What China's 'morality-building' comedy boom says about standup
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Version 0 of 1. There’s been a steady stream of articles recently, mostly in the Daily Telegraph, complaining about the leftwing stranglehold on comedy. This being the almost official organ of the Conservative party, I’d have suspected we were being softened up for a drastic cut to comedy’s funding – but for the fact that it doesn’t get funding in the first place. (Which, come to think of it, rather undermines its lefty credentials.) Now, no one is more delighted than I am by rightwingers’ frustration that they’re under-represented in the arts. They refuse to comprehend – and I love them for it – that, just possibly, the active imagination and dissenting spirit that draws one to a career in the arts is a little at odds with rightwing thinking. (Watch this space for my column railing against leftwing under-representation in the Rotary Club.) But this week, an argument comes to my attention that risks clouding this perfect picture of dyspeptic Tories spitting tacks at another militant socialist edition of Would I Lie to You? (Light entertainment shows being, as one Telegraph writer recently opined , “packed to the gunnels with lefties”.) I’ve read two articles this week about China’s comedy boom. There, standup barely existed until two or three years ago. The main comic art form, apparently, was “cross-talk”, a rapid-fire dialogue between two performers. But two is becoming one in 21st-century China, where solo standup is all the rage. According to the New York Times, the state bureau that oversees TV and radio, avid for standup, declared 2014 the “year of comedy” as part of a push to “build morality”. In these articles you can’t help but notice that this is an art form that’s all about individualism. Cross-talk requires a certain solidarity; in standup, you look after number one. “If you visited China in the 1970s,” one comic is quoted as saying, “everyone dressed the same, in two colours, grey and blue. But it’s developed, people have realised, ‘Oh, I have my own pursuit of life’ and standup ‘has to do with [that] freedom ... everybody can talk about their life.” Yes, standup is also being used, cautiously, to broach social and political issues. But far more often, judging by these articles, China’s new jokers are talking about, to cite a couple of examples, the difficulties of buying property in Beijing and the cultural differences between China’s regions. If lefties celebrate the collective, and Tories fend for themselves, then standup – a solitary performer, usually talking about themselves, and not costing the state a penny – must be at the right-hand side of the arts spectrum. You could even extend the argument to suggest that’s why the UK has enjoyed a standup boom over the past decade. It’s because we as a country have drifted rightwards, losing faith in collective endeavour (and in state subsidy of the arts) and in thrall to celebrity and individual self-assertion. Now, I know this is a partial take on a complex phenomenon. You could equally cast China’s comedy boom as a leftwing event, as the common man and woman make their voices heard after years of censorship and enforced silence. But reading about it certainly reinforced the daftness of all these “where are all the rightwing comedians?” diatribes I keep reading. After all, lots of UK comedy offers the equivalent of those Chinese routines about property, spouses and “aren’t different people funny?” and is, in its cheerful submission to the status quo, effectively rightwing. If that’s not good enough for the Telegraph’s thwarted comedy fans, perhaps they should emigrate to China. They might not find the Miliband-bashing standup they seek – but comedy that “builds morality” and encourages property ownership sounds right up their street. Three to see Whose Line Is It Anyway?The “official worldwide premiere” as a live event of Clive Anderson and co’s iconic Channel 4 improv show (emphasis on “official” for anyone who saw its close relation in Edinburgh last year.) • Adelphi theatre, London, 20 June-5 July. Kevin BridgesAnother gargantu-tour kicks off for Glasgwegian comedy prodigy Bridges, to include a whopping 14 nights at his hometown’s 10,000-capacity SSE Hydro. • Saturday, Wrexham Glyndwr (0844 888 9991); Sunday, Leeds Grand Opera House (0844 848 2700); then touring. Funz and GamezAnother chance to see the sleeper hit of last year’s Edinburgh fringe, Phil Ellis’s unforgettably inappropriate children’s show. Take your kids – if you dare. • Saturday & Sunday, Udderbelly Southbank, London. |