Chinese Magic Fish Trick Smells Fishy
Fu Yandong is a Chinese magician who has reaped much publicity for his most unusual stunt in which he gets a group of goldfish to swim in sync.
As well as media attention, his act has sparked so much outrage among China’s animal rights groups that the state broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), has been prompted to cancel an encore performance slated for later this week.
Hunan Television, another regional broadcaster, however, has claimed that the controversial performance will go on as scheduled and that Fu has promised to reveal his secret in order to pacify his many critics.
To make things even murkier, Fu’s agent, Liang Ming, also told the press that his client would not perform the trick.
Audiences were mesmerized some two weeks ago when Fu performed the trick for the first time at the Lantern Festival Show, a gala event marking the end of China’s biggest and most important festival, the two-week Lunar New Year holiday.
Whether Fu will perform again or no, animal activists claim his act amounts to nothing short of animal cruelty. They believe the magician had either fed magnets to the fish or somehow implanted them in such a way so that they could be dragged around the tank from underneath.
“Fu Yandong, based on the tradition of secrecy in the world of magic, refuses to reveal what lies under his trick. So the public remains unclear whether the fish’s safety is assured,” claims the open letter written by 53 Chinese non-governmental organizations urging TV stations not to broadcast Fu’s act.
“My fish are living happily,” says Fu, but his assurances have fallen on deaf ears.
View the trick in the video below and judge for yourself whether or not the six fish in the tank who swim in formation on command are being abused.
While an old proverb tells the tale of something fishy in Denmark, the smell seems to have carried over the oceans and the globe and reached Japan.
(Link)
By MDeeDubroff on 26-02-2011
