Thirty seconds into the show at the packed Zubrick Magic Theatre in St. Petersburg, it was clear we were about to experience something special.
Magicians Ryan and Chris Zubrick, who are stage partners and spouses, immediately charmed the audience with their warm spirit, quick-witted banter and mind-boggling illusions.
For the next 70 minutes, Chris and Ryan dazzled with a variety of tricks, including sleight of hand, a Rubik’s cube bit, an escape trick a la Harry Houdini, and lots of audience interaction and participation. They put their assistant, Brittany, in a box and sawed her into multiple pieces. In the finale, they made her levitate.
The Zubricks both hail from Michigan, and had similar experiences of discovering a passion for magic from a young age. As it turns out, Michigan is a mecca for magic, with the small town of Colon designation as “The Magic Capital of the World,” according to the American Museum of Magic’s website.
Both Chris and Ryan performed individually, but didn’t meet until a fateful event in 2005, when they were double booked for the same event. They made the best of the situation and performed together, and found that they had great on-stage chemistry.
“The result was remarkably impressive,” Chris said. “The audience really appreciated the kind of yin and yang performance that Ryan and I did, you know, the comedy and the sleight of hand. We had a lot of similar interests performing on stage. That’s really how it started.”
By 2007, after performing together around the Midwest, they got the opportunity to co-produce and headline their own show for a dinner theater in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific that is the capital of the Mariana Islands.
What was meant to be a two year contract turned into an eight-year stint, followed by a move to Guam to work for the theater’s sister company.
They got married in 2013 and in 2017, welcomed their son, Oliver. The Zubricks stayed in Guam until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. They had to pack everything up and move back to the states. Unsure of where to go next, they discovered St. Petersburg on a trip to Florida.
“After we left Guam, we were looking for our forever home,” Ryan said. We knew we wanted to open up a theater somewhere …We just kind of fell in love with (the city). We saw all the murals, saw how artsy it was, did some more research on it, and just really liked the vibe here, and just kind of took a chance and moved here and really checked all of our boxes.”
They found the building on First Avenue North that had been a former AAA call center. In a first for the couple, they had the opportunity to design their own theater.
While the space is much smaller than they were used to at the dinner theater, at 100 seats it has the advantage of creating an intimate setting so they have a more personal connection with the audience, Ryan said. They did a lot of the design work and hung the lights and assembled the seats, making it a true labor of love.
They worried that building a theater during Covid was a gamble, Chris said, because they were unsure if anyone would want to come see live entertainment.
“Thankfully, the community has come out and supported us at a time when I think they needed magic the most,” Chris said.
The theater officially opened on July 29, 2021. Now five years later, crowds continue to pack the seats. Chris pointed out that the show is designed to entertain adults, while still being family friendly. He emphasized that it’s a “sophisticated Las Vegas-style show,” so there won’t be any hokey tricks.
The Zubricks design every aspect of the show, from the tricks and choreography to costumes and lighting. They try to incorporate new bits every few months, and completely transform the show during the holiday season, which they pointed out is already a magical time.
They sell magic sets at the theater for those who become inspired to try their own hands at magic. After all, they said, sets like those are what got them started.
“Those small magic tricks that fool your friends can make a big difference,” Ryan said. •
Zubrick Magic Theatre. 1211 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg. There is parking in the alley behind the theater and an accessible back door. $50-$90.1-866-982-7425 (ZUBRICK). zubrickmagic.com.
