"I've given a lot of lectures in many places, but for the first time in a lecture about reading. Books are my favorite thing of life. On the afternoon of March 2, comedian Wang Rugang was a guest of the "Xingzhi Reading Club" to share with readers his stories and impressions of "reading", "telling books", "buying (selling) books" and "writing books". When the Shanghainese language was spoken, no one left the table the whole time, and the laughter and applause rose and fell, and Wang Rugang said: "I am very moved! ”
Many Shanghainese grew up listening to "Funny Wang Xiaomao" on the radio, and Wang Xiaomao, a young man who spoke Northern Jiangsu, made Wang Rugang a hit. "When I was a baby, I had 7 nursing mothers, and they came from all over the world, and their words were also spoken in the north and south. This may be the source of my linguistic talent, and when I grew up, I was particularly good at imitating all local dialects. When Wang Ru was born, his mother was 40 years old and there was not enough milk, so the family invited several nurses for him, and when he grew up, Wang Rugang complained to his father, "Why didn't you ask me an American nurse back then?" Otherwise I would now speak standard American English..."
This is of course the humor of a funny actor, in Wang Rugang's view, talent is important, but to become a popular actor, "the goods in the belly" may be more important than the kung fu on the lips. "Reading is more important than anything else, and if you don't read for three days, a person will become an abomination." Especially those who work in acting. After three days of not reading, I went on stage and couldn't think of any words to say. If I were on stage to repeat what I said last week, your audience sitting offstage would describe it in a Shanghainese phrase, 'The overnight meal will also vomit out.'" Therefore, we must be concerned about politics and current affairs, master all kinds of knowledge, and constantly study and read. ”
There is a saying in the comic circle, "Liu Beisan Gu Maolu invited Zhuge Liang, and the master went up to the attic to invite out the 'little cobbler'" In 1978, Wang Rugang debuted on stage, and played the role of "little cobbler" in "Seventy-two Tenants", which was very popular with the audience as soon as it was performed. Behind his appearance on the stage, it is inseparable from the support of two comical celebrities Yang Huasheng and laughing and giggling. In 1978, during the preparation of the Shanghai People's Burlesque Troupe, Yang Huasheng and Xiao Xixi approached Wang Rugang and invited him to play the role of "Little Cobbler" in "Seventy-Two Tenants". This decision was opposed by Wang Rugang's father. Unexpectedly, Yang Huasheng and Xiao Xixi, the two masters, stepped into the attic and personally went to Wang Rugang's house to do his father's ideological work, and his father was told.
For Wang Rugang, his father was the guide who led him into the world of books. "When I was six or seven years old, I loved books. When I was a child, my family lived in a whole Shikumen house, and my father used the pavilion as a study, which was twelve or three square meters. Dad wouldn't allow me to go in while reading, but I would sneak into this little study as soon as I had the chance. Of course, I couldn't read most of the books in the study, and six- or seven-year-olds didn't know a few big words. But these books still have a great attraction for me, I can't read the text, I can read the illustrations. Like the four famous works, "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Water Margin", etc., some of them have illustrations of stone engravings, various shapes, very interesting, I see it with relish. "My father once told Wang Rugang that you are still young, you can't understand it now, and these books will be yours in the future." However, the "Cultural Revolution" storm hit, and the books were eventually sold to old book stalls. "Old books are 7 points per pound, and human wisdom only sells 7 points." This makes Wang Rugang still regret that he still thinks about it.
Despite this, the books he read as a child still had a great impact on Wang Rugang's future life and work. "When I was a child, I read a lot of books, felt that I had more goods in my belly, and I was a little stupid, so I began to tell others about the books I had read. I have a great skill, something I've read, and I'll make it up into a story to tell. When I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, I began to tell stories to my classmates, and I won the first place in the Huangpu District Children's Storytelling Competition and the third place in the Shanghai Story Competition. My specialty works very well in the alley, and even naughty children, when they hear me tell a story, will gather around and listen attentively, because I talk about it so much fun! Every night after dinner, a large group of children would gather around my door, waiting for me to tell them stories. In the end, even my dad was very proud, and my market became bigger and bigger. ”
Because he read a lot of books and had goods in his stomach, he later settled in Jiangxi, and Wang Rugang was also welcomed by his fellow villagers. "The farmers in the village heard that I could tell stories and asked me to tell them. Of course, not everything I have read can be said, but Chairman Mao said that he wanted to carry forward the spirit of Sun Wukong, so I told you "Journey to the West" on the field. Gradually, the villagers simply stopped me from farming and let me tell stories full-time. They planted seedlings and cut rice, and I took a chair and sat under the tree to talk. When the work on this piece of land is done, move on to the next piece of land and continue. They gave me a nickname: mobile radio. Wang Rugang laughed and said that this experience also allowed him to cultivate a good voice. Nowadays, no matter how big the venue, he does not use a microphone, and the audience in the last row can hear it very clearly, and this "Dantian Qi" is trained in the farmland of Jiangxi.
