Taiwanese magician who is known for his skills in slight of hand and close up
magic and is developing a fan base around the world.  Eric Chien  is also known
for having won the third season of the talent competition series Asia’s Got Talent.

When magician Eric Chien was a sophomore at the University of Hawaii, he would do magic tricks on campus. Then one day, he decided to leave school and go to Vancouver to do street magic and hone his craft. “I didn’t tell my parents I just made the decision and decided to go for it.  He  joined by fellow magician Dom Chambers. You can say it was his most dramatic early magic trick, making his parents believe he was in Hawaii when he was really in Vancouver. “When I first landed in Vancouver, I brought nothing but a deck of cards and $40. I didn’t bring clothes; I didn’t bring anything. It was really fun,” according to Chien.

 

Chien and Chambers both ended up  performing on Broadway in The Illusionists—Magic of the Holidays, where they astonished audiences with tricks such as close-up sleight of hand and breathtaking illusions with beer. They met on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, where they were contestants on season 14 (they both made it to the semifinals). But both men started
learning to perform magic at a young age.  Chambers, who is Australian, learned it from his grandfather at the age of five. “My granddad wanted to connect with his grandkids. He learnt magic, so he could teach us magic, and I’m very lucky he did, because that’s what set me on my path.” Chambers’ after-school job in high school was doing magic shows at kids’ birthday parties.

Meanwhile, Chien didn’t learn magic until he was in high school, where a friend would show him a card trick every day. “He taught me this really simple, simple trick, and I learned it in five minutes, and I showed it to my other friends, and the reactions I got were amazing, and I just fell in love with magic ever since.” He has now become, in his buddy Chambers’ words, “the world champion of close-up magic. The best in the world.”

The two have spent a lot of time together in the last year. And while in The Illusionists, they’ve also got to spend time with their magical heroes. “Kevin James, who is one of the founders of The Illusionists, and one of the great inventors in magic, I’ve looked up to him since I was a little kid,” Chambers said. “I’ve watched him doing the routines that he is doing in this show, when I was a little five year old doing magic—doing these shows, doing these acts. And I’m now in a show with him doing that act. It’s crazy.”

Don’t think it’s the same show every night: Chien admits he likes to change up the tricks to keep it interesting for himself, and to generate new material for his post-Broadway projects. “During my break times, I would just keep thinking of new ideas,” he says,

When magician Eric Chien was a sophomore at the University of Hawaii, he would do magic tricks on campus. Then one day, he decided to leave school and go to Vancouver to do street magic and hone his craft. “I didn’t tell my parents,” he tells Broadway.com’s Beth Stevens on #LiveAtFive, joined by fellow magician Dom Chambers. You can say it was his most dramatic early magic trick, making his parents believe he was in Hawaii when he was really in Vancouver. “When I first landed in Vancouver, I brought nothing but a deck of cards and $40. I didn’t bring clothes; I didn’t bring anything. It was really fun,” Chien said.

Chien and Chambers are currently performing on Broadway in The Illusionists—Magic of the Holidays, where they astonish audiences with tricks such as close-up sleight of hand and breathtaking tricks with beer. They met on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, where they were contestants on season 14 (they both made it to the semifinals). But both men learned magic tricks at a young age. Chambers, who is Australian, learned it from his grandfather at the age of five. “My granddad wanted to connect with his grandkids. He learnt magic, so he could teach us magic, and I’m very lucky he did, because that’s what set me on my path.” Chambers’ after-school job in high school was doing magic tricks at kids’ birthday parties.

 

Eric Chien

Meanwhile, Chien didn’t learn magic tricks until he was in high school, where a friend would show him a card trick every day. “He taught me this really simple, simple trick, and I learned it in five minutes, and I showed it to my other friends, and the reactions I got were amazing, and I just fell in love with magic ever since.” He has now become, in his buddy Chambers’ words, “the world champion of close-up magic. The best in the world.”

The two have spent a lot of time together in the last year. And while in The Illusionists, they’ve also got to spend time with their magical heroes. “Kevin James, who is one of the founders of The Illusionists, and one of the great inventors in magic, I’ve looked up to him since I was a little kid,” Chambers said. “I’ve watched him doing the routines that he is doing in this show, when I was a little five year old doing magic—doing these shows, doing these acts. And I’m now in a show with him doing that act. It’s crazy.”

Don’t think it’s the same show every night: Chien admits he likes to change up the tricks to keep it interesting for himself, and to generate new material for his post-Broadway projects. “During my break times, I would just keep thinking of new ideas,” he said.

Eric Chien was born and raised inTaiwan.

He is also known for having won the Grand Prix in Close Up at the 2018 FISM World Championships of Magic in Busan, South Korea.

 

Eric Chien was crowned the winner of this year’s International Federation of Magic Societies (FISM) Magic World Championships in Busan, South Korea.

Eric Chien is a young, talented close-up magician that has taken the public like a storm, he
is one to definitely keep your eyes on.