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Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rarely-Seen '80s Pop Star and Actress, 66, Thrills Fans With Recent Appearance
Rarely-Seen '80s Pop Star and Actress, 66, Thrills Fans With Recent Appearance originally appeared on Parade. It's been nearly 40 years since her hit single, "Two of Hearts," shot to the top of the charts — but fans still haven't forgotten about Stacey Q. The former pop star, who also played the fan-favorite character Cinnamon on two episodes of The Facts of Life, made an appearance at The Hollywood Show pop culture convention in Los Angeles this weekend where she thrilled onlookers with a performance of "Two of Hearts." In a clip shared to TikTok, the 66-year-old singer wore a shiny black vinyl jacket over a sparkly crop top and a short, shimmery skirt as she belted out the iconic tune. Her blonde hair was cut in a bob with bangs — a major switch from the heavily hairsprayed style she was known for back in the '80s. Fans loved seeing the star back in action. "Stacy Q a blast from the past! pretty cool," gushed one person in the comments, with another calling the singer "amazing." "This would be fun," agreed another wistful viewer. In a 2018 interview with Rediscover the '80s, Stacey — who started her career after as a performer with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus — reminisced about getting the call to appear on The Facts of Life. "The writers of The Facts of Life called my record company and inquired about my availability," she recalled. "Since my life then was being Stacey Q, I ran out to Hollywood like my hair was on fire," the singer continued. "The reception I received right away was that the last thing this show needs is another female. I couldn't have agreed more. I had never heard the theme song. They were mortified. Danny [Medellin] overheard one of them in make-up say, 'She is just the type you wanna hate but you can't because she's so nice.' Bless her, whichever one it was. I know which two it wasn't. If it wasn't for the great and glorious importance of ratings during sweeps week, you never would have heard of George '80s Pop Star and Actress, 66, Thrills Fans With Recent Appearance first appeared on Parade on Jun 9, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
Washington Post
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
He was an 8-year-old ventriloquist. Now he stars in a Baltimore magic show.
BALTIMORE — Before his appearance on 'Late Show With David Letterman' back in 1994, Spencer Horsman toured the set at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York and got a snap of himself at Dave's desk. The 8-year-old ventriloquist and magician surveyed the empty seats. 'I've entertained for larger crowds,' he reassured his parents. Horsman, now 39, discovered magic at age 4 and later practiced escapes by asking kids to tie him to the jungle gym or a tree during recess. He went on to perform with David Copperfield and Lance Burton in Las Vegas, with Criss Angel on his 'The Supernaturalists' tour, and on multiple editions of 'America's Got Talent' and its counterpart in France, including one escape in which he was locked in a metal harness inside a tank and submerged in 150 gallons of cement. That tank decorates a corner of his Illusions Bar & Theater in south Baltimore. The sole performer for shows that can sell out several weeks in advance, Horsman focuses on magic, mentalism and comedy in which he moves fast and talks faster, his vertical blond hair an exclamation point to his manic energy. Audiences are kept to 40 per show in the art deco space, an under-the-radar gem where Horsman's act has been quietly gaining fans over the course of its 18 years. 'You feel like you're really part of it. You get a feeling of belonging,' said Risa Bruck, a math teacher from Pikesville, Maryland, at her second Illusions show in January. Horsman hopes to create a sense of community. 'We all love to laugh, right? We all love mystery. We love wonder,' he said in an interview. When audiences are immersed in 'that same element of wonder, you get stripped back to how you were as a kid. When we were kids, we didn't hate anybody.' His onstage persona is the opposite of the suave figure that the profession often embraces. In this two-employee enterprise, Horsman greets customers as they walk in; he and his wife and business partner, Nicole Horsman, mix drink orders at a frantic pace as people get settled. Three minutes into the show, he confesses that he's got ADHD, 'probably surprising nobody,' he adds as the crowd cheers. If this sounds like a bit of a circus, that's part of his heritage. Horsman's parents met as Ringling Brothers clowns. His mom, Bernie Spencer, performed acrobatics. His dad, Ken Horsman, often traveled as an 'advance clown' to