Rob Zabrecky returns to Steve Allen Theater with magic, music

Magician Rob Zabrecky will mount a one-night-only variety extravaganza Friday at the Trepany House at the Steve Allen Theater in L.A. “An Evening With Rob Zabrecky” will mark the first time that the performer -- an audience favorite at the Magic Castle -- will return to the theater since 2012, when he staged a series of sold-out one-man shows.

This time, the first half of the show will be magic, and the second half will be music.

“I let go of music for many years. I thought it was a chapter that was closed,” says Zabrecky, who once fronted the L.A. indie-rock band Possum Dixon, which put out three albums on Interscope Records. “But I got the bug to be on stage again and play music, and after a couple of shows here and there, it feels wonderful.”

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In the last 15 years, Zabrecky has been cultivating a darkly comic character named Odd Man. His gaunt visage with hollowed cheekbones and close-cropped black hair makes the character appear out of his time, as if he just emerged from a seance in San Francisco in the 1920s.

Zabrecky’s unusual look and devotion to craft has garnered much attention. He performed in Australia this summer and will appear in South Africa in a couple of weeks.

At his home base, Hollywood’s Magic Castle, he won the award of “stage magician of the year” in 2011 and 2012 and more recently was named “parlor magician of the year.” Since 2009, he has hosted an invitation-only variety and magic show called “The Brookledge Follies” at the home of Irene Larsen, who, with her late husband Bill and his brother Milt, co-founded the Magic Castle.

The Follies inspired the macabre indie-rock band Dead Man’s Bones fronted by actors Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields.

“We fell in love with the place and what was happening here,” Gosling told The Times in 2010. His respect for Zabrecky and his art has not faded, and Gosling cast Zabrecky as the MC in his recent directorial debut, “Lost River.”

Zabrecky is developing a TV show featuring his performance and what he promises to be a cast of “super interesting people.” But for now he’s concentrating on his upcoming show at Steve Allen. To wit, he’s rehearsing with musicians Kristian Hoffman, Byron Reynolds, Matt Devine, Fred Sablan and Steve Gregoropolis on a trove of Possum Dixon songs in addition to interesting covers, including “Janitor” by the 1970s Long Beach post-punk band Suburban Lawns and “Dreaming” by Blondie. Hoffman will also accompany Zabrecky on piano during the magic portion of the show.

“This is a really exciting time for me,” says Zabrecky, who often seems astounded by the strange arcs of his life. “How did this happen? I guess the answer is, embrace your inner weirdo and good things will come.”

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