Magic has been a part of freshman Kelly Spangler’s life since birth. You may have seen her perform an act on open mic night at the campus Starbucks, but she is no rookie when it comes to the art of illusion. Spangler has been performing magic since she was 10 years old and has been attending magic conventions with her family since she was a baby.
“I’ve grown up with magic,” Spangler said.
Spangler’s father, Ron, started learning magic tricks when he was in middle and high school. He kept up with the hobby into adulthood and became a member of the board for the Columbus Magi-Fest magicians’ convention, attending with his family annually. He passed his love for sleight-of-hand on to his two daughters, Kelly and her 14-year-old sister Lindsey.
“I started performing when I was 10 because we had a fifth grade talent show and it was my first chance to perform,” Spangler said. “My dad helped me put together a routine.”
Spangler continued to pursue her passion throughout high school, performing in talent shows each year and eventually at the Magi-Fest convention. She said it has benefited her in many unexpected ways.
For her senior research project, Spangler’s topic was the impact performing has on introverts, based on her own experience doing magic acts. One of the requirements for the project was to incorporate a service aspect, so she had the opportunity to teach magic to fifth graders as well.
“It’s cool because I’m not a very outgoing person; I’m not super comfortable around people that I don’t know,” Spangler said. “When I’m up there performing, it’s totally different.”
Ron Spangler said performing made Kelly more well-rounded and will benefit her in the future.
“Many people have a fear of getting up in front of a group of people and talking to them, and this can hold them back in their career,” Ron Spangler said. “Performing magic has taught Kelly how to prepare in advance, how to look at her audience while she performs and to know what she’s going to say in front of a large group of people. The more she’s performed, the more comfortable she’s become at being in front of a group. These skills will help her later on in life.”
Kelly Spangler said performing magic doesn’t just come naturally; it takes practice. She typically puts together a routine approximately one month in advance and then runs through it daily as the event of her performance approaches. She said her favorite trick is the linking rings because although it is a basic trick, there are a wide variety of different ways for magicians to personalize it.
“The linking rings are so classic,” Kelly Spangler said. “If you mention them, every magician knows what you’re talking about.”
Kelly Spangler said she obtains her supplies from local magic shops and from conventions like Magi-Fest.
“One of the big things at any magicians’ convention you go to is a big dealer’s room,” Kelly Spangler said. “People come in from all over the country selling magic tricks. If you want a plain deck of cards, you can find that. If you want something that makes people disappear, you can get that too.”
Kelly Spangler says she fully intends to continue practicing magical illusions after college and for the rest of her adult life and will pass the hobby down to her children.
“I probably won’t do it as a job because magic jobs don’t pay well, and they are hard to find,” Kelly Spangler said. “But I will definitely keep it up. I can’t just drop it.”
