1. Zhao Benshan: The growth road from a grassroots cross talk actor to a comedy hero - perseverance and decline at dusk
Zhao Benshan, the popular "sketch king" in the 90s of the last century, may have gradually faded out of the public eye. However, no matter how many years passed, he remained a timeless comedy superstar in the minds of generations.
In his career full of honors, Zhao Benshan has gradually climbed from a grassroots cross talk actor to the peak of his life, and his hard work and sweat are undoubtedly unimaginable to ordinary people.
Looking back on Zhao Benshan's demeanor when he was young, he was always filled with endless laughter, and he always had a shy and kind smile on his face. His comedy performances are lively and funny, and he has won warm applause and applause from the audience at the Spring Festival Gala and various TV programs many times.
People thought that this comedy master, known as the "king of sketches", would definitely create a more brilliant career chapter, however, fate played a cruel joke on him at this time.
Just when Zhao Benshan was full of ambition and ready to go all out to create a new career peak, his relatives and friends around him were in trouble. He was worried about the behavior of many of his disciples, some of whom were exposed to marital cheating scandals, some were addicted to alcohol, and even seduced other people's wives, and some were imprisoned for crimes.
Even his "disciples" who he regarded as treasures spoke ill of him and openly questioned his dignity as a teacher.
What's even more distressing is that while Zhao Benshan was anxious about the problems of these disciples, his own career was also quietly declining. Since the Spring Festival Gala in 2011, he has completely bid farewell to the stage that has given him countless glory.
A character who was once hailed as a comedy hero has stepped into the twilight of his life in this way.
Everyone's life course is unique, and Zhao Benshan's life is full of legends and deep admiration. He poured half of his life into it, but in exchange for the betrayal and cold eyes of others, it is really embarrassing.
Was there a point in his life journey when his persistence and fanaticism had gone beyond the necessary limits? However, we cannot deny that the former "sketch king" is undoubtedly worthy of our appreciation for his love for comedy and his ardent expectations for his disciples.
The road of life is tortuous and long, and the hero will finally usher in the moment of curtain call, which may be the heaviest mark in Zhao Benshan's life.
2. Fan Wei's departure: the break between a teacher and a friend
When talking about Zhao Benshan's early partners, the name Ren Honghua is undoubtedly worthy of our attention. At that time, Zhao Benshan was just an unknown grassroots cross talk actor, and Ren Honghua had already known him for many years.
The relationship between them is far from being comparable to ordinary master and apprentice, but a deep friendship.
Ren Honghua worked in the cross talk industry for many years when she was young, but she has never been able to make a breakthrough. It wasn't until a certain stage performance that Zhao Benshan, who was already famous at that time, saw and vigorously supported him, and his life trajectory changed dramatically.
From an unknown cross talk actor to a hot sketch star in one fell swoop, Ren Honghua's success is inseparable from Zhao Benshan's appreciation and support back then. Together, they have gone through a long artistic journey.
Zhao Benshan treats Ren Honghua like a loving father, and the relationship between them has long gone beyond the scope of ordinary masters and apprentices, and is more like the seamless trust between close friends.
Although Zhao Benshan was quite apprehensive about this at first, he was worried that once Ren Honghua went to Beijing, it would bring a lot of inconvenience to their cooperation. However, out of cherishing their deep friendship, he finally decided to do his best to help Ren Honghua realize this wish.
However, good times are always short-lived. After Ren Honghua's family moved to Beijing, the contact with Zhao Benshan became increasingly thin, and the relationship between master and apprentice gradually faded. Zhao Benshan seems to have a premonition that in their respective life journeys, they will eventually embark on different paths, and it will be difficult to move forward side by side again.
This confidant, who is also a teacher and friend, quietly disappeared from his life.
3. The rise of the "Zhao family class" and the ups and downs of the apprentices
The controversy of Little Shenyang
Perhaps it was precisely because of the departure of his friend Ren Honghua that Zhao Benshan deeply realized some problems. Since 2000, he has been determined to make a big splash and train a group of new budding disciples.
Zhao Benshan recruited talents, created the "Zhao Family Class" that would become famous at home and abroad, and founded the famous "Liu Laogen Stage" at that time.
For a time, many grassroots young people with dreams of fame and wealth flocked here to worship Zhao Benshan. Xiao Shenyang, Wang Xiaoli, Song Xiaobao and other outstanding talents were discovered by Zhao Benshan during this period and accepted as disciples.
With the help of the reputation of "Sketch King", Zhao Benshan provided these disciples with rich stage resources, helping them quickly become popular and famous.
However, when the popularity of Xiao Shenyang and others soared, controversy also arose. Zhao Benshan had to do his best for his disciples on many occasions, and sometimes even did not hesitate to openly break the harmonious situation.
Wang Xiaoli's sudden situation has aroused concern
Zhao Benshan treats his disciples like relatives and does his best to nurture them to grow stronger. Time blinks to the 2011 Spring Festival Gala, which is the fruit of his careful cultivation over the years.
That night, Zhao Benshan personally led his disciples Wang Xiaoli and Xiao Shenyang to perform the high-profile comedy sketch "You at the Same Table". However, at the critical moment, the young Wang Xiaoli suddenly fell into a nervous state and almost made a big mistake.
On the stage, Wang Xiaoli should have said the classic line that detonated the applause of the audience, but he couldn't blurt it out because he was too nervous. His face was pale, his voice choked, and he could barely speak.
