Daily Inspiration: Meet Kim Hallinger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Hallinger.

Hi Kim, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born in Abilene, TX to Don and Jane Hallinger. I am the oldest of three children. My Dad was a Geologist and Paleontologist. My mom worked in radio and Television. At six months of age, I got pneumancocuss meningitis. Abilene was a much smaller town in the 60s, and by the time my parents got me to the hospital, I was pronounced dead. By a miracle, a Doctor was able to do a tracheotomy to revive me, and here I am today. I spent nearly two months in the hospital. My father, who had been working in the oil fields, lost his job while I was in the hospital. My maternal grandmother came out to sit with me while I was in the hospital. At a year old, we moved to Pasadena, CA. He took the first job offered to him, which happened to be Southern California Gas Company. My dad had to do alot of traveling. He was in exploration for the Gas Company. He was barely home. So it was really just my mom, sister and I.

My parents loved the arts. I went to my first Shakespearian play at about five years old. My mom took me to see lots of theatres while her parents took us to musicals. We went to museums every month. I really loved the natural history museum. I grew up on a diet of jazz, big band, classical, opera, country, r&b, and the Beatles. My aunt Gigi introduced me to the Beatles. My grandfather would take me out to see variety shows with jugglers, ventriloquists, and magicians. Even a puppet show now and then. I just thought everyone grew up this way.

I went to Pacific Oaks from preschool to 3rd grade. There I learned how to use tools, care for animals, live off the land, and other useful things. We dyed yarn from natural dyes. We raised seahorses for one year. Our male actually had babies. We hatched a duck from an egg. Raised gazillions of rabbits and even rats. I made an outrigger canoe from a carpet roll one year. So did my friends Scott and Stephen. The teachers took the outrigger canoes down to the casting pond in the arroyo seco. They actually floated. The school would have family camping trips where we would all go camping at Sycamore Canyon campgrounds. I had two great teachers at this school. Doris Smith and Molly Scudder. Well, they were my only two teachers. I just recently spoke to Doris, just months before she passed. She gave me all the pictures from my time at P.O. to keep. During my time at Pacific Oaks, my parents learned I had a learning disability. Turns out I am dyslexic. Many of our parents remained friends. Unfortunately, many of them have now passed. I learned about death while at Pacific Oaks. My best friend Mike got leukemia. I got to see him the week before he died. He called me just before we met at the park. He asked me not to laugh at him when I saw him. I asked him why would I laugh at him. He said because he had no hair. I didn’t care if he had hair or not, I was going to see my best friend. It was Mike’s family that let him invite me over for a parent’s party. It was that night I was introduced to magic. They had a magician who, after entertaining the adults, came over and show just the two of us card tricks. Then he taught us one. I have no idea who that magician was, but it changed my life in ways I didn’t know yet. My dad went right out and bought me some magic. I was about seven at the time. I started doing shows for anyone who would come over. My Dad even built me a puppet theatre for my puppet and Magic shows.

When I was eight, I went to my first away camp. It was located on a cattle ranch in Parkfield, CA called Cholame Creek Ranch. There I met Mama and Papa Bear, who ran the camp. I loved horses, and this was a dream come true. Mama Bear took a liking to me and my family. They asked us up during non-camp time as well. I even learned to hunt on the ranch. I was eight and too small to hold the gun to my shoulder, so my dad taught my sister and I how to shoot from the hip. At about 13 years of age, I got into rodeo. I had several horses and rode in Jr., high school, and professional rodeo all over California. I did barrel racing, goat tying and team roping as well as a few other events. It was some of the most happy time of my life. My grandparents weren’t happy about my cowgirl upbringing. See, neither of my parents knew anything about horses. They did get me my first horse Sundance when I was 10. They paid a whopping sum of $50 for him. He was old when I got him, but to me he was black beauty. He happened to be black with a white face. One blue eye and one brown. My rode horse was a registered quarter horse name Miss Mint Deck. We all just called her Hotsy Totsy Yathzee or Yathzee for short. She had come off the Los Alamitos race track and only knew how to run, but boy could she run.

I went to John Muir High School. By this time, we had moved up to Altadena, CA. My mom had gone back to school to get her teaching credential. That was the only reason I could have my horses and rodeo. While at Muir, I met John U. Zweers, who turned out to set me on a path I never imagined. He was my history teacher during my junior and senior years. He not only was a historian but also a magician. He started the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame and Magic Museum. He found out I loved magic and about two months after my graduating from Muir, he called me. The phone call went something like this:

Mr. Zweers: Miss Hallinger, I find I am in need of a magic assistant. Would you like to assist me?

Me: Sure

And that is how I ended up in magic. I went to his house to learn the routine. Then about two weeks later, I made my debut on the Hall of Fame stage. I wasn’t even nervous, just excited. I never thought I would be on stage, even though I took many acting classes at the Park as a kid.

I would go to school at Pasadena City College, work full-time at Ole’s hardware store, and do magic whenever we had a show. I took one school year off to go to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Unfortunately, I was not destined to go there very long. I had started with a major in animal science and eventually changed to archeology and anthropology. I had gotten a love for it from my father. He loved learning all about Native Americans and other cultures. He passed this on to me. We used to take driving trips when I was a kid. We would take a different route every other summer with our end destination Yellowstone. We visited many dinosaur sites before they became museums. I loved these trips. They were always an adventure.

