Ben Seidman (born December 1, 1984) is an American sleight-of-hand performer, actor, comedian, and creative consultant who has won the entertainer of the year award for Princess Cruises and guest starred on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

's "Brainchild". He is the only person to have served as the Resident Magician at

Mandalay Bay Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus ...

Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. In 2013, Seidman co-starred in Magic Outlaws on

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

. Following the debut of his TV specials, Ben taught

Johnny Knoxville Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), best known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, writer, producer, and professional wrestler. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ...

magic tricks for his film Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Seidman’s performances are notable for featuring original magic effects. His inventions are employed in A&E’s program

Mindfreak ''Criss Angel Mindfreak'' is an American reality television series that aired on A&E from July 20, 2005, to September 8, 2010. It centers on stunts and street magic acts by magician Criss Angel. Releases See also * List of ''Criss Angel Mindfr ...

, starring

Criss Angel Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos ( el, Χριστόφορος Νικόλαος Σαραντάκος; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New ...

, where Seidman served as writer and adviser for three seasons. Seidman tours globally, bringing his live show—a combination of

sleight-of-hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...

pickpocketing Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for Misdirection (magic ...

, and

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

—to colleges, parties and events. He is currently based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he performs at the

Magic Castle The Magic Castle is a clubhouse for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It is in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California and it bills itself as "the most unusual private club in t ...

in Hollywood and The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach.

Performances/TV Specials

In 2011, Seidman starred in a series of hidden camera videos using his pick-pocketing skills to slip computers into people’s handbags without them knowing. The “I Was Framed” project, directed by

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and

Michael Addis Michael Addis is a comedic television and film director who has made his mark in hidden camera comedy and reality-style comedy. Addis' debut feature, ''Poor White Trash'' (starring Jaime Pressly and Sean Young) was an underground hit in 2000 that ...

, and also featuring

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, gained online popularity and quickly reached over 900,000 views. In 2013, Seidman co-starred in Magic Outlaws on Travel Channel. The two TV specials, ''High Noon in Austin'' and ''3:10 to Vegas'', follow Seidman and fellow Los Angeles-based magicians Chris Korn and David Minkin, as they travel across the country performing close up magic for onlookers. In 2018, he guest starred on three episodes of the

original series "Brainchild," produced by

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

. Seidman was featured on two national comedy tours produced by Just For Laughs in 2010 and 2013. The 2013 tour spanned 21 cities throughout Canada and is the subject of a documentary produced for The Comedy Network. The documentary also features tour-mates

Tom Papa Thomas Papa Jr. (born November 10, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and radio host. He hosts the Sirius XM Satellite Radio show ''Come to Papa'' and, in July 2019, he and Fortune Feimster started hosting the Sirius XM show ''What a Joke wit ...

Alonzo Bodden Alonzo Bodden (; born June 13, 1962) is an American comedian and actor known for winning the grand prize in the third season of the reality-television series ''Last Comic Standing''. He had been the runner-up in the previous season. In 2007, he ...

Jeremy Hotz Jeremy Hotz (born May 31, 1965) is a Canadian–American actor and stand-up comedian. Hotz won a Gemini Award for his role on the television series '' The Newsroom'' in 1997. He has appeared on ''Comedy Central Presents'', the Just For Laughs c ...

, Robert Kelly,

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, and host

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. In his performance career, Seidman has headlined the Atlantis Casino in the Bahamas, performed 120 Shows at The Venetian in Macau, China, and was featured in a four-month run at

Harrah’s Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven g ...

Hotel and Casino. He has performed for a number of celebrities including

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

Christina Hendricks Christina Rene Hendricks (born May 3, 1975) is an American actress and former model. With an extensive career on screen and stage, she has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Awa ...

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

, and

Carrot Top Scott Thompson (born February 25, 1965), known professionally as Carrot Top, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Early life Thompson was born in Rockledge, Florida, and grew up in Cocoa. He is the youngest son of a NASA engineer. He ...

. Seidman, along with

Marcus Monroe Marcus Monroe (born May 2, 1985) is an actor/juggler/TV personality currently living in New York City. Marcus was born in 1985 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He moved to New York in 2004 to pursue a career in entertainment. Marcus has appeared on man ...

and Luke Jermay is a founding member of The Optical Delusions, a 2008 touring show that billed itself as "an evening of new-school variety." In 2019 Seidman began performing a two-person show with

Shin Lim Liang-Shun Lim (born September 25, 1991), known professionally as Shin Lim, is a Canadian-American magician, recognized for his use of card manipulation and sleight of hand. He is known for elaborate close-up card magic routines, during which h ...

, winner of America's Got Talent: The Champions.

Creative consulting

In 2006, Seidman was hired as a magic consultant for

on A&E starring

. Seidman created content, invented magic effects, and served as a creative/technical advisor to the show for three seasons. Seidman spent the summer of 2011 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

writing and directing Helt Magiskt for SVT, the prime television channel in Sweden. Helt Magiskt, the Swedish adaptation of the BBC show The Magicians, followed Charlie Caper, winner of Sweden's Got Talent, Michael Halvorsen, Star of Cirque du Soleil’s

Koozå ''Koozå'' is a touring circus production by Cirque du Soleil which premiered in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, in 2007. The show was written and directed by David Shiner, who had previously worked as a clown in Cirque du Soleil's production of ''Nou ...

, and large-scale illusionist Joe Labero, as they performed alongside celebrities. Shortly after, Seidman returned to Stockholm to work with Charlie Caper creating a performance piece using iPads. The video has over 3.36 million hits on YouTube. In 2013, Seidman taught actor

magic tricks for his role in Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, an Academy Award nominated hidden-camera comedy film written by

Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...

, and

Jeff Tremaine Jeffrey Tremaine (born September 4, 1966) is an American television director, television producer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating the reality stunt show ''Jackass (TV series), Jackass'' with Spi ...

. Seidman taught Knoxville a number of tricks and gags for the film, most notably, how to pull flowers out of his pants.

References

* Olig, Nick. "Ben Seidman's Sleight of Hand." ''Shepherd Express'' 3 October 2013
''Express Milwaukee''
* Hintz, Martin. "Magic Man." ''M Magazine'' January 2013
''GM Today''
* Nuñez, Candace. "Magician steals more than show." ''La Verne Campus Times'' 1 March 2013
''Campus Times''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seidman, Ben 1984 births Living people Male actors from Milwaukee American magicians American male comedians Pickpocket entertainers Mentalists Participants in American reality television series Sleight of hand Comedians from Wisconsin 21st-century American comedians