China News Service Beijing, October 14
For some time now, talk show performances have "caught fire" in China. As the earliest popular form of art performance in the West, "talk show" landed in China, and the efforts of a group of performers have also become a vivid portrayal of cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
Huang Xi was one of the first actors to perform a talk show in China. Studying in the United States, from a doctor of biochemistry to a talk show performance, becoming a comedian who ridiculed Biden in the White House, and then returning to China to perform, what kind of mental journey has Huang Xi experienced? How does he see the talk show as an inspiration for intercultural interaction?
Infographic: Talk show audience. Photo by Chen Jiawen
Recently, Huang Xi was interviewed exclusively by China News Agency's "East and West Question" to discuss these topics.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: As a doctor of biochemistry, how was it affected to embark on the road of talk show? In 2013, you were already "on fire" in the United States, and talk shows were not yet developing in China. Why did you come back to China to do talk shows at that time?
Huang Xi: After getting a DEGREE in the United States, I have worked in the company for nearly 10 years, and although I have achieved some results, I still feel that there is less room for growth. I've always been interested in humor, and in 2002, a colleague took me to a talk show club where I could only understand half of the jokes, and then I tried a little bit.
When I came to the United States, I always felt that the status of Asians was different from that of whites, and that of blacks. Everyone knows the history of black people, knows the history of Jews, but few people know the history of Asians in the United States, and later I deliberately watched Zhang Chunru's experience in Chinese the United States ("Chinese American History"), which was very sad after reading it, because this experience was quite tragic and not recognized by mainstream society. The last paragraph of the book is very well written, many Chinese (Chinese) actually have a job in the United States, may wish to try something different, such as media, entertainment or good, so that we can make our voice heard.
There are very few talk show actors who can speak at the White House, and even some of the top talk show actors don't have that chance. Still, I don't think there's much room for talk shows to rise in the U.S., but it's particularly new in China. I first tried my hand at the U.S. and did a few Chinese in the club, and the audience was actually quite large. Later, I published a book in China, and when I gave a speech, I added some passages, and everyone responded well, and I felt that talk shows should have a market in China.
Doing talk shows in the United States is a hobby or profession for many people, but doing talk shows in China at that time would feel like part of the new trend and feel quite exciting. I like to challenge myself.
Data chart: Shijiazhuang Matchstick Talk Show Club performance scene. Screenshot of the new video
China News Service: What are the "unsatisfactory" of doing talk shows in China, and how to overcome them? What do you think are the main factors that make talk shows land in China?
Huang Xi: No one told you what to talk about talk shows, and people like me who came back from the United States to do talk shows can only grope on their own. At the beginning, some TV programs let me speak, and even translated English passages into Chinese on the spot to see how effective it was, and it turned out that many English passages were not applicable in China, because the language and cultural background were different, so I had to write from scratch. However, "water and soil" is also a good thing for stand-up comedians, because they can find new perspectives and new inspirations.
Talk shows can land in China, and I think there is the charm of talk shows themselves. As an urban form of entertainment, many people like it. Not only in China, stand-up comedy is popular in the UK and Australia, but I heard that it has also begun to catch fire in India.
Talk shows are humorous accounts through linguistic logic, the personality of the performers, and individual observations of society. It does not rely on a certain dialect, and cross-talk relies on the Beijing and Tianjin dialects, and the sketch and the duo rely on the northeast dialect. Talk shows depend on whether your train of thought is interesting and whether you speak with personal feelings.
Data chart: Shi Hang, Li Xueqin and other performances of the talk show "Film Conference". Luo Yunfei photo
China News Service: Talk shows have a strong Western cultural color and have become the key to interpreting Western social politics, economy and culture. Talk shows have come to China, what kind of inspiration do you think it has provided for the blending and mutual learning between different cultures?
Huang Xi: Talk shows are actors on stage to talk about their personal views and feelings, and each actor tries to tell the experience as close as possible to reality, which can indeed reflect the culture of a country and the mentality of the whole society.
I used to go to Australia to do TV shows, and the host of the show was also a talk show actor, and we communicated very well, because the talk show actors felt similar, such as where to perform what strange things happened, everyone can smile and quickly establish feelings. I'm fascinated by talk shows because they respond so quickly that they can think and feel together with everyone at the same frequency in an instant, so I think talk shows are a very effective way to communicate.
Now there are also many Chinese watching European and American talk shows, China's talk shows also have a certain market in the United States, I hope that in the near future, talk shows can be like the table tennis of the year, become a channel of communication between different countries, can make people of different races, different countries and backgrounds happy together.
When I talk about talk shows, especially In English, I often see South African listeners sitting with German listeners, and even American listeners sitting with Iranian listeners. These people can sit together and laugh, which is a picture that cannot be seen in the United Nations.
Data chart: On February 14, 2021, local time, on the third day of the Lunar New Year, New Yorkers in the United States dined at an old restaurant in Chinatown to feel the taste of Chinese New Year. Photo by Liao Pan, a reporter from China News Service
China News Service: You have achieved certain success in the United States and have an influence on mainstream society, does your experience reflect the diversity of Chinese development in the United States? Do Asians still face problems and dilemmas in the survival and development of the United States?
Huang Xi: I wanted to do something different, although the chances of success at that time were particularly small, because I hadn't seen Any Chinese doing anything like that before. Some of the students who studied abroad together didn't quite understand, but I was open-minded.
In the United States, there are many successful Chinese in the technology, catering and other industries. The number of Chinese restaurants in the United States is now more than McDonald's, before on TV, the media can not see the Chinese face, now a little bit in the direction of development, many famous universities also have Chinese as professors, but their overall social and political status is still relatively low, this is one thing that should be changed. Especially since the outbreak of COVID-19, Asians have been often attacked because of deep-seated discrimination. Asians make up only 5 percent of the U.S. population, and there are indeed problems with this society as vulnerable people who are ruthlessly scapegoated by the virus.
Infographic: On March 21, more than 1,000 New Yorkers rallied and demonstrated in Union Square in Manhattan to protest racial discrimination and hate crimes against Asian Americans. The picture shows people holding various slogans at the demonstration site. Photo by China News Service reporter Madeleine
China News Service: Racial discrimination is deeply rooted in the United States. Have you experienced working and living in the U.S. for many years? In your opinion, can Asian faces speak of Western talk shows help the West understand the East better?
Huang Xi: When I was in school, I didn't believe in racial discrimination, although there were still some uncomfortable things, including university professors sometimes saying publicly that Chinese technology was backward and Chinese characters were particularly difficult to write, but I thought it was a case.
This discrimination has become more and more pronounced after graduation, and even scientists have felt it in recent years. Chinese scientists who have dealings with Chinese schools and scientific research institutions are immediately targeted by U.S. intelligence, while whites generally have no problem with European countries.
Asian faces speaking of Western talk shows will certainly help the West to understand the East better, but the degree to which they can accept it is still relatively small. For example, on the issue of race, mainstream American society believes that racism is white people against blacks or Jews, and has nothing to do with Asians, they do not put Asians in the racial system, nor do they recognize discrimination against Asians. This has changed recently because of more attacks on Asians. Crucially, they don't know the history of Asians in the United States. (End)
Respondent Profiles:
Huang Xi, host, talk show actor, doctor of biochemistry. Winner of the National Talk Show Championship and performed in the White House. Since 2013, he has been the host of CCTV's "Is It True" program. Since 2015, he has launched a national personal talk show tour every year, and published "There is a stem" and "Get out of the egg and inferiority".
Source: China News Network