Nothing half-baked about it. Magician brings ‘world’s dopest’ show to Olympia
“Smokus Pocus” is, so far as creator Ben Zabin knows, the world’s first cannabis-themed magic show.
The one-man show, coming to Olympia on Friday, Jan. 28, includes tricks based on sobriety tests, plenty of bowls and bongs, and an appearance by a giant smiling inflatable joint.
The combination of tokes and tricks was a natural one for Zabin of Portland, who launched what he calls “the world’s dopest magic show” in May and recently began taking it on the road.
“I’ve always loved magic,” he told The Olympian, adding a few sentences later, “I’ve always loved weed.”
In fact, he sold the stuff after he dropped out of Emerson College in Boston, where he went to study the entertainment business as part of his lifelong quest to be a full-time professional magician.
Though he has performed regularly ever since he played friends’ birthday parties as a kid, Zabin didn’t make a living at magic until he came up with the idea for “Smokus,” which is as much about comedy as it is about mind-reading and making things disappear.
“There are a lot of laughs,” he said. “I’m not taking myself seriously up there. I just like to have a good time with everybody who comes.”
A lot of those people are, of course, stoned. “We get people coming in with very, very bloodshot eyes,” he said.
His website’s header features an undulating logo of a red-eyed rabbit in a hat floating on a background of smoke.
When it was pointed out that it wouldn’t take the finest magician to amaze the stoned, Zabin laughed good-naturedly, pointing out that plenty of non-smokers attend his shows in the company of weed-wacky friends.
“I’ve tried to structure my shows so it’s an hour full of really trippy tricks that are going to blow the minds of both the stoned and the sober,” he said. “I want this to be a really great show, not just a really great weed show.”
He hedged a bit when asked about his drug use before shows. “I sometimes wish I was able to be stoned during the shows, but it probably wouldn’t be a great performance if I was super, super baked,” he said.
But he was obviously thinking clearly when he packed up his car and moved to Portland to launch the “THC-induced magical extravaganza” (another of his slogans for the show).
“I knew the Northwest was going to be the place,” he said. “It’s a cannabis hub. Cannabis is ingrained in the culture throughout Oregon and Washington.”
Zabin has taken “Smokus” to Colorado and Montana, and it’s headed for Oklahoma next week, but Washington is his most frequent out-of-state destination. He did a half-dozen shows at the Tacoma Community Arts Center in the fall and will make his Seattle debut Feb. 11 at the Jewelbox Theater.
‘Smokus Pocus’
What: Ben Zabin’s cannabis-fueled magic show, which sells out weekly in Portland, makes its Olympia debut.
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28
Where: Olympia Ballroom, 116 Legion Way SE, Olympia
Tickets: $25
More information: http://smokuspocus.com
Also: Audience members must be at least 18 to attend.
