Text: Liang Manyue
Editor: Liang Manyue
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preface
Eleven years ago, when most people didn't know what "talk show" was, Huang Xi was already standing on the White House stage, using his sharp and humorous language art to make the audience laugh.
He brought this new form of performance back to China, inspiring and influencing generations of young people.
However, in a recent talk show competition, the "originator" returned to the stage as a contestant, from "pioneer" to "audience", what kind of mood should he feel in his heart?
Chinese in the United States
Huang Xi was born in 1970 in Baishan, Jilin Province, in an intellectual family, and his parents gave him and his family some playful names, such as his father's name "Huang Xue" and his mother's "forced up Liangshan" because he passed 108 street lamps at work.
Huang Xi grew up with a lively personality, but did not master the proportions, often skipped class to trick or treat, and in his second year of high school, a class teacher who was also a teacher and mother severely criticized Huang Xi, making him realize that what he did would disappoint those who cared about him.
Huang Xi changed his attitude from the bottom of his grade to the top 60, and finally entered Jilin University with the first score in the school, when his father was still worried that his son had no way out, and found him a job as a boiler worker in advance, but he later became a "top student".
In 1990, Huang Xi entered the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a master's degree with the first score in the country, and four years later, he went to study in a famous university in the United States with excellent results.
When he first arrived in the United States, he found that his English level was completely unsuitable for the study life there, and at first, he tried to master words by memorizing dictionaries, but he still did not understand the words when communicating, and was often ridiculed by his classmates for not fitting in.
During his first year in the United States, Huang Xi had a difficult time, not only because he did not understand the language, but also because of cultural barriers and living habits.
For example, he often couldn't express his needs when ordering at a restaurant, and he didn't know how to chat with American classmates, and for many nights, he felt lonely and confused.
Fortunately, Huang Xi did not give up, he studied English diligently, and gradually adapted to the American lifestyle through observation and experience.
Once, when a classmate invited him to a party at home, it was the first time he had been so close to Native American culture, and he watched a stand-up comedy at the party and was immediately fascinated by the humorous art form.
Since then, Huang Xi has been determined to learn stand-up comedy, and he spends his spare time watching various stand-up show videos to analyze the language skills and typhoons of stand-up comedy artists.
He also began to try to perform stand-up comedy on his own, and at first many of the laughs were misplaced and did not resonate with the audience, but he was not discouraged.
After continuous practice, Huang Xi mastered the witty and humorous language expression skills, and after the articles he wrote about school life were published in the school newspaper, they were highly praised by English teachers, and Huang Xi began to have the confidence to use English for creation and communication.
After graduating, Huang Xi worked for an American company, at first he still felt ignored by his colleagues, he was the only Asian American in the team, and could not enter the mainstream circle, but Huang Xi did not give in, he worked hard and finally obtained the company's patent.
At company gatherings, he actively communicates with colleagues and also takes advantage of the opportunity to perform stand-up comedy, which quickly gained recognition and appreciation from colleagues.
Huang Xi later performed a talk show at the White House correspondents' dinner, facing the applause and cheers of the 2,500 audience, making him feel the pinnacle of his life.
From biochemistry doctor to comedy star
On March 17, 2010, Huang Xi was invited by the National Association of Radio and Television Journalists to perform for the president and dignitaries at the annual White House correspondents' meeting.
On that day, Vice President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and others were present, and Obama did not participate because of official business, and only sent personnel to watch it on video.
During the performance, Huang Xi improvised and said to Biden: "I have read your biography and think it is better than myself." Then he quipped Obama: "If I become president, it will reduce productivity, and one job will be divided between two people, like the president and the deputy." ”
He also adapted an old story from his childhood quarry, saying that when he was a child working in the fields, he discovered that light travels faster than sound, and that the speed of sound is comparable to the flight speed of stones.
The 15-minute segment drew laughter, Biden applauded many times, and Biden jokingly said to Huang Xi at the end of the scene, if you become famous one day, if the maid says "Biden is waiting for you at the door", don't reply to "who".
The performance video spread rapidly in the Chinese circle and appeared on China's hot search list, to the surprise of Huang Xi himself, he won the National Comedy Award and became famous in a battle.
As the saying goes, stand-up comedy is "offensive art", and before the age of 32, Huang Xi was just a doctor of ordinary biochemistry, dedicated to academic research.
That year, he accidentally came into contact with stand-up comedy, became interested in it, and began to try to write jokes, and even his wife thought he was crazy and advised him not to quit his serious job.
At first, Huang Xi performed on the amateur talk show stage in various small bars, no one knew him, and he endured for 6 or 7 years before he got his first chance to appear on the American ace comedy show "The David Letterman Show".
