Zhao Benshan's artistic path: from orphan to comedy master
When it comes to Zhao Benshan, who doesn't know? As the first brother of the old guns in the Northeast, his iconic big voice and outstanding acting skills have left a deep impression on countless audiences. Zhao Benshan can be said to be the most down-to-earth comedy star, his works are close to life and pierce people's hearts, allowing the audience to find their own shadow.
Zhao Benshan actually came from a very unfortunate background, he was an orphan since he was a child. When he was 5 years old, his mother contracted typhoid fever and died; When he was 7 years old, his father disappeared for many years without being heard from. Since then, he has become a complete "Tieling version of the wanderings of bitter children".
Fortunately, with the help of the villagers, Zhao Benshan was able to barely survive that dark orphan years. Due to the lack of care from his parents, he has been very naughty and naughty since he was a child, always causing trouble, which makes the people in the village amazed. However, it is this frank and lively personality that opens up new possibilities for him to pursue his artistic path in the future.
Zhao Benshan has had a special curiosity and talent for folk art since he was a child. When he was a child, he learned a lot of percussion instruments, such as erhu, suona, etc. In order to earn a living, he also worked for others, during which he became acquainted with a blind artist. Zhao Benshan worshipped him as a teacher and devoted himself to studying for several years.
The hard work paid off, and Zhao Benshan finally mastered the art of two-person turning. With his super on-the-spot ability and superb acting skills, his fame quickly spread in the Northeast. In 1980, Zhao Benshan, who had just turned 20, was recruited into the Tieling Civic Art Troupe, and since then he has officially embarked on the road of comedy.
During his time in the art troupe, Zhao Benshan made a group of like-minded friends, such as Pan Changjiang, Fan Wei and others, who later became members of the "Iron Triangle". In order to make the art career have a greater development, Zhao Benshan resolutely left Tieling in 1987 and developed together with Pan Changjiang and others.
Zhao Benshan joined hands with the "Iron Triangle" to climb the peak
Zhao Benshan, Pan Changjiang and Fan Wei quickly formed the "Iron Triangle" comedy group and emerged in the country. In 1990, they made a stunning appearance at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala with the classic sketch "Blind Date" and achieved great success. Since then, Zhao Benshan's fame has risen rapidly like a snowball.
The tacit understanding of the "Iron Triangle" is full, Zhao Benshan looks fierce, Pan Changjiang is shriveled and honest, Fan Wei is shy and gentle, and the combination of the three is perfect. Their works are vivid, interesting and intriguing, and have caused a sensation across the country several times, and have been regarded as "models of comedy in the new era" by the audience.
However, the good times were short-lived. In 2003, Pan Changjiang and Zhao Benshan drifted apart and decided to fly alone. Subsequently, in 2005, Fan Wei, another key member of the "Iron Triangle", also left the team, which brought a heavy blow to Zhao Benshan.
Faced with the major change of his teammates passing away and leaving the team, Zhao Benshan did not stop moving, but carried the beam of the entire comedy career alone with tenacious perseverance. He founded his own company "Benshan Media" and began to build his own comedy kingdom.
Zhao Benshan broke out of the cocoon and became a "family class", and there was no one to take over the apprentice
With the hard work of Benshan Media, Zhao Benshan gradually gathered a group of new apprentices, including Song Xiaobao, Xiao Shenyang, Gao Xiumin and other well-known actors. Together, they formed the high-profile "Zhao Jiaban" comedy team.
With Zhao Benshan's dazzling "golden signboard", Zhao Jiaban quickly won huge popularity in the country. Especially under the hand of Zhao Benshan, Xiao Shenyang became an instant hit and was praised as "the next Zhao Benshan".
However, just when Xiao Shenyang and others were rising, Zhao Benshan deliberately began to suppress their careers out of some doubts. According to an insider, Zhao Benshan was worried that the popularity of his apprentices would be too high, thereby weakening his leadership position in the team.
In addition, Zhao Benshan also has many defects and drawbacks in the process of managing Zhao's class. On the one hand, he imposed strict restrictions on the lives of his apprentices, not allowing them to take on private work, divorce, juggling, etc. at will; On the other hand, he attached too much importance to commercial interests and implemented a strict revenue sharing system for Zhao Jiaban.
This paradoxical approach, coupled with Zhao Jiaban's lack of its own cultural connotation, and the increasingly vulgar and mediocre works, have dealt a heavy blow to the development of the entire team. Especially when Zhao Benshan withdrew from the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2013, Zhao Jiaban completely fell into a blank dilemma.
The Decline of Zhao Jiaban: The Cult of Personality and the Changing Times
In fact, the decline of Zhao's class is largely due to Zhao Benshan's personal shortcomings. As the core of the whole team, although Zhao Benshan has extraordinary artistic talent, he has never been able to get rid of the simple "stubborn" thinking.
He relied too much on command-based management for the management of Zhao Jiaban and ignored the subjectivity of his team members. For example, apprentices are not allowed to start their own businesses, divorce, live broadcasts, etc., which undoubtedly seriously violates the independent rights of artists.
At the same time, Zhao Benshan's emphasis on commercial interests has also made Zhao Jiaban gradually reduced to a purely profitable machine. Although the apprentices once made a lot of money, they never got the space for artistic development they deserved, and eventually inevitably chose to "deviate from the scriptures".
In addition to Zhao Benshan's personal problems, the deeper reason is that Zhao Jiaban has never been able to adapt to the changes of the times. As a traditional comedy group focusing on sketches and cross talk, Zhao Jiaban is obviously powerless in the face of the new Internet era.
Today's young audiences are no longer as attracted by sketch and micro-movies as they were in the past. They value innovative, fresh, and situational comedy experiences. At the same time, the rise of short video platforms and online live broadcasts has also brought a huge impact to traditional groups like Zhao Jiaban.
It can be said that Zhao Benshan and Zhao Jiaban have completely missed the window period for the replacement of the entertainment industry. If they continue to rest on their laurels, it is only a matter of time before they are completely marginalized by the market.
Write to the end
In the face of the decline of the "Zhao family class", we cannot completely deny Zhao Benshan's achievements. As a generation of comedy masters, he used his artistic talent and tenacious perseverance to write a legendary life that can be sung and cried. Starting from an orphan boy, he held up his own comedy kingdom with both hands, influencing and infecting countless audiences.
However, just like Zhao Benshan's personal history of fame, the decline of "Zhao Jiaban" is also a typical case, warning us of the limitations of personal heroism and personality cult. An excellent artist or team cannot only rely on the ability and leadership of an individual, but needs to form a sustainable organizational culture and innovation mechanism.
At the same time, the decline of "Zhao Jiaban" also reflects the dilemma of the traditional cultural industry in the new era. In the face of new media and audiences, it is difficult to rely solely on traditional forms such as sketch comedy to be attractive enough. How to innovate content forms and embrace new media will be a practical issue that these groups must face.
Therefore, for the future direction of Zhao Benshan and "Zhao Jiaban", first of all, we should completely sweep away the old idea of personality cult and truly realize the complete liberation and equality of the team. Second, we must boldly embrace new media and new forms to keep up with the pace of development of the times. Finally, we must be determined to clarify our own positioning and seek a balance between inheriting tradition and innovating and developing.
Only in this way can Zhao Benshan and "Zhao Jiaban", the former comedy powerhouse, finally achieve Phoenix Nirvana and regain their brilliance in the new era. For the audience, of course, we also look forward to more excellent comedy works from them in the future.