It may be "gimmicky" but it's real living art. It's really old traditional stuff too.
Well basically there's a string attached to each mask which is pulled from behind when one of their arms are inside the cape. The cape can also store other hidden stuff.
They also incorporate dummy walls that can also remove parts of the costume and even give them new props to use.
But the secret isn't the point. What I can appreciate out of this is just the simplicity of the entertainment and art. It's the classic peekaboo thing. Now you see it now you don't and if it keeps the audience guessing, it's going the right way. Try to understand you're looking at an ancient art. Of course us sophisticated modern folks are spoiled with todays standards but I think there's more to it than just gimmicks.
Each mask is unique and actually represents either a real person in ancient history or a legendary character often found in classic books. The costumes correspond too. The King of Masks himself takes on the shape of several famous generals from the Romance of The Three Kingdoms "story". A good performer for this esoteric performing art usually behaves almost as if they are possesed by each different face. Most of them practice kung fu as part of their training and incorporate it into the acting.
Isn't this what music, performances, theatre, drama, & comedies are all about?
It's sad to see how quick some of you can dismiss this as gimmicky. These people are real street performers and artist that have a strong sense of tradition.
The little 10 hole harmonica and all those flashy moves like warbles and blowbends can be considered gimmicky too then! But yet we make it into an art right?
I think the problem I had with it was that the costumes were so overwhelming I didn't know where I was supposed to be looking for the change, but that's probably a cultural thing, signifiers and signified sort of stuff. The second one was actually more interesting to me because by the time I watched it I some idea of what I was looking for. Pretty cool.
And it really is meant to be overwhelming. It's part of forming the illusion!
I've heard of this one guy for example in China who performs on the streets and his routine involves telling the classic "Journey To The West" tale. So you see him take on faces of the Monkey God and other characters while incorporating the appropriate kungfu styles in context.
