Strange Cures and Greater Mysteries
Rob Zabrecky, the artist whose life reads like fiction and makes us believe in magic.
Rob Zabrecky is a stage magician, not an occult one. Though I’d argue that all great magicians are judged by their ability to transform reality.
Zabrecky is an artist whose work makes me believe in magic — in the possibility of a world filled with mysteries greater than what our senses can reveal. After all, it’s the illusionist’s job to push against the walls of reality.
His own life reads like fiction: a famous musician turned magician, actor, and author who tours the world performing and lecturing on the history of spook shows and séances. His autobiography, Strange Cures, tells that story — and I read it in exactly three sittings!
There’s a full bio below, but I suggest you pause right here and listen to our conversation.
Excerpt from TALKTALKTALK with Rob Zabrecky
VH: Did you go to the circus as a child? You’re a magician, so was there an early childhood experience with the circus that left an impression on you?
RZ: My dad was a carpenter and my mom a wedding coordinator. It was like going to a movie or the public swimming pool. I could visit it and look into it, but it wasn’t mine.
The Zabrecky household was on a tight budget. You weren’t dreaming that big. Everything was reduced to your space. Don’t color outside the lines, don’t get called to the principal’s office, and definitely don’t dream of becoming a clown.
VH: What do you love about being a magician? What’s the part of it that compels you?
RZ: It’s a very visual art. When it’s done right, there’s nothing quite like it—the surprise, the storytelling, the revelation. Music can be like that. Great pop songs sneak up on you. Suddenly there’s this chorus and you think, What? How did that happen? That’s magic.
A dancer can do that. A painter like Francis Bacon can do that. They all make you ask, How?
For me, magic brings all of that together. You write, produce, direct, and act. You take every part of yourself and shape it into an experience. There’s always that “look at me, Mom” instinct. Every performer has it, whether it’s the most aloof indie rocker or Taylor Swift. We all want to say, I’m here. I have something to share. You’ve chosen to witness it.
I still crave that. I love being in front of people, feeling the spotlight hit my face, knowing I’ve planned it all, and then surrendering to whatever happens next. That live element is what I’m drawn to most.
VH: Isn’t that where the Ouija board came from? Wasn’t it originally a spiritualist tool that was later appropriated?
RZ: The idea of a talking board goes back to the Chinese dynasties, long ago. People placed letters on a surface, rested their hands on it, and through a process called automatic writing—popular in the 1500s—a medium would receive messages from beyond, or sometimes just scribbles, depending on how you looked at it.
By the time of the Civil War, mom-and-pop versions of these boards were everywhere. Eventually people realized it could be a business. By 1900, the Ouija board was being mass-produced.
And the man who made it famous? While installing a flagpole outside his Ouija factory in Baltimore, he mysteriously fell to his death. Was he pushed? Was he guided by voices? A sign, perhaps.
ABOUT ROB
Rob Zabrecky is a Los Angeles-born magician, actor, author, lecturer, and musician known for his darkly comedic and theatrical style. LA Weekly once called him “one of LA’s most interesting natives.” His 2019 memoir Strange Cures (Rothco Press) captures his coming-of-age in 1970s–1990s Los Angeles and was described by the LA Times as “a punk poem to a forgotten Los Angeles.”
A seven-time Academy of Magical Arts award winner, Zabrecky has performed around the world and hosted séances at the Magic Castle’s Houdini Séance Room for nearly two decades, blending eerie storytelling with sleight of hand as a theatrical spirit medium. On screen, he’s appeared in A Ghost Story, A Desert, Lost River, and Strange Angel. In the 1990s, he fronted the indie band Possum Dixon, releasing three albums on Interscope Records and leaving a lasting mark on the LA music scene.
ABOUT VIVI
Vivi Henriette is a Los Angeles-based astrologer and tarot reader whose collaborative approach to divination weaves together storytelling and mythology, creating a space for clients to explore their personal narratives. She hosts the Los Angeles Astro Salon at the Philosophical Research Society, the podcast TALKTALKTALK, and co-organizes LA Astro Fest.
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