'Bubbleogist' forms circle of fun

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): The children went ooh and aah as the man in black fascinated them with his bubble mastery.

He put bubbles inside bubbles. He pulled out a smaller bubble from a bigger one, without destroying anything. He even pulled a child onto the stage, trying to shell him with a giant bubble.

Meet Fan Yang, hailed as "the Master of Bubbles". His black outfit makes him look more like a magician than a physics enthusiast. But forget illusions and magic. His 30-minute show, being staged at Dunia Fantasi in Ancol, North Jakarta, until July 21, proves that science is more than just a boring subject.

Science can also entertain.

Born to a Vietnamese mother and Hungarian father, Yang has always been fascinated by stars, clouds and particularly rainbows. But, unlike other children, he did not stop by simply admiring or wishing upon the stars.

He was curious to find out how these natural phenomena occur. He also dreamed that one day he could control the universe.

Yang may not be able to control the whole universe, but he can certainly manipulate the world of bubbles. One Christmas one of his friends gave him a bubble play-kit as a present. When Yang started to experiment with it, he noticed how the bubbles could reflect rainbow-like colors. The spectrum of lights interested him and inspired him to study bubbles.

For the past 14 years, Yang has been studying the world of bubbles. His studies are a combination of physics and chemistry. He studies the light reflection, the right liquid soap and various physical reactions.

His learning has paid off. The 34-year-old Yang has been traveling around the world for 12 years, entertaining children in Canada, where he now resides, the United States, Europe, South America and Asia with his bubble tricks. But so far he has not had the chance to perform in Vietnam, where he spent his first two years, or the war-torn Yugoslavia, where he grew up.

"Someday, I will perform there," said Yang, who is nicknamed "bubbleogist," meaning a scientist of bubbles in the States. In 1994, he entered the German version of the Guiness Book of Records with his seven-feet diameter giant bubble. Yang also set the record for the two previous years, in 1992 and 1993.

"It was great, achieving something that we thought could only be a dream," said Yang.

Indeed, in his hands, bubbles do not seem to be as fragile as they usually are. Yang's hands can easily touch a bubble without breaking it.

Amazed, his little audience tried to imitate his skills. But as soon as their fingers touched the bubbles floating toward them... pop! The bubbles burst into thin air.

Yang takes pride in his skills and show, boasting: "This is a unique kind of entertainment. Maybe I am the only one who has made bubble science entertainment."

Accompanied by dreamy, New Age music and bright colorful lights in contrast to the black drop, Yang's performance transfers us to a semifantasy world.

The serious-looking Yang is no David Copperfield. There are no high-charged theatrical acts. There are some funny acts, such as when Yang gobbles some smoke-filled bubbles and exhales the smoke.

Yang is not a chatterbox either. The only time he talked during the show was when an amateur MC, with her heavy Indonesian-accented English, chats with him and pushes a message to the children that they too should learn science if they want to be like Yang.

The audience does not seem to mind at all. They are satisfied that Yang communicates with his fascinating bubbles and occasionally, with his smile.

Smoke

Yang not only performs with regular air bubbles, but also uses dry ice and smoke in his performances. He smokes a cigarette and fills in some bubbles with the smoke he exhales.

No doubt, this creates a contradictory image. While blowing bubbles is usually considered an innocent children's pastime, smoking is largely considered a forbidden adult activity.

"I don't smoke myself," Yang said, adding that he smokes on stage purely for practical reasons. "I use the smoke to make the bubbles more obvious. If we put a transparent bubble, instead of a smoky, white one, into another transparent bubble, it will be difficult to see the effect."

Although the Master of Bubbles seems to know almost every bubble trick, the little round globules of liquid and gas sometimes have a mind of their own. They are unpredictable.

Therefore, don't expect every show to be perfect. In one show, Yang tried to cover himself with a giant bubble, but the bubble kept bursting halfway. The same thing also happened when he tried to shell a young boy with his bubble.

Yang said that bubbles are very fragile and easily affected by the wind, dust and humidity. The more humid, the better. The more dusty a room is, the more fragile a bubble is.

Yang occasionally sprays water into the air to add humidity and clear dust from the air. Yang also adds a few ingredients into the soap mixture to make the bubbles stay longer.