By 1988, I took up scuba diving. I decided I wanted to do underwater archeology. I loved diving so much I quit school and started working on a scuba diving vessel out of LA Harbor. I worked on many vessels through the years. The No Sweat, Cee Ray, Peace, and the Wild Wave. The boat I worked the most on was called, wait for it, The Magician. I kid you not. I would come in from a trip on a Saturday. I would put on a cocktail dress, then drive up to the Hall of Fame in Hollywood, do our show, then drive back down to the docks to work the next day’s trip. I also started teaching marine biology for L.A. city and county field trips. I loved teaching. Also, having to talk over the boat engines and generators honed my projection skills. I can be heard even in a big crowded theatre. I did, however leave working on the boats after about 14 years. I did start teaching at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. I did a class called Key to the Sea. We taught about the local watershed. I also love grunion nights there. Where you go out to the beach to watch the grunion fish lay its eggs in the sand at the high tide line.

I did get to travel a bit. My dad’s Dad and stepmom lived outside of Guadalajara, Mexico for a while. I met my Oma and Opa in Germany for a short visit. I also did two travel abroad trips. One to Kenya and one to Oxford, England. The Oxford study abroad lasted for a whole semester. I was placed with a family to live with. We hit it off so well that I call them my English family, and I am their American daughter. I love going to England. There is so much history and theatre.

I worked with John U. Zweers for 20 years as his assistant. I won many awards from the Society of American Magicians assembly 22 for my assistant work with John. I called him my magic sugar daddy as he would take me to see lots of magic shows. When he passed in 2004, I was devastated. He had become my dear friend. I thought my life in magic was over, but boy was I wrong.

A mutual friend in magic, Ed Thomas, invited me to see the “It’s Magic Show,” in 2005. He asked why I wasn’t at the magic meetings. I explained I was only an assistant and not a magician. My friend Ed Thomas looked me in the eye and said, “You did all the magic. John just did the pattern.” Ed told me I was a member of the Society of American Magicians from that moment on, and I better be at the next meeting. So I went. The other Magicians were very inviting. I had known them for years after all. John and I performed for them often. Ed became my new mentor. He helped me take Mr. Zweers act and make it my own. He also helped me with my new rabbit act. I was moving up in magic. I became the first woman president of the Society of American Magicians Assembly 22. A big feat for a woman. Ed was my biggest supporter. Unfortunately, during my presidency, Ed passed away. Yet again, I found myself without a mentor. In stepped Michael Mezmer. He has been a fantastic mentor. He has helped me fine-tune my act and add new things to my show. I bill myself as a family magician. The Magical Kimba. I also inherited the Hall of Fame from Ed. The board made me the first woman president of the Hall of Fame. It is a great honor. I am not only a member of the Society of American Magicians (the oldest magic organization in the world), I also have joined the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Magic Castle. I actually performed at the magic castle for a Sunday brunch. Ed assisted me. I have a picture of the two of us on that day. He turned to me after the day of the show and thanked me. He was excited to have performed at the magic castle, even if it was as an assistant.

I now live with my mom and husband, Randy. They have been big supporters of my magic. My dad was also. He used to go to magic meetings with me. He joined the magic clubs so we could spend time together.

I have been very lucky in alot of ways. I have a great magic family, fantastic friends and I knew three of my great-grandparents and all of my grandparents. I had a very special bond with my grandmother. I miss them all.

When I was 15, my parents adopted an infant boy. We named him Christopher. He was my shadow. He went almost everywhere with me. Unfortunately, he turned to drug addiction. He caused our family lots of heartache. He was found dead December 26, 2022 of an apparent drug overdose. Less than six months later, right after Randy and I moved in, my dad collapsed. He was in hospital three weeks before he died. My mom, sister, and I were there with him at the end.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I struggled with dyslexia and severe self-esteem issues. I found it was easier dealing with animals than people. Not to mention I was a sickly child. As I grew up, I noticed I would get worn out easily. Came to find out I suffer from Lupus, Myasthenia Gravis, Sjogrens, Hashimotos, and Fibro Myalgia. All these autoimmune diseases stem from the illness I had at six months of age. I had to quit working a 9 to 5 job. I get IV treatments every other week for two days at home, then once a month at the hospital. I had to learn to live within my energy and health limitations. It was not easy. I was always a workaholic when I was young. Now there are days I find it hard to get to the couch. I fight my own demons. Situational depression is something I have to work through all the time. My iv treatments help alot. The nice thing about magic is I can pick and choose my gigs. When I am not feeling up to par, I don’t take any shows.

At 19, I was bitten by a dog which ripped apart the whole right side of my nose. I had about 46 stitches that night after the attack. It took a graft of cartilage and skin plus three other surgeries to make it right again. I took a big hit on my self-confidence.

I also find that when you work in male-oriented fields as a woman, I have to work twice as hard. I also find other women don’t understand. They think that men must make it easy for you because you are a girl. I know I am held to a higher standard by many of the male Magicians. Especially Michael Mezmer. He wants me to do my best. He is always telling me not to try but to do it. Wise words.

I know my childhood sounds idyllic, but it was far from. I won’t go into the details. Just know I bare the scars to prove it. I have come to terms with all that has happened to me, and I know it makes me the person I am today.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Magic is an art form. It takes practice. It is great to have a mentor to work with. Magic is not my only creative outlet. I also make historical reenactment clothing. I teach corset and Elizabethian bodice classes. I do revolutionary war and great war reenacting. I quilt and also do photography. I love taking pictures of animals, insects, flowers, and just interesting scenic views. I used to play guitar and look forward to picking it back up.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Art. There is art everywhere. In the architecture of a building, a tree, a flower, or in our words. My mother writes poetry. Turns out I’m not half bad at it myself. My magic to me is art. I perform classics of magic but change them to fit me and my personality. You can learn about me just by watching my show.

I must admit that family is also really important. Not just the one you are born into but the one you acquire on your travels.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: Kim Hallinger

Image Credits
Joan Engman took several of the photos.