Opinion / Raymond Zhou
Best comedy knows how to tickle audience
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-09 07:25
When you visit a Northeastern city like Shenyang or Changchun, you've got
to catch a show of "er ren zhuan" (two-person act), a local form of
standup comedy, singing and acrobatic stunts all rolled into one. It is
becoming as de rigueur as a Broadway show is to a traveler to New York.
Unlike most theater entertainment you'll encounter in China, the "er ren
zhuan" performances are not funded by the state, nor do they feature a
battalion of performers with diplomas from vocational schools. In my
mind, that is why they fill the house night after night.
For much of the past several decades, performing arts in China have been
a kind of "official affair", with performers on government payroll and
programs reflecting government policies rather than public sentiments.
Since the 1980s, these flowers of the "arts" have been withering.
Occasionally, a troupe invests a few million yuan of taxpayers' money to
put on a new show, which would be performed half a dozen times, get some
awards from government agencies, find itself into somebody's work report
of grand achievement and then fold forever.
As virtually none of its audiences are actual ticket-buyers, the show
would reap only so-called "social benefits", a euphemism for losing one's
pants financially but pleasing some higher-ranking officials. Truth be
told, it is not devoid of artistic merit. It is just detached from the
needs of ordinary people, including the high-brow ones.
Then, there are the wild flowers of grassroots entertainment, forms like
"er ren zhuan" in the Northeast and Shaoxing Opera in Zhejiang. They tend
to blossom not because of - but despite - government intervention. They
may not be as polished as the routines by professional performers, but
they make people laugh and cry, which is what good entertainment is
supposed to do.
Some officials have the mistaken notion that arts and entertainment are
all about prettily decked-out singers warbling praises of the latest
official slogans that are in fad. They present squeaky-clean images and
simulated joys. Like postcard sceneries, they are better to be marveled
at than embraced with your heart.
If the official entertainment is like the powdered face of an aristocrat,
grassroots entertainment is like the sweaty face of a young man toiling
in the field. It may be gritty, but full of vitality and closer to life
as we know it. The Northeastern comedy draws much of its gags from daily
life. Unfortunately, the show I caught has already been "purified" due to
censorship pressure.
Traditional "er ren zhuan" has bawdy jokes galore. That may get into
trouble with censors who have obviously never read such literary classics
as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or Boccaccio's Decameron. So, the
performers adopted a "greening" strategy, removing much of the R-rated
banter, flushing away some of the boisterous vigor in the process.
My friends told me that if I want to catch a show with "original flavor",
I'd have to venture out of downtown and into makeshift venues where
roving performers have not yet caught the attention of authorities.
Pressures have also been growing on text-message jokes, one of the few
remaining platforms where ordinary people can invent something funny and
share with friends. Granted, there are messages that should not be sent
unsolicited. But as long as the sender does not act out of malice, this
is the cellphone equivalent of a silent "er ren zhuan" moment.
The best comedians may not be properly educated or certified, and may not
be government sanctioned, but they know how to tickle an audience.
Comedy, like all live entertainment, cannot thrive in an over-regulated
environment. The more comedy is "greened", the less it'll be relevant to
our times.
Email: raymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 06/09/2007 page4)
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