Zabrecky - Strange Cures

[Matthew Field]

Rob Zabrecky’s autobiographical memoir Strange Cures is a great read (for mature readers). It’s a 345 page trip through the childhood and mid-20s of a musician who became a magician.

Growing up in the southern California suburbs, Zabrecky found himself in a boring environment. Starting grade school he developed a bad case of warts on his hands which were burned off, but returned with a vengeance, to the extent that he kept his hands in his pockets when he could. Finally, a trip to his relatives in Scotland led to advice from his aunt that to cure the warts he should go into a field, follow a herd of cows, wait behind them, then plunge his hands into their excrement. This strange cure worked! He was cured. Also notable was Uncle Ed who lived with the family in their Burbank house and said he was a Secret Service agent. He was also a heavy drinker. He took Rob, who had received a rifle for his birthday, out on a shooting spree and promptly shot him in the arm.

Eventually, Rob and his friends discovered the L.A. music clubs and Rob was inspired to form a band, Possum Dixon, a post-punk quartet, which got signed to the Interscope record label, but Rob felt that his vision was being compromised – possibly also affected by his use of alcohol, heroin and cocaine. On a whim, he wandered into the Yogi Magic Mart and bought a pocket trick, which he’d perform on stage with the band. Eventually he kicked the alcohol and drug habits and discovered he loved magic more than the music scene. The band dissolved and Rob became a professional magician, often appearing at The Magic Castle, performing his unique, creepy character and building an impressive following.

There’s lots more in this book, which is amazingly candid and uses adult language throughout. It’s a great look at the L.A. music scene in the ‘90s and a real eye-opener with heartfelt stories galore. Rob is one of my favorite performers, he’s remained clean and sober and married his perfect partner, Tommi.

It’s in soft-cover and available through Amazon in the U.S. and U.K.

[Zig Zagger]

... as mentioned before here and on my magic blog:

https://zzzauber.wordpress.com/tag/zabrecky/

You'll also find a link to a free excerpt from the book featuring RZ's obnoxious Uncle Ed. So funny and well written! Enjoy!