Quantcast
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 970

The BUBBLE maestro is back

THE GUY BLOWS BUBBLES. Babies blow bubbles, but this guy has 19 Guinness World Records for blowing bubbles. He performs onstage blowing bubbles. And he spent many millions of dollars preparing the latest show, “Bubble Legendary”, which is at the Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre until Sunday.

Vietnamese-born Canadian Fan Yang was last in Bangkok in 2011 with yet another sold-out performance of “The Gazillion Bubble Show”. By all accounts this one is even bubblier, and much better.

Fan Yang has used lasers to dramatic effect before, but this show has silver, gold and 3D “cosmic” lasers. He opens with the eye-popping “Bubble Blizzards” effect and the artistry never stops. Other segments are called “Galactica Bubbles” and “Legend of the Silver Sea”, the latter an awe-inspiring spectacle in its own right thanks to the astonishing use of lasers.

“Even as a little boy I was fascinated by bubbles, floating on the river, made by vortices and waterfalls,” he says. “I wondered how I could make the bubbles really big, and when I was 18 I began experimenting, trying to find just the right liquid solution. I came up with really good mixture that allowed me to make enormous bubbles. And that’s when I became a bubble artist!”

Here’s what impresses the Guinness Book assessors, though: Fan Yang doesn’t just make big bubbles – he puts people inside them, lots of people. His 19th record was awarded at Science World in Vancouver, Canada, after he encased 181 giggling audience members in a bubble.

That’s the sort of amazing stunt that has kept his “Gazillion Bubble Show” running in New York City and touring the globe since, tallying more than 2,000 performances, with his wife Ana and daughter Melody entertaining the audiences while Fang’s elsewhere.

Fan Yang says his shows are so popular because of the way they combine art and science. “The science is in understanding the mechanism of the fluid – the substance, the molecules and the composition of the water – and how to put them together to create a bubble solution that has enough density and elasticity.

“Bubble film is very thin and it evaporates very fast, so you have to come up with a solution that evaporates slower for the bubble to stay formed longer. I don’t have a degree in science, but I understand liquid through years of experimenting. I have my own composition, which is my trade secret, based on seven kinds of ingredients. I use distilled water because it’s softer, cleaner and safer. If I can’t get distilled water I use boiled water, because if the water is hard or has lots of minerals, it’s not going to mix well with the other ingredients.”

The art is, of course, in what Fan Yang does with that magic solution. He can create bubbles inside bubbles and on top of bubbles. He can fill them with smoke (as well as human beings), make them fly in startling fashion and burst them in unexpected ways. The bubbles become his acrobats, tumbling and doing tricks that stretch plausibility and challenge the viewer’s imagination.

Asked if he’s got a favourite effect, Fan Yang says immediately it’s the “Rainbow Table”.

“I grew up surrounded by nature and rainbows were one of the elements of nature I liked most. So it’s great to be able to create the visual effect of a rainbow with bubbles and bring it onstage.”

The appeal of Fan Yang’s craft often draws Hollywood celebrities, no strangers to special effects themselves. Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise are among the most famous names who’ve attended performances with their children in tow, although it’s a safe bet they got as much of a kick out of the show as their kids. In both cases they happily agreed to be “bubblised” – put inside a bubble. Computer-generated effects aside, you just don’t see stuff like that in the movies anymore.

And Fan Yang’s been all over television, too, appearing on Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman and Ellen DeGeneres’ shows, a Cirque du Soleil special and “Fox & Friends”, among many others.

Fan Yang’s “Bubble Legendary” is at the Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre (Esplanade Ratchada, MRT Thailand Cultural Centre) until Sunday.

Seats cost Bt500 to Bt2,000 at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com and (02) 262 3838.

See daughter Melody give a glimpse of what’s in store at https://www.YouTube.com/ watch?v=ryGMG06sd38.

 

This source first appeared on The Nation Life.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 970

Trending Articles