Hip-hop crosstalkers Gao Xiaopan (left) and You Xianchao.

By Liu Meng

Chinese crosstalk (xiangsheng) is usually performed by middle-aged men who  regale audiences with sarcastic tales in a thick Beijing accent, but a group of young performers is trying to change all of that with an interpretation of their own.

“Hip-hop crosstalk” is a combination of traditional techniques and modern life and is attracting an increasing number of young people to an entertainment form usually enjoyed by their parents.

Crosstalk is a traditional comic performance that revolves around the four basic skills of talking, imitation, teasing and singing. Performers strive to make audiences laugh through a mix of storytelling, singing, imitations of familiar voices or animals and simply making fun of one another.

The genre’s adult humor and language often of little interest to younger audiences, however hip-hop crosstalk may bridge the crosstalk generation gap.

The hip-hop crosstalk movement began being noticed in May 2008 and it is already attracting a wide following thanks in large part to the efforts of its unofficial spokesman Gao Xiaopan.

Gao was born in Hebei Province in 1985 and began to study crosstalk when he was eight years old. After graduating from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts as a crosstalk major at age 16, Gao began his crosstalk career in Beijing.

Despite enjoying success, Gao felt that something was missing and began to discuss with fellow young crosstalk fans about making the art more appealing to people from their generation.

Eventually Gao and his friends agreed that only a modernized crosstalk that dealt
with issues closer to young people’s lives would win the support of young audiences.
“Hip-hop is fashionable and alternative. That’s exactly how we use crosstalk to create fun and pleasure,” Gao said.

Gao and his friends picked Gulou-area teashop Guang Ming Ge as the home for their informal crosstalk club, drawing inspiration from traditional performance style that has lost ground to radio and television-based performances in recent years.

According to Gao, these forms of mass-media lose the interactive and intimate feeling of crosstalk, making it less enjoyable for both performers and audiences alike.

He said that what pulls young people in is not primarily the teashop’s atmosphere, but the new style that they are presenting. Hip-hop crosstalk is defined by its updated scripts and liberal use of contemporary slang, such as  shanzhai, which is a popular reference to imitations and copycats.

“I’ve listened to the crosstalk of Liu Baorui, Ma Ji and Guo Degang, which, though funny, is a little far from my life and lacks relevance to the present age. Hip-hop crosstalk is closer to me,” said one college student.

Hip-hop crosstalk also taps into young Chinese people’s nostalgia, featuring music and themes from cartoons and television series that dominated their childhood, such as the well-known Japanese cartoon Doraemon or the famous Chinese show Cucurbit Brothers. Such shared experiences and memories give hip-hop crosstalk performers plenty of material and help audience members to engage with the performance in a new way.

“I feel the energy and vitality in their crosstalk and there is no generation gap at all,” said one young audience member.

Gao and other hip-hop crosstalk enthusiasts are not content with merely adapting the language of crosstalk for a younger audience, but have also developed a form of crosstalk uniquely modern known informally as “crosstalk drama.”

Crosstalk drama is a combination of drama and crosstalk, where performers loose the traditional gown in favor of contemporary costumes and simple stage props.

One crosstalk drama, The Legend of White Snake, was adapted from a well-known TV series in China and was the first crosstalk play promoted by the hip-hop crosstalk club. 

The crosstalk drama adds a twist to the familiar storyline with a heavy dose of slang and little regard for pre-prescribed gender roles, happily interchanging male and female performers.

Recognizing young people’s growing Western habits, the hip-hop crosstalk society also draws on Western elements and stories, such as their version of a modern-day  Cinderella. In the hip-hop crosstalk version, Cinderella’s sisters are played by two boys with Beijing accents and Western dresses. Gao has also replaced the familiar pumpkin carriage with an angel offering 20 yuan for a taxi ride to the royal ball.

Though the updated crosstalk may look different to some, Guang Ming Ge’s packed houses are proof of its popularity. With a capacity of 220 people, the teahouse routinely sells out in several hours with many people booking a ticket a week in advance.

“Young audiences are the future of arts. Actors and actresses who win the support of young audiences might well win the market in the future,” Zhang Xinan, Vice-Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said on China Radio International’s China Drive.