Earlier this week, my friend Terry Hsieh asked if he could interview me for the video podcast for the publication World of China. Of course, I was happy to trek down to the Nan Lou area by the Drum Tower and answer a few questions about my project.
In a trendy coffeehouse that offered wheels of cheese and craft beers along with their signature coffees, Terry asked me some questions about what the success of Laowai Style meant for my understanding of Chinese comedy. He also posed some difficult questions: would Xiangsheng be funny to Westerners? Is it just the language that is different, or is the entire comedic style distinct as well? I answered these questions as well as performed a few short Xiangsheng bits for the piece.
The site has a beautiful layout; Terry’s short piece preceding the video can be found here. The link to the video is here.