![]() ![]() Dan Chan PresentsĪsked what technique face-changing employed-misdirection, sleight of hand, illusion-he replies cryptically with one word: speed. You don’t even have to be a contortionist to do that,” scoffed Chan, who’s performed magic at Silicon Valley tech companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Adobe and for billionaires and companies around the world. Even harder than being sawed in half? “Being sawed in half-ha! That’s easy. I first saw it in San Francisco at a Chinese restaurant, Chili House, sitting inches away from a bian lian performer from China.ĭan Chan, a Bay Area magician who performs bian lian, calls it “one of the most difficult and demanding things I’ve done in magic.” Harder than pick-pocketing, mind-reading, and unlocking iPhones, he adds. You can also see it in other Chinese cities, like Beijing, during Chinese New Year and Autumn Festivals, and, if you’re lucky, in the U.S. “Don’t waste your time trying to bust this guy by taping the show and slowing it down…He’s just too darn good.” Magicians Penn & Teller called it “one of the most amazing magic things I’ve ever seen” during their Magic and Mystery tour of China, a 2003 TV special. “Quick as the wind, fast as lightning,” say the lyrics, plus a rapid staccato chorus of “Look, look, look, look, look, look, look/Change, change, change.” That lightning analogy is no joke. Dan Chan Presentsīian lian is always accompanied by the same melodramatic song, an ode to the craft. (At Shufeng, an added bonus is that you can have a head and shoulder massage during or before the opera.) Short half-hour performances of face-changing alone can also be found in Jinli Ancient Street, or the Wide and Narrow Lanes, a mélange of dozens of shops, restaurants, and tea houses. Tea is generally included if you watch it at a teahouse, as I did. “The main places to see it are Shufeng Yayun, a teahouse in Chengdu Cultural Park and Fu Rong Gui Cui, a theater,” according to Wild China, a tour operator with a U.S. In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, it’s part of every Sichuan Opera, which also features acrobatics, high-pitched singing, shadow puppetry, and live music. ![]()
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