Traditionalists often mourn how ancient Chinese art forms are under threat. But young comedians - hip 20-somethings - are giving the art of crosstalk, or xiangsheng, a modern edge in Beijing. One of the leading performers is Jia Ling, a young lady who is making a name for her troupe by presenting comedy combined with storytelling marked by intimate takes on life.

The Xicheng District Cultural Center is where much of this comedic revival is being staged. At a recent show, one half of the double act asks: "I am so happy because tomorrow is our one-year marriage anniversary. What is your plan?" The answer: "People say marriage is the tomb of love. So let's sweep the grave at home." The audience lapped it up, along with the gags about how marriage is being tested today. Also popular are jokes about the popular pin ke culture, referring to many young strangers who meet on the Internet to share apartments, rides and even dinners to save money and socialize with new people.

Jia Ling is among a few female xiangsheng performers in China. [File photo]?

"What we talk about reflects what our generation thinks. It's very realistic and that's what they like," says Jia Ling, 27, the founder of Xin Xiao Sheng Ke Zhan (New Laugh Inn), a 12-member xiangsheng troupe which has been drawing the laughs since July 18 this year.

Performed for centuries in the northern provinces, crosstalk features two performers (usually men) who try to outwit each other in skits built around puns and wordplay. Now the new generation has reinvented the format by including topical jokes and satire that push the boundaries of what's allowed in the tradition.

Dubbed ku kou crosstalk (cool crosstalk), the tone at the New Laugh Inn is set by the hip hop music or pop songs playing as hundreds of spectators take their seats in the traditional theaters. Instead of wearing the traditional long robes, or dagua, the performers wear modern clothes such as a vest and shirt. They use a lot of body language and music and dance to enhance the appeal of the lines they utter.

"It's a fast-moving time and sometimes body language is more expressive than words," says Jia at the rehearsal room located in an ordinary neighborhood in north Beijing. She talks fast, uses her hands a lot and smiles often, showing off the tiny dimples embedded in the baby fat on her cheeks.

Re-creating the plots of hit television shows and films goes down well with the audiences. "This is the new generation crosstalk for both long-time crosstalk fans and balinghou (people born in the 1980s)," says Jia. "Since all our members are balinghou, we've grown up watching the same cartoons and TV shows, so we all have the same references." The Internet is a major inspiration too. Apart from a daily 8-hour rehearsal, Jia and her friends surf the Internet to check out the latest online slang and popular culture.

While a few of the comedians perform traditional routines, such as stories from the Three Kingdoms (AD220-280) era, it is the satirical jokes about current events that draw the biggest laughter.

They make fun of the TV dramas adapted from popular Taiwan writer Qiong Yao's works and Korean dramas. The romantic conversations that are normally long and sentimental draw gales of laughter. The crosstalkers exaggerate their manners and parody passionate love talk by taking it to the washroom.

"Films have gone hi-tech. Music has turned electronic. Drama is modernized. But xiangsheng fans have little innovation to choose from," Jia says.

They are popular. Affordable tickets - just 20 yuan ($2.86) - also help to bring in the crowds.

Many people in the audience came to know of the group in chat rooms and Web forums such as Baidu BBS. "I heard about them on the Internet and wanted to see the new style of crosstalk," says 26-year-old Li Qing. "It's fun and fresh," says her friend Zou Yu, a 30-year-old doctor. "I don't think crosstalk like this is old-fashioned at all. It's crosstalk with a new face."

But Jia's love affair with xiangsheng happened quite by chance.

She started learning acting as a 12-year-old at an art school in her hometown of Wuhan in Hubei province. "In the beginning, I was a comic actor, thanks to my figure. No matter how sad the story was, as long as I came on stage, the audience would laugh. The more I performed in a serious vein, the more laughs I got," she recalls.

When Jia applied to the university at 18, her mother made a mistake: putting down comic acting as her chosen field instead of drama acting, the original choice.

"I was so depressed because I didn't like crosstalk," she says. "There were only 10 girls in the class and we usually skipped classes because it was so difficult to merge into the 'men's world'. For a very long time I didn't want to be called a xiangsheng performer."

Her debut in 2002 was a turning point. She was so nervous that she forgot the words. But she performed impromptu and the success was unexpected. "The audiences' laughter assured me that a woman could survive in a male-dominated world," she says.

Since then she has won at national crosstalk competitions. However, it is not easy being a woman xiangsheng performer. "Many female xiangsheng performers turned to acting but I stayed," she says. There are many fixed ideas about xiangsheng, according to Jia, such as women should be restrained, shy and elegant. "Men can freely talk about certain things which would be considered tasteless and vulgar when uttered by women," she says. "For me, a female xiangsheng performer, it is like walking into the wrong bathroom, embarrassing. But what if there is no ladies' room? I want to be the trailblazer."

She invited her teacher, Feng Gong, renowned crosstalk performer and film director and a professor at the Central Academy of Drama, to her first show.

"She opens up a new window on what is a traditional art form. The basic routines are similar but because the performers are younger, they're more energetic and their performances are more colorful," says Feng. "I learn as much from my pupils as they do from me. The younger performers are very creative and imaginative."

He has no doubt that Jia and her friends are helping to introduce crosstalk to a young new audience. "It's definitely more popular among young people than it was a few years ago; I see more of them in the audience now," says Feng.

Feng's comment that Jia is "the best female xiangsheng performer in China now" makes his protegee laugh. "I know why he said that, because I am the only one," she giggles.

She believes the troupe will keep the crosstalk flame alive. "I'm positive about the future because I think people will always want to laugh."

(China Daily August 26, 2009)