Rob Zabrecky

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Rob Zabrecky
RobZabrecky.jpg
Zabrecky in 1992 at Al's Bar in Los Angeles
Born
Robert Zabrecky

(1968-06-02) June 2, 1968 (age 56)
Burbank, California, United States
Occupation(s)Actor, musician, magician, songwriter
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
SpouseTommi Zabrecky

Robert Zabrecky (born June 2, 1968, in Burbank, California) [1] 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. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

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. [5]

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. [6]

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, [7] and a starring role in the psychological thriller, Decay, portraying a troubled theme park groundskeeper who falls in love with a corpse. [8] 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 . [9] [10] He has also appeared in several short films and a wide range of television commercials. [9] [11] [12]

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.[ citation needed ]

In 2019, Zabrecky and his wife Tommi Zabrecky created the supernatural comedy series, The Other Side with Zabrecky. [13] 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. [14] The program is featured on the online visual arts magazine Night Flight. [15]

Author

In June 2019 Zabrecky released his memoir, Strange Cures (RothCo Press). [4] 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." [4] [16] [17]

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." [18] [19] [ better source needed ] [20]

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. [21] Lauded for his performing and lecturing efforts magic, Zabrecky has received six awards by the Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle. [20] [22] [23] [24]

After his music career ended he has worked throughout the United States, Japan and Europe as a magician. [25] [26] Since 2002 he has been a regular performer at the Magic Castle, where he formed the magic trio, The Unholy Three in 2003. [27] 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. [28] [29]

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. [30] [31]

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." [32] [ better source needed ]

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. [33] [34]

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.” [35]

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. [31] [36] [37]

In 2024, The Zabrecky Hour was filmed for as an upcoming concert film at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles. [38] [39]

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. [40] Possum Dixon had a minor hit in 1993 with their first single, "Watch the Girl Destroy Me", [41] from their debut album Possum Dixon , produced by Mankey. [42] A second album, Star Maps , followed in 1996. [41] 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. [43]

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. [44] [45]

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". [46] The pair performed the song again as part of a Night of Zabrecky performance at the Steve Allen Theater in 2012. [47]

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. [48] [49] [50] [51]

Personal life

Zabrecky lives with his wife, Tommi Zabrecky, whom he married in 1998.[ citation needed ]

Works

Memoir

Publications

Interviews

Awards and nominations

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References

  1. ↑ "Free Family Tree, Genealogy and Family History – MyHeritage". Familytreelegends.com. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Possum Dixon Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic . Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Rob Zabrecky". IMDb . Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 Gelt, Jessica (May 30, 2019). "Rob Zabrecky's memoir 'Strange Cures' is an ode to a forgotten L.A." Los Angeles Times .
  5. ↑ "Possum Dixon". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Rob Zabrecky | Biography and Filmography | 1968". Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ dawnday9622 (April 10, 2015). "Lost River (2014)". IMDb.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Decay (2015)". IMDb. November 1, 2015.
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  10. ↑ "Criminal Minds - Episode 12.06 - Elliott's Pond - Promo, Sneak Peeks, Promotional Photos & Press Release" (Press release). Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
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  12. ↑ "Some Houses Are Just Not Well". Dread Central. February 27, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Other Side with Zabrecky". IMDb . January 16, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Jack Black and Rob Zabrecky contact Kurt Cobain". July 30, 2019.
  15. ↑ Other side with Zabrecky Night Flight Archived December 4, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "Artist Bio: Rob Zabrecky". Los Angeles Philharmonic .
  17. ↑ "Rob Zabrecky: Contributing Performer". The Philosophical Research Society.
  18. 1 2 "Astonishing Essays - Rob Zabrecky (Volume 2)". www.vanishingincmagic.com.
  19. ↑ Zabrecky, Rob (2018). "Astonishing Essays 2: The A,B,Z's of Magic". Goodreads .
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Hall of Fame". The Academy of Magical Arts. July 2, 2014.
  21. ↑ Salwak, Dale. "MAGIC, The Magazine For Magicians". Magicmagazine.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Zabrecky in The Zabrecky Hour". Pittsburgh Cultural Trust .
  23. 1 2 "STRAY – An interview with Rob Zabrecky – Three Thousand". Thethousands.com.au. June 29, 2015. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
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  30. ↑ Cox, John (August 15, 2020). "Zabrecky in the Seance Room". Wild About Harry.
  31. 1 2 "SEANCE! With ZABRECKY". In the Red Records.
  32. ↑ "Penn & Teller Fool Us Here's Moxie". August 31, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016– via YouTube. Content blocked by CBS in the USA; the associated account was removed from YouTube.
  33. ↑ Chris Nichols (October 19, 2012). "The Spooky Magic Of Night Of Zabrecky". Los Angeles Magazine.
  34. ↑ "Night Of Zabrecky! Eban Schletter! Janet Klein!". Trepanyhouse.org. July 23, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  35. ↑ Jones, Chris (September 8, 2022). "Review: Rhapsody Theatre's 'Zabrecky Hour' is 60 creepy minutes of magic". Chicago Tribune .
  36. ↑ "Say You, Say Me... Séance with Zabrecky!". Famous Monsters of Filmland (Interview).
  37. ↑ "Rob Zabrecky – SEANCE! with Zabrecky". Discogs .
  38. ↑ "Calendar: March 2024". Dynasty Typewriter.
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  40. ↑ Tewksbury, Drew (April 8, 2010). "Spaceland Is the Place". LA Weekly . Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  41. 1 2 Thompson, Stephen (March 29, 2002). "Possum Dixon: New Sheets". The A.V. Club . Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  42. ↑ Jenkins, Mark (January 7, 1994). "Playing Possum: Use Your Allusion". The Washington Post . p. N10. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  43. ↑ Jenkins, Mark (October 2, 1998). "BETTER THAN EZRA". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  44. ↑ "The Band". Human Hands. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
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  48. ↑ Lina Lecaro. "Eddie Vedder, Mickey Avalon and Red Hot Chili Peppers at Hullabaloo". L.A. Weekly.
  49. ↑ "Kill the Microphone: Silverlake Conservatory of Music Celebrates 4th Annual "Hullabaloo" Benefit". killthemic.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  50. ↑ "Tickets for HULLABALOO 2007 : Benefit for the Silverlake Conservatory of Music with Red Hot Chili Peppers / Eddie Vedder / Charlie Haden / Ditty Bops / Mickey Avalon – Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre at TicketWeb". TicketWeb.
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  52. ↑ "Rob Zabrecky article coming soon". The Genii Forum. Genii Magazine.
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  56. ↑ "Creativity in Captivity | ROB ZABRECKY: The Zabrecky that Changed Its Stripes". Apple Podcasts. October 28, 2021.
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  59. ↑ Greenbaum, Harrison. "Who Books That? | ROB ZABRECKY (with surprise guests JOHN LOVICK and DAVID KOVAC)". PodBean.
  60. ↑ "Rob Zabrecky talks Houdini with Dana Gould". Wild About Harry. October 24, 2020.
  61. ↑ "Music for Weirdos". Dana Gould. July 16, 2019.
  62. ↑ "Ep#8 - Rob Zabrecky (Magician) - the Boo Crew".
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  64. ↑ "Ep#8 - Rob Zabrecky (Magician) - the Boo Crew".
  65. ↑ Wasser, Alexi (July 16, 2019). "Magician, Musician, Actor, & Author Rob Zabrecky". Podcast App.
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