Chinese youth warm up to a roast for a good laugh
Print Edition
China might be new to stand-up comedy, but the country鈥檚 youth are warming up to jokes and jibes as they learn to collectively laugh at their stressors and daily problems.
The third season of 鈥淩ock & Roast,鈥 an online variety show where comedians compete against each other, has already garnered 190 million views, becoming one of the most-watched shows of its kind on Tencent Video, a video streaming platform.
By the time the season wrapped up last September, some 116 related hashtags had made it to the 鈥渉ot search鈥 list of Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, generating nearly 8 million discussions, according to the program鈥檚 account on the platform.
The new genre of entertainment owes its huge success to the country鈥檚 young generation. Data from the data tracking company Guduo Media shows that the program鈥檚 audience is largely aged between 19 and 35.
China has its own iterations of comedic performances, namely xiangsheng (crosstalk) and xiaopin (skits). They鈥檙e traditional artforms with comedians taking to the stage, usually in pairs, and trying their hand at making the audience laugh with the power of puns and poetry. But the topics they deal with mostly appeal to the older generation and have failed to attract the country鈥檚 youngsters.
But when it comes to stand-up comedy, the performers speak to the reality of being in present-day China.
鈥淣owadays, young people are under heavy work pressure,鈥 says Mei Boyuan, the producer of 鈥淩ock & Roast.鈥 The intention of the program is to encourage youngsters to make peace with life through humor.
Comedians usually discuss work dilemmas, family and relationships and mid-life crises, and weigh in on current social issues. That鈥檚 why many young people often find this genre relatable. The performers are telling their own stories in a straightforward, sometimes satirical and ridiculous, manner, but they strongly resonate with the audience, and are more likely to tickle their funny bones.
But unlike the Western format, the Chinese version is much shorter, lasting five to 10 minutes. It caters to a breed of viewers with spare time spread out over the day and in need of a quick laugh to let off some steam in a fast-paced environment.
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