Zhao Lin does an open-mic show in Beijing on August 27
Zhao Lin, a native of east China’s Anhui Province, has allergic rhinitis and had to leave Beijing six years ago because he couldn’t adapt to the relatively dry climate. But this year, he moved back to the capital and dons a mask on his way to the cafe for his interview with Beijing Review.
He said the attraction is stand-up comedy, which he wants to develop as his fulltime profession. “Compared to my stand-up comedy career, my physical discomfort is not even worth mentioning,” Zhao told Beijing Review.
The career
When Zhao, in his 30s, left Beijing in 2013, he didn’t even know what stand-up comedy was, even though there were already some comedy clubs and open-mic shows in the city back then. Zhao, known as Xiaopao, did his first open-mic show in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, in late 2017.
“There were more than 50 people in the audience and I was the last one on stage,” Zhao recalled. “I can’t remember clearly what I said since I was super nervous. I performed for more than 10 minutes and it was awkward because my jokes didn’t go over very well.”
Nevertheless, Zhao was certain that he was right for his chosen career. “I am an introvert and would rather be by myself than go out with friends. But I have this strong urge to express myself and share my ideas with others, even if they may be considered crazy.”
Zhao later discovered that most standup comedians have a similar personality. With the boom of live-streaming stand-up comedy programs including Roast (Tucao Dahui) and Rock & Roast (Tuokouxiu Dahui) over the past several years and the popularity some comedians have gained, Zhao started to seriously consider developing his talent as a full-time career. Beijing, with many more comedy clubs and over 20 open-mic shows a week, won out easily over Nanjing.
Li Xiaobai, a 31-year-old working in Beijing, was surprised to see a peer’s performance online. Two years ago, when Li made her first attempt at stand-up comedy, Wang Lu was in the same circle and was also a newbie.
Zhao currently has no full-time job in Beijing. He lives in an eastern suburb and takes the subway 40 minutes to get to downtown Beijing. Since June when he returned to Beijing, with his frequent presence at open-mic shows, Zhao has begun to make a name for himself.
In May 2012, Wang Zijian, a Beijing native who trained in crosstalk for years, hosted a TV program titled Post 80s’ Talk Show on Shanghai’s Dragon TV. The program, which ran for about five years, gathered a group of comedy writers and comedians and is regarded as an incubator for many of today’s standup comedy stars.
Aside from open-mic shows, Zhao also gives commercial performances on Fridays and weekends. The pay is low, about 200 yuan ($28) each, he said, admitting that he has to live on his savings.
The fun
“In Nanjing, I could only do one openmic show a week, but in Beijing, I can do about 15,” Zhao said. “This is very crucial since open-mic practice is very important for comedians.”
“I gave up after a short time in 2017 but she persisted,” Li told Beijing Review. “If I hadn’t given up, perhaps I would also be there too.”
Li Dan, who initially was a writer for the program, went on to be one of the founders of the Fun Factory, the company that launched Rock & Roast. He is now a comedian as well as the planner of the program. Currently, he is worth about 100 million yuan ($14 million), according to some reports.
本文通过研究得出,经护理,观察组的肺功能指标以及血气分析指数中的PCO2、PO2均好于对照组,两组对比结果存在明显差异(P<0.05)。说明矽肺病患者采取康复护理,能够有效提高患肺功能以及血气分析指数。
二是做好对接工作。做好研究项目与生产实践、研究人员与基层现场、成果与应用单位等科研活动几大关联界面的有效对接，保证做出高水平、高质量，提交的成果既要有针对性，还要有用能用。
Li was the first on stage on August 27, telling jokes about her husband. “Let me tell you a big secret about my husband,” Li said. “He is actually bald, and he has hair pasted onto his scalp. Every morning when I wake up, I see a bald head with patches of loose hair and the view is just spectacular.”
She is looking forward to getting commercial performance invitations. “I would say everybody that does open mic wants to be doing it,” Li said. “But many regard it as only a hobby to do in their spare time. Only about 30 percent want to be full-time stand-up comedians, since it is still not easy to make enough money to live on. Maybe it will get easier in the future.”
Li lives in a western suburb of Beijing and her commute to downtown can easily take over four hours. She has to leave early for every show to catch the subway.
“Now, the organizer sets up a chat group on the messaging app WeChat and those who want to perform must submit their jokes ahead of time. Only after they are approved, can a comedian win a spot on the line up,” Li said.