This is undoubtedly a huge step forward for an amateur stand-up comedian.
Over the years, Huang Xi has gradually developed his own style: the rhythm is slow and steady, the pauses are many but accurate in place, the richest jokes are told in the most economical sentences, and white space has become his crosshair and hallmark.
He is good at setting logical reversals and sudden turns before and after laughing points, which is related to his scientific rigorous thinking training.
On the American talk show stage, he often uses the character of a rural immigrant, and his speech reveals many puzzles and doubts about American society, and this outsider perspective provides him with a grip for spitting on the absurdity in American culture.
It can be said that he told his true thoughts through telling jokes, and after the White House performance in 2010, Huang Xi's popularity and prestige reached its peak.
He realized that the opportunity had come to return to China for a talk show revolution and revitalize China's talk show business with new ideas.
Chinese talk show "Grandmaster" Huang Xi: From the golden age to the loss of aura
In the late 90s, Huang Xi became famous for performing stand-up comedy at a dinner at the White House, which also gave Chinese audiences the first time to understand the word stand-up comedy.
Huang Xi's performance video at that time went viral on the Internet, even if he did not understand English, he could feel the humor from the translation, the jokes were cleverly designed, and the laughter was very skillfully arranged, which was a new experience for Chinese audiences at that time.
In that video, Huang Xi satirically depicted some phenomena in American society at that time, such as racial discrimination after 911, from the perspective of Chinese immigrants.
He wrapped serious social issues into humorous jokes that both expressed his views and amused the American audience, a technique of turning tragedy into comedy that was unprecedented for Chinese audiences.
In 2013, Huang Xi returned to China to host the talk show "Is it true?" on CCTV. I thought I could continue the glory of the United States, but I disappointed the audience.
His performance is blunt and old-fashioned, the character setting deliberately creates laughs, and the atmosphere of the whole show is awkward, which is a world away from his state in the United States.
Is it true? tries to imitate the format of an American talk show, but does not consider whether the content is suitable for Chinese audiences, and Huang Xi's jokes involve a lot of American culture, which is difficult for Chinese people to empathize.
He also wants to introduce Chinese elements, but it is clichéd and not as fresh as American audiences hearing Chinese immigration lenses to interpret events such as 911.
Later, I specially re-watched the American talk show and found that it was not the same as Huang Xi's style in the United States, mainly because the pace was fast and the laughter was dense, while Huang Xi's program was slower in rhythm and more stylized, which was not a style at all.
This makes one wonder, is Huang Xi's English talk show not really American humor? He became popular in the United States that year because the content was fresh and interesting to American audiences, but in the American talk show, it was actually average.
After returning to China, Huang Xi also realized the difficulty of promoting talk shows in China, and he did not give up, but actively expanded this field through various ways.
He published an autobiography on the origins of stand-up comedy, held stand-up comedy training courses, toured universities around the world, and persisted in performing on television.
During the tour, Huang Xi will share his experience of development in the United States, explain the performance skills of stand-up comedy, and intersperse performance programs to drive the atmosphere.
His autobiography, which details the story of how a Chinese immigrant rose to prominence in the United States, is inspirational and brings audiences closer to the art.
Thanks to his efforts, Chinese audiences have gradually accepted this imported product, and talk shows have expanded from attracting only college students and white-collar workers to different age groups.
It can be said that without Huang Xi's impetus, it is difficult for talk shows to develop in China today, but when Huang Xi was still "pioneering", all kinds of talk shows have blossomed everywhere in China.
The talent show "Tonight's Post-80s Talk Show" created by Oriental TV Station became popular throughout the country, spawning a series of talk show stars, and various satellite TV stations have also launched programs that imitate American talk shows.
The rise of a large number of new stand-up comedians who have increased the pace and increased the interaction to better meet the tastes of the current audience, have made this art take root in China. And Huang Xi's old-school style gradually lost its audience.
When Huang Xi participated in "Talk Show Conference 4", he found that his original screenwriter Li Dan had become a judge, and in the competition, Li Xi's operation directly led to Huang Xi being eliminated.
Contemporary young people are accustomed to fast-paced, laugh-intensive talk shows, and Huang Xi's style has become old-fashioned in this era. He has been out of touch with the U.S. environment for too long to keep up with domestic developments.
But as the first person to introduce this art to China, his historical status is indelible, one side of the soil and water nurture the other, the brilliance he created in the United States is difficult to replicate in China.
We should remember his contribution to China's talk show industry, not deny his artistic achievements because of his old style, and thanks to Huang Xi's hard work, this little tree can take root in China and blossom its own flower.
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