Rob Zabrecky

Robert Zabrecky (born June 2, 1968, in Burbank, California) is an American actor, author, magician, mentalist, and songwriter. His career began as a musician while being the front man for the band Possum Dixon. In the later years of his career, he has found success as a magician, actor, and author.

Life and career
Zabrecky was born and raised in Burbank, California. From 1989 to 1999 he was the singer-songwriter and bassist for the Los Angeles group Possum Dixon. The band, originally hailing from Silver Lake, released three albums during the 1990s.

During the mid-1990s, he began practicing magic and has since become a magician at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. In the mid-2000s he began a career in acting and has since landed roles in films and television programs.

Actor
In 2017, Zabrecky landed a supporting role in the supernatural drama, A Ghost Story. His film credits also include a supporting role in Ryan Gosling's directorial debut Lost River, playing the master of ceremonies at an underground fetish nightclub, and a starring role in the psychological thriller, Decay, portraying a troubled theme park groundskeeper who falls in love with a corpse. As a television actor he has made several appearances in popular shows including GLOW, Strange Angel, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, Comedy Bang! Bang! and Angie Tribeca. He has also appeared in several short films and a wide range of television commercials.

He graduated from a two-year training program at Theatre West, where he appeared in theatrical adaptations of the television classic, The Twilight Zone and other productions.

In 2019, Zabrecky and his wife Tommi Zabrecky created the supernatural comedy series, The Other Side with Zabrecky. In each episode, Zabrecky invites guests into his home to participate in a séance to contact a departed spirit of their choice. Guests have included Jack Black, Jason Sudeikis, Kate Flannery, Will Forte, and David Arquette. The program is featured on the online visual arts magazine Night Flight.

Author
In June 2019 Zabrecky released his memoir, Strange Cures (RothCo Press). Strange Cures chronicles Zabrecky’s story of self-discovery, success, failure, and reinvention amidst the Los Angeles landscape during the 70s-90s. The LA Times praised the book as, “An ode to a forgotten L.A.” Musician Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's dubbed it, “A 1980s San Fernando Valley Time Machine.”

In 2019 Zabrecky authored The A,B,Z's of Magic, which details methods of constructing and presenting an effective, meaningful, and ethical magic act. The text focuses on character development and is organized in alphabetical order. This manuscript originated as part of Zabrecky’s award-winning lecture program. “Throughout my performing career, I’ve made it part of my crusade to demystify the creative process – taking apart its pieces one by one, examining them and putting them back together to understand how they work as a whole.”

Magician
Zabrecky is best known for an aberrant magician character he portrays by combining irreverent dark humor, mentalism and an artful use of elongated pauses in performances. Lauded for his performing and lecturing efforts magic, Zabrecky has received six awards by the Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle.

After his music career ended he has worked throughout the United States, Japan and Europe as a magician. Since 2002 he has been a regular performer at the Magic Castle, where he formed the magic trio, The Unholy Three in 2003. He has also been the featured magician at annual magic conventions worldwide and appeared on the cover of magic-related journals and periodicals including Genii, Reel Magic and the Mandala.

Since 2010, Zabrecky has performed as a spirit medium inside the Magic Castle’s Houdini Séance Room, where he has presented hundreds of theatrical Victorian inspired seances for members of the Academy of Magical Arts and their guests.

After Zabrecky performed on Penn & Teller's Penn & Teller: Fool Us in August 2016, Penn Jillette said "We were trying to think if there's ever been a mentalist doing a mentalist act that was sincerely funny and sincerely good. You may be the first ever."

The Zabrecky Hour, a one-man variety show, directed by John Lovick and Tommi Zabrecky, was premiered and developed at the Steve Allen Theater from 2010 to 2016. The show featured highlights from his Magic Castle act, song & dance, conversations with the moon and audience interaction.

A 2022 Chicago Tribune review of The Zabrecky Hour reported, “Zabrecky is a highly accomplished magician and very funny, assuming you like your humor cynical and caustic, akin to a horror show of a bygone age. But what makes his highly interactive show worth seeing is his evident love of pushing things right to the edge and then maybe a little further.”

