ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Illusionists Chris and Ryan Zubrick have spent decades performing magic in front of thousands of mesmerized fans. They've entertained countless adoring fans with acts that have featured tigers and sawing bodies in half. But it would be their improv act center stage of their downtown St. Pete theatre following Hurricane Milton that would prove the hardest.
After Hurricane Milton flooded their St. Petersburg home, they had nowhere to go. So, they went to the place that made them the happiest: the Zubrick Magic Theatre. The Zubrick's told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska that their first show premiered on July 29, 2021, to a sold-out audience.
Before moving into their new home in St. Pete, the dynamic duo spent years overseas in Guam and Saipan, performing with tigers in front of tourists. They weathered many typhoons in the Pacific Ocean, but nothing would shake them more than Hurricane Milton. They were not in a flood zone and were not told to evacuate, but they left anyway to ensure their 7-year-old son Oliver was safe. They returned home to a disaster zone.
"We stepped into our house and into a big puddle of water. We had 22 inches of rainwater that was no surge. It was fresh water that had come into the home and destroyed everything," Chris Zubrick said. We have been living in this theater for about a week, an air mattress right here center stage with our son, and we're comfortable here. We're happy here."
Like so many other Floridians impacted this year, the couple was devastated because they weren't in a flood zone. With nowhere to go, they turned to the place they loved the most: the theater.
"How did your son do sleeping here on the stage?" Paluska asked.
"It was an adventure for him," Ryan Zubrick said.
"We were camping," Chris Zubrick chimed in.
"It gives people a little bit of hope to see that you guys are still smiling and trying to entertain when you lost everything," Paluska said.
"I'm not going to lie and sit here and tell you that it's not going to be difficult, you know because we don't have a home to go to after the show. But this is our home away from home," Chris Zubrick said.
"After Helene, we had a few couples in our audience, families in our audience, that say, 'you know, our house flooded. We just lost everything. But it was so nice to come and just experience this and forget about our troubles,'" Ryan Zubrick said. "It was so what we needed in that moment."
The illusionists recently got housing through FEMA and plan to hold their first show since the storm this weekend. They ask anyone wanting to help to buy a ticket and support them and their craft.
"We're asking the community to support your neighbors," Chris Zubrick said. "If you see somebody, perhaps buy them a ticket to the show to come and experience this. We've also had a few people who donated tickets to others in our community who perhaps could not afford to come and experience this. So we've been giving those tickets out as well."
The illusionists are currently working on their biggest show of the year, their Holiday Spectacular, which starts Nov. 15. For more information on tickets, clickhere.
"It doesn't make any sense."
FEMA guidelines for debris removal do not include condos or condominiums because they are considered commercial enterprises. A public information officer for the City of Clearwater told ABC Action News, "We are not removing debris from condos; we do consider them commercial."
