Zhou Libo and Guo Degang, two legends in the crosstalk industry, once jointly responsible for the grassroots culture of crosstalk in an era. However, fate is like an unfair playwright, weaving two very different pictures in these two superstars.
Ten years ago, a "coffee garlic theory" spread from Shanghai to Beijing, setting off a north-south dispute. At that time, Zhou Libo and Guo Degang, two superstars known as "Southern Zhou and Northern Guo", began a fight between the open and the dark. However, ten years have passed, and this turmoil has not subsided by the washing of time, but in 2023, it has ushered in a more dramatic ending.
Ten years ago, Zhou Libo's sentence "How can a garlic eater and a coffee drinker be together?" It caused an uproar and brought his grudge with Guo Degang to a climax. This sentence is not only a contempt for Guo Degang, but also a disdain for the northern crosstalk community. Looking back at Zhou Libo now, perhaps we can see that he is not destined to go far.
At that time, Zhou Libo, conceited and elegant, compared himself to coffee and Guo Degang to garlic. Born in Shanghai, he was deeply influenced by Shanghai culture, considered himself a noble Shanghainese, and had a disdainful attitude towards northern crosstalk. His arrogance and conceit gradually made him incompatible with the humble and humorous crosstalk atmosphere, and he lost the motivation to learn and improve.
At the same time, his lifestyle became frivolous and debauched, and violent incidents and bad habits became his labels. In 2017, the incident of his arrest in the United States plunged him into legal disputes and public opinion, and he lost his freedom and dignity. He was forced to cancel all performance plans and faced hefty fines and compensation. Not only did he offend the audience and peers, but he also lost the trust and support of his family and friends. All this may be the price of his arrogance and immodesty in his early years.
Unlike Zhou Libo, Guo Degang adheres to his crosstalk beliefs and fights back Zhou Libo's sarcasm with humor and wit. He did not give up because of the contempt of others, but worked harder to inherit and develop the crosstalk culture to a more brilliant one. He not only has a wide influence and popularity in China, but also goes abroad and performs overseas, and is welcomed and praised by Chinese and foreigners. He has trained many excellent comedian and injected fresh blood into the crosstalk world. Guo Degang's tenacity and persistence allowed him to swim against the current in the whirlpool of fate and go all the way to the peak.
Today, Zhou Libo has fallen silent on the edge of the entertainment industry, and his former glory and glory have become clouds. Guo Degang, on the other hand, still stands at the peak of his career and carries forward the crosstalk culture. He is not only an outstanding comedian, but also a cultural inheritor and leader. He tells us with his actions that humility, persistence and hard work are the keys to success.
Coffee seems elegant, but it can't hide the bitterness; Garlic may seem vulgar, but it can also give off a fragrance. Nowadays, coffee is nowhere to go, and garlic is still laughing. This is an ending determined by character, fate and choice, Zhou Libo and Guo Degang, two former peers, are now two different paths. Their stories also make us understand that the entertainment industry is always a dramatic stage, and no one can escape the arrangement of fate.