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“For me, it’s this huge opportunity to tell people about the history of something they care passionately about and have never been taught,” explains David Bienenstock, creator and star of The History of Weed, an academia-themed one-man show that unfurls, examines and celebrates the often hidden chronicles of cannabis in popular culture. The show opens at Kickstand Comedy on April 19—just in time to kick off your 4/20 festivities.
Bienenstock, author of How to Smoke Pot (Properly) and host of Freeform Portland 98.3 radio show Hitting the High Notes (airing every other Wednesday at midnight), is a storied former High Times editor and Vice news producer who once argued on air with Tucker Carlson about the spurious dangers of cannabis. A cannabis journalist with 20 years in the game, recent Portland transplant Bienenstock boasts a résumé that reads like an infinitely informative—and transformative—smoke sesh. He’s precisely the kind of instructor you’d want behind the lectern, disseminating 10,000 years of weed history in roughly an hour (Q&A included).
“I talk to people whose full-time job is weed every day. It’s often just kind of a thing where they ask, ‘Have you heard this story…?’ Those are the stories, you know. It’s underground. It’s outlaw history. And I’m serving the role of a historian.”
The History of Weed, like Bienenstock’s similarly themed podcast Great Moments in Weed History, dives wholeheartedly into singular, often obscured moments in cannabis history that challenge contemporary stoner archetypes and reveal fascinating new layers to the world we know. From flowers given to Sha’Carri Richardson, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps in direct response to lazy stoner assumptions, to heartrending lore that vibrantly colors Maya Angelou’s introduction to the herb, to a captivating argument that Jesus H. Christ was consistently—and thoroughly—the illest pothead at the function, this is exactly the type of class that would fill up on the first day of registration.
Bienenstock’s productions—both the podcast and the live show—are informative, entertaining, and also comforting. “I’ll get emails about the podcast from people confessing, ‘Nobody knows that I do this. I listen to your show when I’m taking my walk or out in the shed or whatever, and you’re my person to sesh with.’ And that hits me pretty profoundly,” Bienenstock says. “I think weed in general just engenders easy connections between people.”
It’s this affection for the plant and its human potential that makes Bienenstock’s show a pseudo-class worth earnestly attending. It’s equal parts passionate storytelling, enthusiastic archivism, and deep-cut stoner jokes.
“Cannabis, if you really dive into it, can teach you about botany, about how the body works, about economics—above ground and below ground. It can teach the history of racism in the United States and around the world,” Bienenstock explains. “There is nobody alive and smoking weed right now that hasn’t faced these stigmas to some extent. Even if you haven’t ever been arrested, many people have faced a lot of shame over this—whether it’s the law, authority figures, or social stigmas. People have, to varying extents, been really treated poorly for doing something that is obviously, objectively safer than alcohol.”
The power of these stories is magnified by the connection they create with audiences throughout Bienenstock’s lecture. “When the audience hears these stories—whether it’s stories of the people who pushed back against prohibition, or an artist or cultural figure who had the same connection to this plant that they do—it’s like a recognition.”
“The stories are amazing, you know what I mean?” Bienenstock says. “I do my best as a performer, but the stories outside of me are incredible.”
“In my opinion,” Bienenstock continues, “to have a format where every minute or so I’m telling a new-to-me fascinating story, seeing the connection with people, and being in a room where everyone feels the same way you do about something so important—that’s nice right now. And powerful.”
SEE IT: The History of Weed at Kickstand Comedy, 1006 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-719-5685, kickstandcomedy.org. 8:30 pm Saturday, April 19. $9+.