Meet the Illusions Family
Spencer Horsman
Owner, featured performer
Spencer Horsman was born in the entertainment business. Both of his parents, Ken & Mary Horsman, were former Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus clowns. His father Ken was then hired to be Ronald McDonald for over 20 years. Spencer was introduced to magic at just 4 years of age when his father opened his magic shop.
While performing with dad, Spencer started learning ventriloquism at age 8 and at that point started traveling & performing nationwide. A child prodigy at 15, Spencer had already made feature appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman as well as performing with David Copperfield & Lance Burton in Las Vegas.
In 2007, Spencer and his father went into business together to design, build and open their own live entertainment establishment, Illusions Bar & Theater, in Baltimore, MD. Having celebrated 17 years of operation and surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, its been one of the highest ranked performance venues & show in the state.
Spencer blends a unique mix of comedy, sleight of hand magic, mentalism and danger to create a one of a kind, interactive experience. He has been featured on America’s Got Talent, America’s Got Talent: Champions & on tour with Criss Angel. Now at 38, Spencer continues to entertain audiences all over the world with his witty and engaging style of magic.
He has performed for high profile stars including Dan Aykroyd, Chazz Palminteri, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Kenny Ortega, Steve Forbes, The Baltimore Ravens football team and cast members from The Big Bang Theory.
Spencer has worked corporate events for companies such as The Baltimore Ravens, Under Armour, Merrill Lynch, Jos A Bank and The Ronald McDonald House. He has appeared on 98 Rock, DC 101, ABC, NBC and CBS.
Nicole Bailey
Operations Manager, Head Bartender, Emotional Support Human
Nicole was born into a small-business family. She spent her childhood feral and barefoot. Running through the forest, playing with dogs, reading books and making art. She still does all of these things.
Not a performer, quite the opposite, she prefers the organizational/administrative and marketing/creative side of things to the spotlight. This suits everyone just fine. She joined the Illusions family a few years ago and after our Post-Pandemic reopening has taken on a much larger role to steer the ship and let our Mad Magician work on creating new material and giving his all to entertaining our audiences.
In addition to slinging high end cocktails and heckling Spencer from behind the bar, Nicole enjoys trail running, dog agility, fitness, swing dancing and photography. She doesn’t do magic tricks, she leans more to Magick with a “K.” Creepy crawlies, nature as a whole, critters and all things green and growing are her wheelhouse. She also runs a pet photography business when she isn’t taking care of the bar.
Kenneth Horsman
Founder & Father
Feb. 27th, 1958 - May 12th, 2016
When you ask someone what college he or she wants to attend, the normal answer is typically not clown college, but there was nothing normal about a young man named Ken Horsman. This is where the story of Illusions begins. At the age of 18, a young Ken Horsman, traveled with Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus for 5 years where he performed as a professional clown. During his last two years he served as the “Boss Clown” of the Clown Alley. On the road, he also served as the “Advance Clown”, traveling ahead of the show to handle public relations. Serving as the “Good Will Ambassador” to Ringling, he promoted the show town to town on radio, TV, and newspaper.
Upon leaving the Circus in '81, he was hired by McDonalds to follow in the footsteps of Willard Scott as Ronald McDonald. For over 20 years he represented the McDonald's corporation for over 500 restaurants across the Washington D.C, Virginia & West Virginia region as one of the worlds most recognized cultural icons, delighting children everywhere. At the age of 24, Ken purchased property in South Baltimore/ Federal Hill. He opened up his first magic shop on the 1300 block of Light Street, known as Ken-Zo’s, quickly becoming one of the largest magic shops in the county. In 2008, he scaled up to Illusion’s current location. Today, his son Spencer carries on his legacy as owner and resident magician to Illusions Magic Bar & Theater.
