Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Dobell.
Hi Erik, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was a kid I wanted to be a professional wrestler. When I was about 19 or 20 years old I realized this wasn’t going to happen because I am 5’5 and there aren’t too many 5’5 pro wrestlers.
While I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I happened to bump into a magician selling small magic tricks from a kiosk at a mall in Ithaca, New York. I had never seen magic in person before and I fell in love. I bought some tricks, went home and learned how to do them and decided I wanted to learn more. So I went back a week later to the same guy in the same kiosk at the same mall and he was selling sunglasses.
So the first magician I ever saw was not a magician, he was a guy selling overstock in the middle of a mall. He changed my life.
I started performing in local bars and house parties while attending college for theater and philosophy (I’m obviously good at making decisions), and it sort of snowballed from there. I eventually gravitated towards mentalism, I’m not really sure why. I guess it called to me like the ghost of my ancestors across the ocean.
Around 2014 I met my business partner and we started this show called Impossibilities, and we toured it through North Carolina for two years. Then one day I was visiting some relatives in Asheville, North Carolina and somehow discovered there was a mentalism show at the Gatlinburg Space Needle. I decided to check it out and when I called for tickets I was told that the performer left town about a week ago and the show was closed. I asked if they would be interested in having another show there and the next thing I knew we were talking to the owners and we opened Impossibilities in Gatlinburg in March of 2016.
After 8 successful years it was time to move on, and we are now in Sevierville, Tennessee.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No. It took me 15 years to make a full time living in show business. I spent those 15 years working anywhere from two to three retail jobs at a time to make ends meet. It’s something I think about a lot and I am very grateful to be able to do what I am doing.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in Mentalism, which is a branch of Magic. Instead of making coins vanish or making women disappear, I do things that are normally associated with psychic phenomena. Things like mind-reading, psychokinesis and making predictions.
I suppose I’m most proud of putting together a show that appeals to such a large group of a people. Usually mentalism is performed for adults, and while I do a lot of shows just for adults I mostly perform for families. It’s a great feeling to have a show that the whole family can enjoy unironically.
How do you think about luck?
Luck is not something I think about. Some people are born on third base, some people are born with nothing at all, so luck obviously plays a role in everyone’s lives but thinking about it will drive you crazy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.impossibilitiesshow.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impossibilities_magic_show/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/impossibilities.bsky.social
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ImpossibilitiesShow
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/impossibilities-pigeon-forge-3
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@impossibilities_show_tn