In 2022, Zabrecky released ''SEANCE! With Zabrecky'' on In The Red Records. The recording, co-produced and recorded with songwriter and guitarist Emmett Kelly (musician) features a conduct your own séance experience, and is pressed on glow-in-the-dark vinyl.

In 2024, The Zabrecky Hour was filmed for as an upcoming concert film at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles.

Musician
As the frontman for Possum Dixon, Zabrecky became a notable figure in the emerging Silver Lake independent music community of the early 1990s. During those years, he wrote, recorded and performed with several musicians and producers, including Beck, Earle Mankey, Tom Rothrock, Pleasant Gehman, Carla Bozulich, Tim O'Heir and others. Possum Dixon had a minor hit in 1993 with their first single, "Watch the Girl Destroy Me", from their debut album Possum Dixon, produced by Mankey. A second album, Star Maps, followed in 1996. In 1998, they released New Sheets, which would be the last album by the band. The LP, produced by the Cars' Ric Ocasek, featured material co-written with Fred Schneider, Jane Wiedlin, Dave Stewart and others.

Shortly after the breakup of Possum Dixon, Zabrecky spent time singing for the Los Angeles art rock band Human Hands and played bass in a Gun Club tribute band alongside original members Ward Dotson and Terry Graham.

In early 2010, he appeared on-stage with Maria McKee at a fundraiser in Hollywood. The pair sang a duet of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love". The pair performed the song again as part of a Night of Zabrecky performance at the Steve Allen Theater in 2012.

Auctioneer
He is a skilled auctioneer, trained by Bonhams auction house (known then as Butterfield & Butterfield) during the late 1990s. For over a decade he has helped organizations such as the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Laguna Art Museum and many others with fundraising events.

Personal life
Zabrecky lives with his wife, Tommi Zabrecky, whom he married in 1998.

Works
Memoir
 * Strange Cures (2019)
 * The Feral Boy Who Lives in Griffith Park contributor (2019)

Publications
 * A,B,Z's of Magic, (2019) Vanishing Inc
 * Genii – The Conjuror's Magazine (Cover Feature, April 2013)
 * Stories of Famous Magicians (contributor)
 * Secrets of My Friends 2 (contributor)
 * MAGIC, The Magazine for Magicians (contributor)
 * M-U-M, The Society of American Magicians (contributor)
 * An Exploration at the Intersection of Magic and Theater (2010)
 * Smartish Pace Art/Poetry Journal (contributor)
 * The Underground Guide to Los Angeles (contributor)
 * Music for Deaf People chapbook (1992)

Interviews
 * Creativity in Captivity, 2022
 * Two Jons Don’t Make a Right, 2022
 * The Magic Word, 2021
 * Who Books That 2021
 * Dana Gould Hour Podcast, 2019.
 * Boo Crew Podcast, 2019
 * Monster Party, 2019
 * Boo Crew Podcast, 2019
 * Love Alexi, 2019
 * Hollywood Anonymous, 2019
 * Three Thousand, Melbourne 2012
 * The Magic Newswire, 2012
 * The Avant/Garde Diaries, 2012
 * Dan & Dave, 2012
 * The Alibi; Illusion Noir, 2012
 * Los Angeles Times, 2011
 * Pop Culture: Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie, 2011
 * Carson Daly, 2010

Awards and nominations
 * 1999 LA Weekly Award for Best Pop/Rock Band (Award)
 * 1999 California Music Awards (Award)
 * 2008 Parlour Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Nomination)
 * 2009 Parlour Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Nomination)
 * 2010 Parlour Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Nomination)
 * 2010 Stage Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Nomination)
 * 2011 Lecturer of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Nomination)
 * 2011 Stage Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Award)
 * 2012 Stage Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Award)
 * 2014 Parlour Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Award)
 * 2015 Parlour Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Award)
 * 2016 Lecturer of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Award)
 * 2017 Lecturer of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Award)
 * 2023 Close-Up Magician of the Year, Academy of Magical Arts (Nomination)