More than an impersonator - China's basketball comedian dreams big

APD NEWS

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Brandon Armstrong has boosted his reputation globally over the past several years by impersonating many NBA players. It's most likely that he isn't aware of his Chinese counterpart Chen Haiyong, or better known as Chen Tiaozhan, which means 'challenge' in Chinese.

Chen, from the seaside city of Xiamen in southeastern China's Fujian province, has impersonated over 100 basketball stars both from the CBA and NBA, even some players from China's women's national team.

"There is no secret about impersonation. It just derives from your talent. I think my ability is inherited from my mom," Chen said in a recent interview.

Chen garnered his fame by impersonating Wang Zhelin, a center of Chinese national team, playing for the CBA's Fujian Sturgeons.

Post up, dribble, dunk, three-pointer, to name a few, Chen impersonated each of Wang's typical moves. In a one-minute video clip, Wang's "air kiss" at the free throw line when visiting Xinjiang Flying Tigers, was also copied.

Chen's impersonation attracted the attention from Wang himself as the latter reposted the video on his social media.

"He exaggerated a little bit, but he captured the essence. It's pretty fun," Wang commented.

"He is so gifted. It's an unparalleled impersonation of Wang's play. That's all I can say," said China's point guard Zhao Jiwei.

"I'm quite happy to earn Wang's recognition," Chen admitted, adding that it was brought about by his love for the Fujian team and support for Wang as a local.

"China's basketball league has not gained a lot of recognition. I want to promote the CBA in my way, and do my part in promoting Chinese basketball. I will be pretty pleased if I can make it," Chen noted.

Chen's impersonation of LeBron James, including the NBA megastar's signature talc spray before the match, drew a record of more than 12 million views on sharing social network Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

As The Last Dance, a 10-episode documentary revolving around the career of basketball legend Michael Jordan and especially his final season with the Chicago Bulls, was screened across the globe, Chen impersonated some typical moves throughout Jordan's career, which earned him nearly 200,000 likes on Douyin.

"I like a lot of my videos, but my favorite will always be the next one," Chen said.

Chen admitted that at first he didn't watch any highlight videos of the stars he was impersonating, he was just using his own imagination.

But as he began to realize that quality was replaced by efficiency in producing the videos, he made some changes by scheming each script and closely watching some players' highlights.

Chen doesn't rely on a professional team to shoot his videos. All other "players" in his videos are his neighbors. When no one is available, he has to set up a video camera and finish it himself.

Chen has always paid careful attention to detail in his video clips. It often takes him one or two hours to film a video lasting only one or two minutes, as a lot of the time is spent on rehearsal.

As for costumes, Chen cannot afford to buy all the authentic jerseys. Rather he has to prepare them himself beforehand by sticking a paper to the jersey representing the number. Chen also prepares a "beard" when impersonating LeBron James or James Harden.

Chen has impersonated China's women's players such as Han Xu and Li Meng, which requires him to create a ponytail before taking videos.

"Sometimes it takes about 10 minutes to prepare the props. But if I'm doing it myself, I will spend four or five hours," Chen said.

After becoming renowned in China, Chen has received sponsorship from several local companies. He even partook in the design of a selection of basketball products.

"I'm a designer who has not majored in designing," he smiled.

Chen has maintained a low profile towards his online popularity in recent years.

"Impersonator is more a tag than an achievement," he said.

Looking into the future, "I want to be among those actors playing basketball at the top level," he pointed out.

"I will continue to pay attention to basketball, but it's not everything. Family, love, friendship, there are many things I need to care about in the future.

"I want to be a good person who can contribute to the society," Chen said.