Ever thought comedy could hone your language skills? If not, then think again. One of our editors here at TWOC was once involved in the expat comedy scene: "I'd say half the Chinese people who show up will think it's hilarious, and the other half will have no clue what's going on but just want to improve their English," he says. Happily, it cuts both ways, and the nearest the Chinese have to stand-up comedy is cross-talk. Though China's most famous foreigner Dashan, said that the closest precise analogue to cross-talk is something more along the lines of Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" sketch.
Now, apart from language, further barriers to "getting'" the humor lie in social and cultural understanding. If you think you are all right on this front then, listening to "cross-talk" or 相声 can be a great way to for you to start bunging a couple of idioms into your next conversation.
We have in the past suggested learning Chinese through movies, either by watching overdubbed and subtitled versions of your favorite English language movies, or by just straight-up watching of Chinese movies. This works, but the problem is that Chinese actors often overplay the dramatic qualities of their voices on camera, as indeed do a lot of English-speaking actors. Think of the Shakespearean craft–few people speak with that tone in everyday conversation. So by slavishly following this method, you might end up sounding excessively grim or formal, especially if you're working your way through our list of the top 10 Chinese gangster movies. You probably don't want to spend your life speaking to Chinese people in a voice which suggests you're going to grind them into a powder, so to work on your accent, cross-talk is a great option too, as the performers normally speak in a regular, conversational tone of voice, particularly if it's an act with two (对口相声)or more (多口相声) performers.
There have been a couple of titans of the art, and each of them essentially has their own style, defined by format, genre, and most controversially, their message, if indeed they have one. The easiest to understand is Ma Sanli 马三立, who has been one of the dominant figures in the art for the best part of a century.
Ma Sanli (马三立)
Biography
Ma Sanli, of Hui ethnicity, was born in Beijing in 1914, but grew up in Tianjin. Hailing from a line of performing types, his childhood was steeped in the art of cross-talk. When the Cultural Revolution arrived, however, Ma Sanli was condemned as a "rightist", like so many artists of his generation. During numerous "self criticism" sessions he had to undergo during this time, he attempted suicide but was saved by passers-by. Between 1958 and 1977, he was sent down four times to do hard labor, such as shoveling coal and street sweeping. After his rehabilitation, however, he returned to cross-talk, and again established himself at its head. He died in 2003.