In recent years, in addition to acting on the stage, Wang Rugang has also published several books such as "Gossip Shanghai" and "Me and Laughter Workshop". Among them, "Me and the Laughing Workshop" is more satisfactory to himself. In this book, Wang Rugang tells many stories of his association with celebrities and celebrities. He once met martial arts writer Jin Yong at the City God Temple, which was in April 2002, the 85th birthday of the funny titan Yao Mushuang, and the birthday banquet was set up in the "New Green Wave Corridor". Wang Ru just went to participate, and the welcome lady greeted with a smile: "Wang Xiaomao is coming, upstairs please!" This sound made Jin Yong, who had been walking in front of him, turn his head back. Jin Yong told him that he liked burlesque performances, and used to listen to them on the radio when he was in Shanghai, and Yao Mushuang, Zhou Baichun, Yang Huasheng, and laughing and giggling performances of "Burning Tofu Shop", "Seventy-two Tenants", "Closing The Great Auction" and so on. Hearing that Yao Mushuang was also in the Green Wave Corridor, Jin Yong immediately said that he wanted to visit, but unfortunately, when he arrived at the private room, Yao Lao had already returned home, and the two regretted missing it.
Also fond of burlesque is director Xie Jin. On the eve of the Spring Festival in 1991, the Central People's Radio came to Shanghai to record a special program for the New Year, and Xie Jin took the initiative to invite Wang Rugang to cooperate and speak cross-talk. Wang Rugang introduced that Xie Jin's love of funny art was influenced by his teacher Huang Zuolin. In 1958, Huang Zuolin put the burlesque play "Sanmao Student Intention" on the screen, and Xie Jin, who was still a young director at the time, was impressed by the performances of the burlesque actors in the film and the comedic effects they created. When filming the comedy movie "Big Li Xiao Li and Old Li", it was the country in a period of material difficulties, in order to show that Da Li went from "sick" to getting stronger and stronger after exercise, actor Liu Xiasheng needed to gain weight rapidly, Xie Jin gave Liu Xiasheng all the "literary and art hall meal coupons" that he only had a few high-level intellectuals to enjoy, and this story made Wang Rugang very impressed.
"There are three burlesque troupes in Shanghai, and recently there was a very important reform, the Youth Burlesque Troupe and the People's Burlesque Troupe merged to form the Shanghai One-Legged Opera Heritage Center. I was originally the head of the People's Burlesque Troupe, and now I continue to serve as the director of the Inheritance Center and the secretary of the branch. I am the heir of the national level, so I was not allowed to retire, and people in my 60s 'nailed' here like 'nail households'. Now there are two oldest people in the troupe, one is a 96-year-old young lady, I went to see her during the Spring Festival, the songs of the 30s of the last century, she sang to me, a good sentence, the brain is very good; and the other is my old partner, 87-year-old Li Jiusong, who is still performing, and he likes to perform, but he came to perform I was sweaty and stressed. We have also trained a lot of young people, and I am very happy to be able to really work shifts. For the current situation of the burlesque that the citizens are concerned about, Wang Rugang also introduced them one by one. He joked, "Li Jiusong has diabetes, but he likes to eat sugar, and he himself said that it is called attacking poison with poison." Everyone has their own way of health and philosophy of life. I also have several hobbies, including making friends and shopping. Making friends can learn a lot from other people, and shopping is to observe the people in life and shape the character image. As for reading books, a lot of the knowledge in books is the accumulation of other people's lives, which is equivalent to making friends and shopping instead of you, which is of infinite benefit to a person. ”
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Shi Chenlu Title Image Source: Provided by the organizer