promote the circus before it arrived in town. When the couple left life under the big top, Ken worked as Ronald McDonald for McDonald's in several states and in Baltimore opened what became known as Ken-zo's Yogi Magic Mart, which was once next door to where Illusions is now. His son demonstrated tricks at the store by age 6. He taught himself ventriloquism at age 8 by watching a VHS instructional video. Within six months, he had won second place in the youth division at a national competition and landed the Letterman gig. In the act, he recalled, he and his puppet partner, Dexter, wore tuxedos and bow ties while chatting about school, a place the boy loved and the puppet hated. The act incorporated magic. In one trick, Horsman and his puppet blew bubbles, but when Horsman reached forward to pop one, it turned into a solid crystal ball. Horsman went on to perform in Vegas, on TV's 'The Jerry Springer Show' and at a White House Easter egg hunt. The Post wrote about him in 1996 when Dexter went missing in the mail following repairs. The puppet turned up about three weeks later, and the story made national news. Horsman trained in ventriloquism with one of the masters, Sammy King. He also learned from well-known magicians who came to the store to give talks, and from the musicals and improv shows he saw with his parents. In high school, he gave up ventriloquism to focus on magic. Spencer and Ken Horsman opened Illusions together in 2007, when Spencer was 21. They promoted the venue's opening by arranging for Spencer to dangle from a crane outside the front door, and escape from two straitjackets. Ken died in 2016, and his bio and photo are prominently displayed in the theater. Spencer's tattoo sleeve combines an image of his father in costume along with the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Abbott and Costello, and the Marx Brothers. He honors his father but in performance has gone his own way. 'I've done an exponential jump in finding more of my persona in the performing world since he's passed,' Horsman said. 'He came from a very old-school style of thinking,' including an insistence on squeaky clean comedy. Horsman is willing to riff where the bar audience leads him. During a recent show, he asked everyone to imagine a unique superpower they want. 'The more specific to you, the better,' he coached, turning his back while five people wrote their wishes on boards without signing their names. An audience member gathered the boards, shuffled them and presented them face down to Horsman. He correctly matched four people with their wishes by asking about their superhero origin stories and desire for a sidekick. The remaining wish was still on a table, hidden from view. Horsman turned to the last participant. 'Is this something you would use for good, for evil or somewhere in the middle?' 'Somewhere in the middle,' the woman replied, laughing hard. 'Would you want people to know you had this ability?' 'Absolutely not!' Horsman jotted down the wish, drew an image and revealed it. He guessed correctly. The woman wanted, for her superpower, an invisible penis. Anything can be an inspiration for a new trick: a piece of music, a movie, something he reads. He doesn't do escapes anymore, partly because of his diagnosis of RCVS, or reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome. If he puts too much internal pressure on his body, such as holding his breath or hanging upside down for too long, he gets a 'thunderclap headache' and can black out from pain. The decision relieves Nicole Horsman, who handles business matters for Illusions. In his younger years, Horsman blacked out underwater when an escape went wrong during a rehearsal for a Criss Angel show. A cage lid smashed into the back of his head while he was practicing an escape for 'America's Got Talent: The Champions.' More recently, he stapled the side of his head because he hadn't gotten enough sleep and set up the trick wrong. He might be famous if his club were in Vegas or New York. But 'he has absolutely no interest in being famous,' Nicole says. His priorities are being imaginative in his work and having quiet time at home with Nicole plus their four dogs and two cats. Dexter the puppet oversees the Horsmans' bathroom at home, 'keeping the spare TP safe and scaring the living daylights out of unsuspecting guests,' the couple wrote on Instagram. But Horsman has never shied from performing. When he was introduced for his segment on Letterman, he bolted across the stage to meet Dave. Later, the producer asked him why he ran when he hadn't done so in rehearsal. Horsman replied matter-of-factly: 'Because I wanted more time on the air.' 1025 S. Charles St., Baltimore. 410-727-5811. Dates: Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m. Price: $60; includes two drinks or magic tricks to take home.
