Profs and Pints Online presents: “Pinball’s Wizardry,” a look at the history of a beloved American pastime, with Adam Ruben, author of Pinball Wizards: Jackpots, Drains, and the Cult of the Silver Ball.

[This talk will remain available in recorded form at the link given here for tickets and access.]

Pinball has had a bumpy, zig-zagging, pot-holed past, with the passion for it repeatedly springing back to life even after it seemed the game was over. In a way, pinball's trajectory has mirrored America's history, with the pastime being steered by the zeitgeist of every era. Hear its fascinating past discussed by Adam Ruben, who is also a comedian, molecular biologist, and host of the Science Channel's Outrageous Acts of Science.

He’ll discuss how cities, counties, and states banned pinball machines in the 1930's and 1940's, alleging that the games were no better than illegal slot-machines-plus-physics. The mayor of New York City even made a point of having machines dragged out onto the street where he could publicly smash them with a sledgehammer.

After becoming re-legalized decades later, pinball reigned supreme in arcades in the '80's and '90's, only to almost disappear from the face of the earth at the end of the millennium.

Strangely, despite its ups and downs, the most interesting time in pinball's history might actually be right now. Before the outset of the pandemic it had become more popular than it's been in a quarter century. In an era when almost everyone carries unlimited video games on a glass rectangle in their pocket, this bizarre 250-pound behemoth of plywood, plastic, glass, and steel had somehow been soaring in popularity—at least, until the onset of a global pandemic that has nearly eliminated the in-person pinball scene.

Pinball fans will loving hearing Ruben discuss the rocky road that pinball has traveled, the unlikely reasons it's racking up points with new fans now, and what its future looks like.

Profs & Pints Online: Pinball's Wizardry