Fortunately, the experienced Zhao Benshan made a decisive move, and when Wang Xiaoli lost his mind, he gently tapped him with the rolling pin in his hand to sober him up from his nervousness.
Wang Xiaoli woke up like a dream and successfully completed the interpretation of the last line. Zhao Benshan witnessed this scene in the audience, and his face finally overflowed with a smile of relief again. However, who would have expected that this sketch would be Zhao Benshan's last wonderful appearance on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala? .
Song Xiaobao's sketch suffered a setback
The year after the Spring Festival Gala, Zhao Benshan originally planned to make persistent efforts and join hands with his disciple Song Xiaobao to launch a new masterpiece. Unfortunately, Song Xiaobao's carefully prepared sketch failed to pass the strict review of the Spring Festival Gala and was only able to premiere on local TV stations.
What's even more ironic is that the comedy role that Zhao Benshan originally tailored for Song Xiaobao was eventually replaced by his other disciple, Wang Xiaoli. Looking at Wang Xiaoli on the stage, playing the role that originally belonged to Song Xiaobao, Zhao Benshan couldn't help but have mixed feelings in his heart.
Looking back on the past, Zhao Benshan has made countless efforts to make many former disciples popular one by one. However, as they grew popular, various issues and controversies arose.
Zhao Benshan had to defend them frequently, and even did not hesitate to use the authority of his teacher to severely restrain the behavior of his disciples. However, despite his painstaking admonitions, each of his disciples disappointed him in the end.
Looking at the disciples who were the most proud back then, and now they are falling into the ensuing predicament one by one, presumably Zhao Benshan's heart must be full of endless helplessness and deep worry.
The disciples are frequently troubled by difficulties
Liu Xiaoguang, Cheng Ye, Fat Ya, Wang Xiaobao, Meng Ningyu and others fell into trouble one after another
Seeing his beloved disciples fall into various predicaments one after another, Zhao Benshan must have felt extremely disappointed and sad in his heart. In the "Zhao Family Class", which he was most proud of, I am afraid that he could no longer find a disciple who could make him feel at ease.
For example, Liu Xiaoguang and Zhao Benshan helped him solve the problem of "gambling debts" twice, but soon after, he became addicted to alcohol again, caused trouble, and even had improper relationships with others, completely forgetting the teacher's past kindness.
While writing and directing works such as Night Watch, Cheng Ye abruptly changed his image of integrity and devoted himself to a series of vulgar films, which led to a total boycott of the elaborate work and a collapse of his own reputation.
Fat Ya was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for selling expired health products on the Internet, and the charge of "fraud" was undoubtedly placed on her head. This once poor rural girl is now facing the fate of spending her youth in prison.
As for Wang Xiaobao and Meng Ningyu, they have been continuously accused of "cheating in marriage". Although Meng Ningyu is not as well-known as Wang Xiaobao, his behavior is equally bad, and in the end, he did not escape the exposure of the "cheating" scandal.
This is just the beginning, and the situation of more disciples falling into trouble one after another undoubtedly makes Zhao Benshan feel sad. How could he have imagined that he would be so delusional in his attempt to train these young people from ordinary backgrounds into outstanding talents? Now it seems that most of them are just failures who are strong on the outside, weak on the inside, and behave in unspeakable ways.
The betrayal and rebellion of Wu and Sun Jiaojiao
Jiaojiao was once highly regarded by Zhao Benshan's family, but finally publicly exposed Zhao Benshan's various wrongs because of the divorce
Mentioning the name Jiaojiao, Zhao Benshan probably would never have foreseen that she would become the first apprentice to openly betray her master and maliciously slander herself.
In fact, in the past long years, Jiaojiao has always been a treasure in the hearts of everyone in the Zhao family and is highly cherished. Since joining Zhao Benshan's "Benshan Media" in 2009, Jiaojiao has quickly stepped onto the gorgeous stage of "Liu Laogen's Big Stage", showing extraordinary artistic talent.
Since then, she has been honored to be appointed many times to co-star in various variety shows with heavyweights of Zhao Jiaban such as Song Xiaobao, Xiao Shenyang, and Song Xiaofeng, showing excellent performance strength and deep tacit cooperation.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Benshan's wife once affectionately called Jiaojiao "grandma", and his baby daughter Qiuqiu also had many interactions and intimate contacts with Jiaojiao. The Zhao family's care for Jiaojiao can be described as meticulous, and Jiaojiao should be grateful for this and repay their affection with practical actions.
However, what is shocking is that at the beginning of 2023, Jiaojiao caused an uproar on social media, mercilessly exposing the various ugly deeds of the Zhao Benshan family. She ignored the facts and claimed that her divorce and her husband's loss of tens of millions of yuan were due to Zhao Benshan's malicious manipulation.
What's even more bizarre is that whenever netizens mention the scandal between Zhao Benshan and Guan Tingna in the comment area, Jiaojiao always jumps out as soon as possible, bluntly saying "This is the truth", and publicly admits this long-sealed scandal rumor.
In the face of such a betrayal of Zhao Benshan, a once fatherly teacher, we have reason to believe that his heart must be miserable. After all, he attached much more importance to Jiaojiao than other disciples back then, and loved her as if she were his own daughter.
Looking back on the past, although many of Zhao Benshan's personal disciples were in trouble, he always tried his best to save the situation. However, when the most trusted and closest "apprentice grandson" also openly betrayed his master, it was undoubtedly worse and completely shattered the last trace of dignity of this former comedy master.