DAN CHAN

PERFORMS FOR CORPORATE CLIENTS WORLDWIDE ON ZOOM!

DAN CHAN’S BEGINNINGS

Chan started his career at PayPal in 1999, which later merged with X.com, a company founded by Elon Musk. “So technically, I was at PayPal before Elon Musk,” Dan reminisces. He worked at PayPal before it became the multi-billion dollar company it is today and before his coworkers were dubbed the Paypal mafia; before they founded Yelp, YouTube, LinkedIn, and many other recognizable global brands. “I worked at PayPal so early that I was granted stock options for joining so early. I stayed 13 months and vested ¼ of my options, if I had stayed and held, I would have been worth 5 million dollars. Instead, I sold very early on,” he lamented.

After leaving PayPal, he became one of the top corporate entertainers worldwide, performing for corporate clients worldwide. In fact, he takes great pride in the fact that he has performed for a client list from A to Z, including Amazon, Apple, Bank of America, Buzzfeed, Charles Schwab, Disney, eBay, Facebook, Golden State Warriors, Goldman Sachs, Google, Grammarly, HP, Intel, Kaiser Permanente, LinkedIn, Merrill Lynch, Netflix, Nike, Oracle, PayPal, Quora, Ritz Carlton, SalesForce, Twitter, Uber, USCG, VISA, Walmart, Yelp, and Zillow. Google alone has hired him over 60 times!

His wife Kat’s client list reads very similarly.

The Chan

FAMILY

Chan met his wife Kat while he was already several years into his performing career. When asking Kat how she got into the business, she says, “I got tricked into it!”

Kat fondly recalls their chance meeting when Dan performed a card trick in order to get her to sign her name and number.

“I can’t believe I fell for that,” she said, to which Dan chimed in, “I swear, I only did that trick for her!”

Dan invited her to watch a magic show - his own - and later began to teach Kat magic and balloons. Kat excelled at balloon twisting and went from creating simple dogs to incredibly intricate balloon creations such as airplanes, motorcycles, and even an 8’ tall dragon for the Nelson Atkin’s Museum of Art. Dan proposed to Kat in 2005 at an event they were performing – The annual Allen and Company Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. After entertaining the tech titans, media moguls, and their families at the event, Dan got down on one knee and popped the question.

The couple has since welcomed the birth of their son James in 2007 and their daughter Grace in 2009. Both kids began learning to follow in their parent’s footsteps – James as a magician and Grace as a balloon artist.

Grace recently returned from the Family and Variety Entertainers Convention in Las Vegas. She swept all the categories she competed in, winning 1st place for small, medium, and large balloon sculptures.

James started juggling at 5 years old and has already been featured on ABC7 News, Kids Say the Darndest Things, and Access Daily with Penn & Teller. Most recently, he was featured in the Netflix feature ‘ME TIME’ starring Jimmy O. Yang, Kevin Hart & Mark Wahlberg. At only 13 years old, James auditioned and got into the Magic Castle’s Junior program – the most prestigious magic society in the world. James now performs solo magic shows for families, schools, and corporate events. While he still needs his mom to drive him to events, he’s excited to be making up to $1000 per appearance.

“The shows are a lot of fun, I get to save for college, and it totally beats working at McDonald’s,” James jokes.

The Pandemic Pivot

Dan and Kat began homeschooling both James and Grace in 2019, even before the pandemic. The family was performing so much that they pulled the kids out of school as clients requested them for their unique talents. James even jokes, “I was getting work burned out, and I was only in fourth grade!”

Homeschooling allowed the kids to have a flexible schedule and to take events with Dan and Kat in New York, Las Vegas, and Chicago.

In 2020, when the pandemic hit and Zoom became the new normal, Dan and James quickly pivoted to performing Zoom shows for their corporate clients. The two have performed over 550 virtual shows since the beginning of the pandemic. In December of 2020, they even set a record of 52 shows in a week and 12 shows in a day all because of embracing the medium of virtual.

Now attending American High School as a freshman, James has decided to scale back on performances during the 20222023 school year to return to traditional schooling but still fill his weekends and evenings with as many shows as possible.

As for Dan, in the last twelve months, he has done university, private and corporate shows in the Bay Area, New York, Chicago, Orlando, and Las Vegas - four times!

The Future Of Magic

So, what’s next for The Millionaires’ Mentalist?

Dan is constantly innovating. One of his newest illusions involves a spectator feeling his heartbeat in a most magical way. He explains, “I’ve always wanted to do things that other performers aren’t doing, and this illusion is just one of those things.”

Today, Dan is reaping the benefits of his innovation and pivot. He’s in high demand by corporate clients worldwide looking for something unique and different to entertain their audience.

The reason for this demand is Dan’s differentiation. His magic is sophisticated and geared toward an intelligent audience. When you watch one of his mentalist acts, it’s purely about reading minds and connecting. It’s for this reason, he’s recently rebranded himself to “The Millionaires’ Mentalist” to reflect his unique brand of magic better.

Dan’s commitment to excellence has recently led to a successful partnership with Californios, a Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco. With this collaboration, Dan is looking to the future and exploring more opportunities to partner with renowned restaurants and venues. With these shows to his credit, the collaboration will dazzle and delight the guests. He hopes more of these collaborations will also establish his reputation with foodies.

And with a recent performance for Elon Musk in Bel Air, Dan’s come full circle from his Paypal days – proving that anything is possible with a little bit of magic!

Ready to be amazed? Check out Dan Chan’s website for more information on his upcoming shows. And if you can’t make it to one of his in-person performances, how about some Zoom magic?