The newly crowned “punchline queen”

江西 郭外青

題材人物 敘議文體裁 文章詞數 建議用時294 6分鐘

難詞探意

1.sketch /sket?/ n.幽默短劇

2.dig /d?ɡ/ n.嘲諷；挖苦

3.punchline /'p?nt?la?n/ n.（笑話最后的）妙趣橫生的語句；妙語；畫龍點睛之語

4.gag /ɡ?ɡ/ n.（專業喜劇演員的）噱頭；笑話

“Men are adorable,” begins Yang Li in asketchfirst aired last year.“But it is mysterious...After all, they can look so average and yet be so full of confidence.” It seemed a gentledigby the newly crowned “punchlinequeen” of Rock & Roast（《脫口 秀 大 會》）, a television show starring amateur comics.But as Ms Yang's fans spread thegag, male netizens threw anger.Last year, a group of them reported the 29-year-old to the broadcast regulator for“sexism”.

Western-style stand-up comedy has taken off since it appeared in China a decade ago.It is proving to be a more accessible art form for female comics.“With stand-up,” says Evangeline Z, a 28-year-old comedian in Shanghai, “there are no barriers to joining as long as you can talk.” Women bring new themes to the stage.

The show Rock & Roast, which began in 2017, has been a boost for Chinese stand-up and female participation in it.Evangeline Z says the form of comedy is “huge” in Shanghai.And she expects up to half of the city's 50-odd weekly performances are by women.But male and female comics alike warn spectators that what they are about to say could be offensive and they shouldnot take offence.Xiao Ju, a 23-year-old part-time comedian, also in Shanghai, says that show goers expect to come in for “a bit of easy laughter”, so they are annoyed when the joke reveals something about themselves.

Female comedians attract stronger reactions from the audience than male ones, says Xiao Ju.Many people are still shocked when women swear on stage.Topics like shit, piss and farts are often not suggested on the stage.For fear of offending, many stick to crowd-pleasing themes like families and jobs.

Reading Check

1.What can we know about Rock & Roast according to the text?

A.It is a TV show.

B.It is a radio program.

C.It involves many famous actors.

D.It is mainly open to females.

2.What does the underlined word “boost” in paragraph 3 mean?

A.Issue.B.Push.

C.Promotion.D.Trend.

3.Which of the following is a safe topic on the stage according to the text?

A.Piss.B.Farts.

C.Jobs.D.Shit.

4.In which column of a newspaper may you read the text?

A.Travel.B.Geography.

C.Entertainment.D.History.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

But male and female comics alike warn spectators that what they are about to say could be offensive and they should not take offence.但是男性和女性喜劇演員都會警告觀眾，他們將要說的話可能會有所冒犯，觀眾不應該為此而生氣。

【點石成金】此句包含兩個從句， what they are about to say could be offensive為that引導的賓語從句，賓語從句中又包含了一個由what引導的主語從句。