within the tradition all through Oregon and Washington.”
Zabin has taken “Smokus” to Colorado and Montana, and it’s headed for Oklahoma subsequent week, however Washington is his most frequent out-of-state vacation spot. He did a half-dozen reveals on the Tacoma Neighborhood Arts Heart within the fall and can make his Seattle debut Feb. 11 on the Jewelbox Theater.
‘Smokus Pocus’
- What: Ben Zabin’s cannabis-fueled magic present, which sells out weekly in Portland, makes its Olympia debut.
- When: 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28
- The place: Olympia Ballroom, 116 Legion Manner SE, Olympia
- Tickets: $25
- Extra data: http://smokuspocus.com
- Additionally: Viewers members should be at the very least 18 to attend.
