New Wave of Youth Backing the Rise of Stand-up Comedy in Chi
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Compared with Xiao Kuai, Hu Lan is much more relaxed. He is a 29-year-old part-time stand-up comedian. Graduated from Columbia University, he is currently an IT director in a large online education company in Shanghai. In November, he appeared on the third and fourth seasons of the popular Chinese comedy show “Roast” as a guest and was crowned the Talk King. In the circle of stand-up comedians, performers don't quantify their material with “how many jokes”, but with “how long it takes to tell these jokes”. Hu Lan has accumulated jokes that last approximately 45 minutes in a bit over one year, most of which have been written by him on his commute to and from work in the subway, polished by long and repeated performances. In this industry, this is quite prolific. Most of Hu Lan's jokes are related to his own life and originate from his relationship with others, travel and reading, “I normally write about people and things that I know about. For example, I'm a techie so I write jokes about programmers. I will not be rash and write jokes about doctors or police since I don't know enough about them.” It is a common but also wonderful and indescribable experience for Hu Lan to work overtime until 9 pm and then ride his bicycle to perform at a stand-up comedy show, only to return to his office to work more overtime. Hu Lan manages a tech team so overtime is the norm. He loves his challenging job and enjoys the stage of stand-up comedy at the same time. For more than a year, he has been switching between two roles and relishing both, though in different ways.
6:30 pm on September 19, Shanghai. Hu Lan hurries back to his office for more overtime after dinner downstairs. (left) Two hours later, he rides a bicycle to perform at a stand-up comedy show. (right) “Performing stand-up comedy gives me instant satisfaction and happiness while my day job gives me a long-term satisfaction and a sense of achievement.” Often times, the satisfaction derived from his day job comes with more patience, more difficulties to overcome, and also teamwork, after a comparatively longer period of time. He has never talked to his colleagues about stand-up comedy or his other identity. “I'm quite stern at work and there hasn't been an opportunity for me to bring it up.” Even though he has won recognition by the industry and audience, and now has his own half-session special show, Hu Lan is not thinking about becoming a full-time stand-up comedian. “For the time being, I really don't see more talent in me”, said Hu Lan to TMTPost Image. If he becomes a full-time stand-up comedian, he most likely will still be producing material each week that runs only for several minutes since he believes a performer's talent and aptitude have nothing to do with spare time. “If I were more prolific, given more spare time, I would consider whether I should become a full-time performer.” Stand-up comedy is still a new art form in China. To Hu Lan, stand-up comedy attracts him because it satisfies his “desire to express himself”, Different to “creating characters” in drama performances, in stand-up comedy, performers are showing themselves but not creating characters. “Your opinions on stage are yours and audience see you as a person, but not a character that is created during a drama performance. You are who you are, both on stage and off stage. If you want to hide your true self, then no one will like you.” “Performers stay the same both on and off stage, expressing their true opinions and speaking their minds, which is the biggest difference between stand-up comedy and other forms of art." (TMTPost Image seeks to accurately record those individuals in the era of Internet. TMTPost owns the copyright of all images, texts and videos. Any unauthorized use or reproduction of these documents in any form or means is prohibited. Otherwise, TMTpost reserves right to pursue legal responsibilities.) ----------------------------------------------- The article is edited by @Dido Pong from TMTPost team. The Chinese version article and photos are published with authorization from @Zack Chen. Please note source and hyperlink when reproduce. Follow us now on Twitter @tmtpostenglish, Medium @TMTPOSTandFacebook @TMTPost. 更多出色内容，，存眷钛媒体微信号（ID：taimeiti），可能下载钛媒体App （编辑：湖南网） 【声明】本站内容均来自网络，其相关言论仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本站立场。若无意侵犯到您的权利，请及时与联系站长删除相关内容! |
