Melody Yang Makes Bubbles That Billow, Bend and Break Records

[Melody] Bubbles are almost like us.

It sounds funny but it's true.

We need to right ingredients to create

a long lasting bubble, a healthy bubble, one with colors.

Like us, we need good food, we need water.

We need the right environment for our skin.

If the air's too dry, our skin gets dry.

If it's humidity then our body is better

'cause we're based mostly off water.

Bubbles are the same thing.

[Narrator] Few people spend as much time

thinking about, making, and manipulating bubbles

as Melody Yang.

When I'm looking at the top of the bubble,

I can see the colors that are disappearing,

and it's turning into a yellow, into a gray,

until it turns into nothing.

And also little tiny holes on the top of the bubble,

then I know that that's when it's going to pop.

[Narrator] She says bubbles have a universal appeal.

[Melody] It puts us back in the moment.

It's something that takes you back to your childhood.

[Narrator] Bubbles were Melody Yang's childhood.

Her family has been putting on

a spectacularly soapy show for decades,

and her father brought the kids in to the act early on.

Me and my brother would walk on stage

and he'd put us in a bubble.

And then he would slowly teach me and my brother a routine.

[Narrator] Now Melody performs as part of the family's

Gazillion Bubble Show, blowing incredible bubbles

that swirl, form cubes, erupt like volcanoes,

and blast off with a stream of smoke.

They've even set numerous world records

for, you guessed it, bubbles.

They use special wands and tubes,

and a secret bubble formula.

Honestly, I don't know the ingredient.

My dad knows it.

[Narrator] Different mixtures are used

for different tricks.

And taking their show on the road means

adjusting the solution to the environment.

Being dry and hot, that makes the bubbles

evaporate a lot faster.

And we have to test out many things.

We have to test out the air, how humidified it is.

In a place that elevated high, the air is very thin,

so we have to make the bubbles a little bit more stronger.

We had to test out if there was any dust in the area,

if we were in a old theater.

[Narrator] Even the water matters.

We have to use water that has the right ph balance.

Tap water can be very difficult for the bubbles

because of all the chemicals in it.

[Narrator] And then there are the years

of experience needed to perfect technique.

If I'm not calm and I'm making a trick,

then it just doesn't work out, you know?

So I really, it becomes a mental thing.

So I have to calm myself down.

And I was like, I can do this.

It will work.

[Narrator] She blows bubbles within bubbles

and is able to reach inside without popping them.

[Melody] My hands have to be wet.

If they're dry, the bubble will pop.

[Narrator] These aren't just bubbles,

they're temporary sculptures that are as much science

as they are skill.

Melody showed us some of her favorite tricks,

starting with the cube bubble.

I'm gonna create my first bubble.

After that, I'm gonna create a second bubble

attached to it the same size.

And then you see the bubbles are attached,

it creates a wall, a straight line.

I'm gonna make four more bubbles around it,

and this is gonna help us create the cube.

Alright.

Now using my smoke tube,

I'm gonna put a cube in the center.

And there's our square bubble.

[Narrator] Next, the bubble carousel,

or spinning bubble.

An audience favorite.

First, I'm going to make a larger bubble.

Next, I'm gonna make a bubble attached to it the same size.

There we go.

Now, I'm gonna make a bunch of tiny bubbles

around that attachment.

[Narrator] And each of those little bubbles

attaches itself to the bigger ones,

with the soap solution acting as a kind of glue.

And that forms what she calls the carousel,

a sort of bubble belt line around the center

of the two larger bubbles.

And then I'm gonna make a bubble in the center.

Watch this.

And for the last part--

[Narrator] She blows a thin stream of air

and those bubbles start to spin.

The trick?

To use just enough air to push the bubbles

but not enough to push them off the carousel.

There's a carousel.

[Narrator] Finally, she showed us

one of her personal favorites, the planet bubble,

which creates a miniature solar system

of orbiting bubbles within bubbles.

I'm gonna clear the tube, the larger tube,

and I'm gonna fill it up with smoke.

Then I'm going to dip it into the solution

to block the smoke from coming out.

Next, I'm going to make a larger bubble,

grab it with my wand,

and I'm gonna place the tube in the center.

And take that out.

Alright.

Next, I'm going to use a smaller tube

to extract the smoke from inside,

making another bubble.

And I'm blowing a stream of air.

And there you have a planet bubble.

[Narrator] Melody says the planet bubble

is one of the hardest tricks to get right.

And learning it was one of the signs

she was ready to join the family's show.

These tricks might be too hard for most people,

but Melody says even beginning blowers

can learn some fun ones.

So first I'm going to make a bubble

using just my hands and bubble solution.

What you have to do is your hand

has to be soaked first, right?

'Cause we need some bubble solution to make bubbles.

Then I'm just going to make an OK sign,

flip my wrist back, blow a stream of air,

not too strong, not too soft.

And then now you see the bubble is getting smaller

because there's air that's escaping.

What you have to do is close that hole

and capture that air.

Cool!

This is another trick.

It's advanced.

I'm joking, no.

You can do this at home.

Your hands, both of your hands have to be soaked this time.

You're gonna cross your hands like this.

Hold your hands together.

Keep 'em tight.

And you see all those little layers of bubbles in between?

Then from a distance, not too close,

you make sure you have your bubble walls,

the films in between your fingers.

And you can make a whole bunch of bubbles

using just your hands.

What I do like about bubbles that I think is great,

it is a language that everybody understands.

No matter what country we do it,

people are always happy.

People love it.

It's just something that is so universal.

This works everywhere because it's just something

that brings a happy vibe, a happy energy.