Wow, it’s been a crazy few weeks! I apologize for the break in between posts, but it’s been busy. In the last twenty-something days, I have:
· Filmed a show to be broadcast soon on Chinese television;
· Travelled to Tianjin with my Xiangsheng troupe and watched my fellow students and my master perform, as well as attended another show of my master’s at the famous Lao She teahouse;
· Finished my first finals at IUP;
· Performed my first Bilingual improv show with BIG (Bilingual Improv Group) and been accepted as a full member of the troupe, and
· Watched Laowai Style hit one million (1,000,000!) views on Youku, Interviewed with several different media sources about the Laowai Style phenomenon, and been had Laowai Style stories appear on many blogs.
Now that some of these things are in the rearview mirror, I’m going to start posting pieces that I’ve written at various times in the last few weeks. I’ve got some interesting stories to share!
I wanted to start with Laowai Style! My funny video that I made with my friends caught fire and as of writing had 350,000 views on Youku. But, counting all the pirated copies on the Internet, the video has over 1,000,000 hits—an impact that I’m still staggered to see, and amazed and humbled to have had a hand in creating.
Along with the views has come a bevy of media attention. I’ve fulfilled a (previously unknown but nevertheless present) life goal of mine by appearing on ChinaSmack. ChinaSmack is an amazing site that keeps tabs on interesting phenomena on the Chinese Internet, and they also translate some of the comments from the video, so if you are wondering what some of the 1000+ comments on the Youku video are saying, now you can take a look!
China Personified released an interview that we conducted last month but that included Laowai Style as well. I am so amazed and thankful for the skills of Martha Yuan Tao, CP’s fabulous editor, and thankful for the opportunity that CP and its founder Mable Chan have given me to get my message about comedy and the value of intercultural humor exchange out onto the web. The video came out fabulous and I feel does a great job of capturing the essence of what I hope to do and learn this year in Beijing.
China Radio International, the foreign-language radio station of China Central Television, came over to my apartment to interview my stuffed octopus Copernicus, but while they were there asked me about the Laowai Style video as well. They put some awesome behind-the-scenes footage into the interview, including my favorite shots that didn’t make it into the final cut!
Meanwhile, some other interviews are on their way, either completed or planned. I hope to be meeting with CBS’s Beijing Bureau later in the week to help them with a piece on Chinese comedy and what the Gangnam Style craze means here.
Meanwhile, people on many blogs posted about the video as well. Some, like the people at Mandarin Segments, put major effort into breaking down some of the language and cultural meanings I put into the video. It was a surreal experience to see people thinking and discussing the video. Reactions have been everything from praise to mockery (Am I, as my detractors claim, a shill for the Chinese government? Find out next week on Secrets Revealed with Jesse Appell), to more nuanced and understandable reactions.
It’s been a lot of fun. I’m going to be getting the blog back up to speed ASAP!