This is a kind of performance that -- yes, Daniel -- we will have to pay to see (unless we see it on TV). It is a type of comedy, and it is very funny. Like the Korean Tal Chum, it is traditionally a form of satire, also, but tolerated by the government because it is traditional – a way to express people’s anger without getting in trouble. In a typical performance, we see a conversation between one person and one or two others, always men. They wear traditional clothes – but not really elaborate costumes. They might perform in front of ten people, or ten thousand. They speak very quickly, and one of them will imitate characters’ accents, or even animal sounds, and criticize the government indirectly, over up to twenty minutes. Sometimes single performers can tell stories that last up to a month, over many performances, like The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The real heart of Xiangsheng is in its use of language. Doing it requires very advanced language skills, and it would be hard for non-native speakers to understand everything they hear. One website describes it as being a little like the famous English comedy routine, "Who's on First?" as performed by Abbott and Costello (here is a link to the script for this routine). Don thinks the U. S. comedian George Carlin might be a bit like a Xiangsheng artist, for example in this performance. The four skills performers need to do Xiangsheng are speaking, imitating, teasing, and singing. Performers can become famous, and even rich. Ma Sanli was a famous “crosstalker,” but he died in 2003 (he wasn’t rich; he was more concerned about being an artist). There is a famous foreign crosstalker today, named Dashan, who is Canadian (he might be rich). Here is a link to one of Dashan's performances.
by Gao Shang
