Over the past five years, talk shows, stand-up and sketch comedies have outperformed traditional crosstalk and skits to take over the comedy market in China. Boosted by high-rating TV variety shows such as the Super Sketch Show, new forms of comedy have pulled in high audience figures and enticed more quick-witted performers. With increasingly tightened performance schedules in a more regulated market, more comedians and comedy clubs are financially independent and have extended their businesses from metropolises to smaller cities. Nowadays, performances are required to be short, sidesplitting and irrelevant to comedians’ own views and stances. Though updated, new comedy styles are essentially the same as traditional art forms, which need a strong sense of humor to create comic moments.
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