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Trio adds new twists to xiangsheng
By Xu Wenwen |
September 21, 2010, Tuesday
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HANGZHOU is not known for live xiangsheng, or crosstalk, performances, but three young devotees of the art are trying to change this, writes Xu Wenwen.
Three young people have taken it upon themselves to bring the art of xiangsheng to Hangzhou.
Xiangsheng, sometimes translated as crosstalk, is a traditional Chinese comedic performance in the form of a dialogue between two performers, or, less often, a solo monologue or a talk show with several characters.
Ye Mingzhu, Kun Zi and Zhang Yeting formed Xiaohai Xiangsheng Club, the only xiangsheng club in Hangzhou, back in July.
Xiangsheng is famous for its language, rich in puns and allusions, and delivered in a rapid, bantering style of tongue-twisting verbal gymnastics. Used for satire and social commentary, it relies heavily on double-meanings and other language-based and culture-specific humor.
Xiangsheng performances are fairly rare in southern China as the art originated in northern China and is typically performed in Beijing dialect or in standard Mandarin with a strong Beijing accent.
However, Ye, Kun and Zhang were determined to bring the art to Hangzhou, a typical southern Chinese city.
It started with 34-year-old Ye, a xiangsheng descendant of the eighth generation from Henan Province. Xiangsheng rose to prominence during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the first batch of xiangsheng artists were called the first generation. They recruited students, who became known as the second generation.
Ye has loved xiangsheng since childhood. He performed xiangsheng for the first time during a school talent show when he was 17. Later he enrolled in an art school and became a xiangsheng actor.
Ye moved to Hangzhou to start a business more than 10 years ago, but his heart was "still linked to xiangsheng," he said.
Ye started looking for people who shared the same interest and found Kun and Zhang - the two other shareholders in Xiaohai Xiangsheng Club.
Kun is a professional xiangsheng actor from Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. He arrived in Hangzhou two months ago.
Zhang is from Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, and just graduated from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in Hangzhou. The 23-year-old man is vigorous and talented on stage, yet he is a self-made actor who learned xiangsheng from textbooks and DVDs.
The three set up the club at Dahua Theater on Qingnian Road. They recruited seven other amateur actors to the team.
They perform a two-hour show every Saturday evening, usually drawing more than 100 spectators in the 150-seat theater. Young people comprise more than half of the spectators, which is rare for live xiangsheng shows these days. Like many other traditional Chinese art forms, xiangsheng faces an aging audience.
The three are trying to increase their fan base by "luring people from the Internet, and enriching content by adding fashionable and current affairs," Zhang said.
The club has created a website and a blog on Douban.com. They post information about performances and coupons on other popular websites.
To stay up to day, the team uses the latest trends and information to add to their skits, which discuss such things as ever-increasing housing prices and traffic jams.
However, xiangsheng is not as popular and people have said it's less critical and dull compared to its halcyon days.
"The reason that xiangsheng is boring is largely due to the development of television programs, which shorten skit times," Ye said.
"Usually, a skit takes 20 to 30 minutes and a TV program may only give 10 minutes or less.
"A long performance allows actors to tease the audience little by little and lay groundwork before delivering punch lines," he said. "The real art of xiangsheng actually still exists in theaters."
Yet in modern society people are accustomed to a fast pace, is it possible to get people to sit for two hours to listen to jokes?
Kun said it's not a problem. He says they give skits that last about 30 minutes. If the audience gives a long applause during the show, they may ad lib and stretch the skit longer.
"People spend two hours in bars to relax, why not two hours in a theater?" Zhang asks. "Plus, people need to slow down to pursue nature and peace in the fast running society."
Another issue for the club is the cultural differences between northern and southern China.
During one show, Kun blurted out a long list of food dishes in one breath while rhythmically moving his hands and body. The audience gave a lukewarm response and he was puzzled. In northern China, he would have received a big applause and shouts of "bravo" from the crowd.
He later discovered people in southern China prefer mild humor and that a tongue-twister is not very humorous if it's too fast to understand.
Kun has since revised his style to match local tastes. "It's a pity," Kun said. "But you have to please the audience."
During the two months, the young artists have created dozens of new skits to ensure their weekly show is fresh. Mostly, these works are modern takes on traditional and classical pieces created by masters.
They said if everything goes well, they will add more shows weekly.
