More Chinese Expats Are Trying Standup Comedy — While Avoiding Political Red Lines
Even his name is politically sensitive, joked the aspiring comedian from Melbourne as he left a group chat on the Chinese messaging service WeChat.
The 33-year-old engineer laughs nervously every time he breaks a true rule of Chinese comedy. For most comedians, that means not making jokes about censorship, not mentioning the president by name, and not discussing social issues like China's unusually strict quarantine measures or domestic violence.
"It's a shame, if the environment was open, someone of world level would come," Xi said.
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Mandarin stand-up comedy is booming, and not just in China. In the last decade, the Chinese diaspora has risen to the middle level, establishing clubs in cities such as New York, Tokyo and Madrid.
Comedians are known for pushing boundaries, but most Mandarin-speaking comedians, as well as many fans, say some topics have no place in a comedy club.
"There are some areas where people don't want to go, but usually it's not because of government policy, but because of social pressure, culture or religion," said Michelle Hawkes, professor of Chinese literature and director of the Liu Institute. Asia and Asia. Studied at the University of Notre Dame.
Actors push social boundaries.
For 28-year-old comedian Lin Dongjiao, who started acting while living in Toronto, it was a chance to talk publicly about the congenital disease that left him paralyzed and laugh along with him. Chinese society's attitude towards the disabled
Lin, who goes by the stage name Guazy, told the audience that he complained that women he met online didn't warn them about their disabilities, so he added her to his dating profile.
"Scroll down...gym instructor, great body, business executive, million dollar salary and then...3rd degree disability certificate with no benefits." The crowd started laughing.
Wenlai Cai, a stand-up fan and software engineer in her 30s who lives in Los Angeles, says she likes to hear jokes about LGBTQ life and race relations, topics that aren't strictly limited to the mainland.
But "high-level politics (jokes) have to have limits," Cai said. "Money, political leaders, partisanship... I don't think it makes sense to talk about it."
There are places that challenge Beijing sensibilities. Women's Ideas, a feminist group in New York, hosts uncensored comedy shows that often touch on politics, encouraging women to speak out on social and political issues.
But even circular references to politics bother most Chinese viewers, Xi said. After performing at a Chinese restaurant in Australia, the owner tells him to be careful. During the stand-up competition, he did not receive audience votes. He performed almost exclusively in English-speaking venues.
Zhu Jisheng, who runs a comedy club in Madrid, reviews other performers' jokes before going on stage and asks them to make jokes that can bridge political divides.
But when a comedian insisted on making a joke about the Shanghai lockdown, Zhu didn't stop him. Zhu said the audience didn't get the joke, leading to backstage discussions that further convinced him that politics and comedy don't mix.
Comedians understand that people can get in trouble for what they say. When asked about Li Haoshi, the actors answered that he should have known better.
Zhong Di, a 30-year-old student from Milan, who is standing on his feet, says: "Even if you don't make a mistake, if someone else makes a mistake, it affects the whole industry."
Lin, who recently returned to China to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian, says the industry is still recovering from the pressure his jokes have brought.
The Associated Press was unable to reach Lee for comment, and the company that runs it did not respond to a request for an interview.
China has a history of persecuting its citizens abroad for their activism. It has also threatened to boycott or ban international stars from performing in China. British-Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng, who created the popular "Uncle Roger" character, has lost his Chinese social media accounts after a clip of him joking about China's mobile phone eavesdropping went viral after a live broadcast.
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Chinese-Australian journalist Vicky Xu, who also does stand-up comedy in English, says the Chinese have a long history of joking about sensitive topics.
“If you watch a lot of movies or TV shows that were made in China 20 or 30 years ago, there are a lot more political jokes than there are today. And how do you explain it?' He says.
Xu, whose work has drawn criticism from the Chinese government and drawn harsh criticism from Chinese state media and nationalist trolls, says politics affects the lives of people in China so much that not talking about it is "ignoring the elephant in the room."
When the actors returned to China, they faced the same restrictions that had been imposed on them abroad.
Lin said censorship was important to avoid "chaos," but said it was difficult to submit his material to censors weeks before a show.
“Nobody told me what I could or couldn't say,” Lynn said, “which is quite difficult. I'm returning what I have and changing it if it doesn't work out."
In Australia, Xi has no plans to stop joking about his famous name.
"I'm nobody," said Xi, "and after all I have an Australian passport... I'll keep telling these jokes."
