Dennis Regling, a balloon artist and magician from Freeport, says he can create any animal out of a balloon if he can see it in his head.
Dennis Regling, a balloon artist and magician from Freeport, says he can create any animal out of a balloon if he can see it in his head.
"It takes a twisted mind to make twisted balloons," he said.
Regling will be one of the featured performers at the Kidz Expo, sponsored by The Times-Reporter, on March 24 at New Towne Mall in New Philadelphia.
Regling can create anything from animals to hats to flowers. On one occasion, he made a dog on a unicycle juggling three balls out of a single balloon. "I like challenges," he said.
He learned how to do it from reading library books. "It's not as hard as you think. It's a matter of technique, practice and imagination," he said.
Regling performs his magic show several times a year at the Victorian Vaudeville Theater in Wheeling, W.Va., where he has been the house magician for the past 12 years.
Regling, who has a doctorate in theology, and his wife, Karen, stay busy. They have done science programs in about 2,400 schools in 30 states over the past 17 years. In the summer months, they do a children's ministry and prison ministry.
"I keep busy," he said. "I have been very blessed that people know who I am."
In addition, he visits schools to do a program called "Don't Play the Bully Game." He does it at school assemblies with lots of volunteers and lots of visual effects. He has been giving the program for close to 10 years.
"My program equips students on how not to be bullied and how to handle it when they are," Regling said. "We can't end it. There will always be bullies. But we can teach kids how to respond."
He said bullying isn't worse than it has been in the past. It has always been a part of growing up. It has just become more violent and attracts more attention.
"There is always someone trying to dominate someone else," he said. "I teach young people how to respond in a way that defuses the situation rather than escalating it. If you take the fun out of bullying, the bully won't want to to do it anymore. Their goal is to make you uncomfortable, to make you cry. You just have to take the fun out of it."
But his program at New Towne Mall on March 24 will be designed just to make people smile and laugh.
"This will just be a fun time, a chance to make people smile and leave a little inflated memory," Regling said.
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
On Twitter: @jbakerTR