Add: Dahua Theater, No.68 Qingnian Road
Time: 7:30pm every Saturday
Ticket fare: 20yuan, 30yuan
Three young people have taken it upon themselves to bring the art of xiangsheng to Hangzhou.
Xiangsheng, sometimes translated as crosstalk, is a traditional Chinese comedic performance in the form of a dialogue between two performers, or, less often, a solo monologue or a talk show with several characters.
Ye Mingzhu, Kun Zi and Zhang Yeting formed Xiaohai Xiangsheng Club, the only xiangsheng club in Hangzhou, back in July.
Xiangsheng is famous for its language, rich in puns and allusions, and delivered in a rapid, bantering style of tongue-twisting verbal gymnastics. Used for satire and social commentary, it relies heavily on double-meanings and other language-based and culture-specific humor.
Xiangsheng performances are fairly rare in southern China as the art originated in northern China and is typically performed in Beijing dialect or in standard Mandarin with a strong Beijing accent.
However, Ye, Kun and Zhang were determined to bring the art to Hangzhou, a typical southern Chinese city.
It started with 34-year-old Ye, a xiangsheng descendant of the eighth generation from Henan Province. Xiangsheng rose to prominence during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the first batch of xiangsheng artists were called the first generation. They recruited students, who became known as the second generation.
Ye has loved xiangsheng since childhood. He performed xiangsheng for the first time during a school talent show when he was 17. Later he enrolled in an art school and became a xiangsheng actor.
Ye moved to Hangzhou to start a business more than 10 years ago, but his heart was "still linked to xiangsheng," he said.
Ye started looking for people who shared the same interest and found Kun and Zhang - the two other shareholders in Xiaohai Xiangsheng Club.
Kun is a professional xiangsheng actor from Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. He arrived in Hangzhou two months ago.
Zhang is from Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, and just graduated from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in Hangzhou. The 23-year-old man is vigorous and talented on stage, yet he is a self-made actor who learned xiangsheng from textbooks and DVDs.
The three set up the club at Dahua Theater on Qingnian Road. They recruited seven other amateur actors to the team.
They perform a two-hour show every Saturday evening, usually drawing more than 100 spectators in the 150-seat theater. Young people comprise more than half of the spectators, which is rare for live xiangsheng shows these days. Like many other traditional Chinese art forms, xiangsheng faces an aging audience.
The three are trying to increase their fan base by "luring people from the Internet, and enriching content by adding fashionable and current affairs," Zhang said.
The club has created a website and a blog on Douban.com. They post information about performances and coupons on other popular websites.
To stay up to day, the team uses the latest trends and information to add to their skits, which discuss such things as ever-increasing housing prices and traffic jams.
However, xiangsheng is not as popular and people have said it's less critical and dull compared to its halcyon days.
"The reason that xiangsheng is boring is largely due to the development of television programs, which shorten skit times," Ye said.
"Usually, a skit takes 20 to 30 minutes and a TV program may only give 10 minutes or less.
"A long performance allows actors to tease the audience little by little and lay groundwork before delivering punch lines," he said. "The real art of xiangsheng actually still exists in theaters."
Yet in modern society people are accustomed to a fast pace, is it possible to get people to sit for two hours to listen to jokes?
Kun said it's not a problem. He says they give skits that last about 30 minutes. If the audience gives a long applause during the show, they may ad lib and stretch the skit longer.
"People spend two hours in bars to relax, why not two hours in a theater?" Zhang asks. "Plus, people need to slow down to pursue nature and peace in the fast running society."
Another issue for the club is the cultural differences between northern and southern China.
During one show, Kun blurted out a long list of food dishes in one breath while rhythmically moving his hands and body. The audience gave a lukewarm response and he was puzzled. In northern China, he would have received a big applause and shouts of "bravo" from the crowd.
He later discovered people in southern China prefer mild humor and that a tongue-twister is not very humorous if it's too fast to understand.
Kun has since revised his style to match local tastes. "It's a pity," Kun said. "But you have to please the audience."
During the two months, the young artists have created dozens of new skits to ensure their weekly show is fresh. Mostly, these works are modern takes on traditional and classical pieces created by masters.
They said if everything goes well, they will add more shows weekly.
Add: Dahua Theater, No.68 Qingnian Road
Time: 7:30pm every Saturday
Ticket fare: 20yuan, 30yuan
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