Background and career
Benjamin Paul Schneider (born December 30, 1995), better known as Reckless Ben, is an American YouTuber, independent filmmaker, entrepreneur, and slackliner. He is known for producing comedic investigative documentary videos about controversial organizations, businesses, internet personalities, and alleged scams.
Benjamin Paul Schneider is from Fairfield, Ohio. During his teenage years, he became involved in slacklining, and graduated from Fairfield High School in 2014. He was a member of Boy Scout Troop 967 at Sacred Heart Church in Fairfield. He later studied engineering at the University of Cincinnati. While enrolled at the university, he continued participating in slacklining and began documenting many of his activities online. He dropped out of the university when he was three years into engineering school.
In 2018, at age 22, Schneider founded Ascending Slacklines, a company specializing in equipment for slacklining and highlining. In 2021, Schneider appeared on the television competition series Go-Big Show, where he broke the world record for most flips on a slackline in 60 seconds, and ended up doubling the record at 27. That same year, Schneider appeared on the Italian reality television program Tú sí que vales. In 2024, Schneider attracted media coverage after filming himself walking a tightrope between two unfinished towers at Oceanwide Plaza in Los Angeles. The stunt prompted an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, and the video was subsequently removed from YouTube. Schneider wore a duck mask during a later visit to the area.
In 2019, Schneider received media attention after claiming to have obtained a painting, rumored to be the work of street artist Banksy, from the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. The painting had been hung in the gallery without permission by a local artist who claimed to be acting on behalf of Banksy, and it was removed minutes later, being taken to the venue's lost and found. Schneider and two associates were able to claim the painting later that year after creating a fake eBay receipt suggesting that they owned the artwork.
In the 2020s, Schneider and his collaborators created Scientology Sucks, a project that has been officially recognized as a religious organization in the states of California and Oregon, specifically to protest the Church of Scientology. Since its inception, Schneider has documented its activity and utilization of a loophole with regard to beliefs stated by organizations.
In 2023, Schneider investigated McKamey Manor, an attraction marketed as an "extreme" haunted house experience, for its excessively violent treatment of participants. In his investigation, he alleged that a non-disclosure agreement containing a stated $50,000 penalty clause was mandated for all participants.
