Here Comes the Show

By staff reporter DENG DI

HAVE you watched this？ A singer sings Justin Biebers song Baby on stage， while his partner alongside him plays the kuaiban， a pair of bamboo clappers which are played at fast tempo and in a lively way to go with the singing.

Or have you seen such a dialogue？ A young Chinese man slows down his words to ask a foreign student， “W-h-e-r-e a-r-e y-o-u f-r-o-m？”The latter responds merrily by singing a famous Chinese lyric， “My hometown is where peach blossoms flourish.”

These moments appear on the stage of ICOMIC studio. Their intriguing performances make audience smile and laugh out loud from time to time.

Fluent Chinese

Xiangsheng is a form of traditional Chinese comedic performing art. Via facial expressions， body movement， and the use of language， performers amuse the audience. Xiangsheng can be performed by a group of performers， two performers， or a solo performer.

ICOMIC is a comedic studio featuring xiangsheng. Here， a group of vibrant young people from China， Ukraine， Russia， Japan， and Egypt， among other countries or regions， gather together. They have different faces， but can all speak fluent Chinese. Most of the foreign performers have an understanding of China in a far more in-depth way than their predecessors. There is one sentence which perfectly describes this phenomenon， “We not only know about kungfu and the Great Wall， but also Chinese ancient classics of The Book of Songs and Lisao.”

Yegor Shyshov， a bright young man， is one of them. He is a key performer at ICOMIC who comes from Ukraine and has now settled in Beijing. Before becoming a Xiangsheng performer， he was an anchor in China Tianjin Radio and TV Station.

Shyshov turned into a xiangsheng performer halfway. While studying English at a university in Ukraine， he came to Beijing Language and Culture University （BLCU） to learn Chinese through an exchange program. In his spare time， to better practice Chinese， he learned xiangsheng from Ding Guangquan， a master in this field. Through it， Shyshov says he has gained a deeper understanding of China and the Chinese language. For example， when he was learning to sing Shandong lüju opera， Ding told him， “You have to understand the hospitality of Shandong people in order to sing it well.”

Shyshov excels at interacting with the audience in humorous dialects like Tianjin dialect. Besides， he is able to skillfully kick in catchy Chinese opera lyrics， proverbs， tongue twisters， and ditties during his act.

Shyshov and other foreign performers at ICOMIC bring topics covering many aspects of Chinese life into the art. For example， in a Spring Festival performance， several foreign actors talk about the optimal destination for married couples to celebrate the Spring Festival. The Chinese audience immediately warms up to the idea of foreigners discussing such topics.

Foreign people have their Chinese greatly improved by performing xiangsheng. Through practicing tongue twisters and singing ditties， they conquered the difficulties of pronunciation and intonation. And learning the cultural knowledge behind each joke and punchline is very helpful for understanding the Chinese culture.

Xiangsheng is Not a Chinese Talk Show

How did Shyshov and his foreign partners get familiar with life in China？ The credit should go to Yan Jiabao， the founder of ICOMIC， a young man from Beijing.

“Xiangsheng is a combination of appearance and voice. It requires four basic skills， speaking， imitating， teasing， and singing，” Yan said. When performing for foreign audience in foreign countries， Yan always uses xiangsheng in pinyin to introduce this performing art. He rejects the idea of a Chinese talk show.

ICOMIC has its own identity. Yan has been insisting on presenting the characteristics and quintes- sence of traditional Chinese culture when performing xiangsheng abroad. “It is because xiangsheng is unique to China.”

For performances in English， they also use some local jokes to get closer to foreign audience. “Xiangsheng is quite different from stand-up comedy. It has many rules， forms and techniques， which we try to pass on，” Yan Jiabao said.

Specifically， in terms of rules， once performers get on the stage， their costumes， the gown， and props， a folding fan， a handkerchief， and an attention-catching wooden block， will instantly bring the audience into the specific atmosphere. Some of the techniques used in the performance， like “paving the way for partners，” or how they pass on the words to partners， are central to the tradition.

In China， ICOMIC performs mainly in Chinese mixed up with a little bit of foreign languages when necessary. Abroad， they perform in English. At present， the language barrier still remains the biggest problem when performing abroad. “In order to bridge the language gap， we also use body language and exaggerated words to express what we want to convey. Many of the comedic effects are built on obvious conflicts. The problem is how we translate the jokes of Chinese cultural meanings to foreign audience，” Yan said.

Yan Jiabao and Shyshov and their coworkers made continuous efforts and worked with students from foreign language schools to translate and polish the scripts repeatedly.

The other side of inheritance is about the content. In foreign countries， they will choose Chinese tongue twisters， riddles， lantern riddles， Spring Festival couplets， and traditional operas for performances.

With these rules， the art of xiangsheng becomes very specific and unique.

“Writing Xiangsheng Scripts Is Like Going through Labor”

Behind the audiences laughter is the hard part of xiangsheng art. Xiangsheng performers use lighthearted ways to make the audience laugh and relax so that they can forget their worries. But the creative process is far from easy.

Everyone at ICOMIC is a contributor to the script. They often work in small groups and talk about interesting topics. The fun parts will be put into the scripts. The following rehearsal is a process of recreation， where something would be overthrown. Each performance may be different， and each performer with their own qualities will produce different comic effects.

“The writing is a process of reverse thinking， like decoding a message，” Yan said. “For example， to write a story that happens in a coffee shop， I would think things beyond the coffee shop， like the origin of coffee beans. Its like going through labor. You need to contribute 99.9 percent of your efforts， but you also need 0.1 percent of good luck. A sudden inspiration will improve your work greatly.”

Performing xiangsheng with foreign partners undoubtedly adds some new difficulties. The past 40 years of reform and opening-up in China has also witnessed an inflow of foreigners. With the growth of Chinas national strength， the expanding job opportunities， and the mushrooming Confucius institutes， Confucius classrooms and other Chinese-learning institutions abroad， it is no longer news seeing foreign friends speaking fluent Chinese. As a result， in xiangsheng， the Chinese audience is demanding more. They no longer laugh just with some tongue twisters or one-liners spoken by foreigners in Chinese.

“Now people have higher standards. Simple greetings like nihao or xiexie are nothing special， but if Shyshov takes me to a Beijing roast duck restaurant and says， ‘Could you please put more cilantro， but no scallions in my dish， it feels like he is a part of Chinese life and people will be interested，” Yan added.

A Promising Future

ICOMIC employs mostly male comedians， but there are also females like Tina Huang. Her mother is from Russia and her father from China. Like other female comedians， her role as a female xiangsheng performer can reflect some of the stereotypes toward female comedians in society. She is supposed to be neither too sweet nor too open. This dilemma makes the way for female xiangsheng performers much narrower than men. With deliberations， Huang is set as a lovely and conservative female figure on the stage. The day when her role is less limited is yet to arrive.

When it comes to acting， ICOMICs principle is to be flexible. They will choose the corresponding topics based on the age and the preferences of the audience. They actively cater to the taste of the audience.

The rapid development of the Chinese society has spurred a flourishing entertainment industry. Young people suffering from heavy pressure turn to comedy in their spare time for comfort. In recent years， relaxing comedy shows are becoming more and more popular.

The stage is set， and the audience is seated. Here comes the show.