The open-mic shows are a refuge from her regular life. “I have depression and take medication every day for it,” Li said. “As far as I know, most stand-up comedians suffer from depression. To be a comedian may worsen the situation for some, but for me, it is a way to relieve the pressure.”
The industry
In China, stand-up comedy is always compared to xiangsheng, or crosstalk, a traditional comedic performance featuring a dialogue between two people. It is regarded as a highly skilled performing art that requires years of practice.
根据自由旋转链的均方末端距公式(2),代入基本变量关系L=nl及式(9)和(11),当cos θ趋近于1时,可得
A poster of live-streaming stand-up comedy program Rock & Roast featuring Li Dan, a comedian and the planner of the program
Joe Wong, known in China as Huang Xi, a well-known Chinese-American stand-up comedian, once said that crosstalk had a strong impact on him, since he grew up listening to crosstalk shows on the radio. For Wong, stand-up comedians are freer to touch on more subject matters compared to crosstalk performers, who pay more attention to traditional skills.
待在家里的那几天，父亲的脸笑成了一朵花，我却犯了愁：一是连着几日，我都没有找到合适的养老院；二是我不知道该怎样跟父亲提这件事。
Wong has also had an impact in China. His 2011 stand-up performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner inspired a new breed of Chinese comedians. Back then, stand-up comedy clubs had already begun to spring up in Beijing and Shanghai but had yet to receive much attention.
At an open-mic session on August 27 in a small cafe, Zhao was voted the bestperforming comedian by the audience. “He is hilarious,” said an audience member who voted for him. “I think he has a promising future in this industry.”
Li started doing open-mic shows again earlier this year, and according to her, the atmosphere for standup comedy in Beijing is much more heated compared to just two years ago. Comedians must compete to win a spot on open-mic shows now, while in 2017, as long as a comedian was willing, he or she could go right up on stage.
“Even though more comedians are becoming well-known in China, this art form is still in its nascent stage and we eagerly need more new talent,” Li said during the program.
For Li, stand-up comedy may seem to have low entry barriers, but there are many hurdles. “We have to rack our brains to find topics for our jokes and properly deliver them to the audience,” Li said. “We also need to put in a lot of practice to synchronize our rhythm with our body gestures. It is definitely no small feat. Most of us suffer from insomnia.”
Shi Yan, an English teacher and a popular stand-up comedian, has ventured to train new talent for the industry. He went on tour in 15 Chinese cities in 2018, and held a series of training camps along the way, targeting college campuses as his main base.
CCOS技术发展至今己经成为一门比较成熟的先进光学制造技术，国内外学者在改进驻留时间求解算法、优化抛光轨迹等方面进行了大量研究。然而，该技术仍有一些问题需要解决：对于大口径光学元件加工驻留时间的计算，应当开发出更高效、稳定的适用于大口径光学元件加工的驻留时间求解算法；在轨迹规划方面，近年来提出了多种针对CCOS技术进行优化的抛光轨迹规划方法，但相比于铣削、磨削等传统轨迹规划方法的研究，其丰富性和成熟性还有着很大差距，存在巨大的发展空间。同时，在改进的驻留时间求解算法中结合抛光轨迹规划，探讨所提出的算法在优化抛光轨迹规划中的应用将是优化光学元件加工效率与精度的有效手段。
去中心、匿名性和不可篡改，一起构成了区块链的三大技术支柱。因为区块链正处于从比特币实验走向市场试商用的阶段，因此这些技术特征在实际的商业应用中，还需要做很多的妥协和再平衡工作。
“We are planning to cooperate with colleges and discuss the possibility of listing stand-up comedy as an elective,” Shi said.
在国家逐渐实现社会主义新农村的建设过程中，最关键的是提高农民素质，加强培训，争取培育一批有能力、有技术、有素质的新型职业农民。虽然经过几年的努力，各地培育工作取得了较大进展，但纵观整体培育工作，仍然还存在诸多应引以重视的问题。
Stand-up comedy is becoming a serious business By Yuan Yuan
Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo
Comments to yuanyuan@bjreview.com
标签：轨迹论文; 算法论文; 技术论文; 光学论文; 时间论文; 社会科学总论论文; 社会学论文; 社会生活与社会问题论文; 《BeijingReview》2019年第37期论文;