Graphics | Li Miao, 2022 Master of School of Journalism and Communication, Nanjing University
Operation | Wang Wanyang
Editor | Chen Jing Huang Xicheng
Instructor | Zhou Haiyan Baijing
"17 years old" "Technical secondary school student" "2024 Alibaba Mathematics Competition" "Global No. 12"...This series of labels that are not conspicuous on their own, but when put together, the story is called "Shuangwen's heroine" by netizens. It happened to Jiang Ping from Lianshui County, Jiangsu Province. She is the only girl among the top 30 in this competition, and is also the first technical secondary school student in history to reach the finals. In an interview, she said: "I think mathematics is particularly interesting... because I like this process and it brings me happiness." For Jiang Ping, mathematics is undoubtedly a different kind of talent in her life. Light.
"Life is not just about the things in front of you, but also about poetry and distant fields." No matter where you are or what your identity is, everyone can go to where their heart is. Today, we focus on a takeaway rider named "Pumpkin". He said, "The talk show is like a beam of light, illuminating my life"...
Pumpkin rides an electric bike Driving past the Huangpu Theater, this place was all too familiar to him. Since arriving in Shanghai four years ago, he has appeared on the stage here many times as a stand-up comedian.
A talk show performance had just ended. When he heard the audience happily talking about his familiar name, he felt a trace of sadness in his heart. Of course he knows them. Like him, they have all appeared on the same popular online variety show " Talk Show Conference ". This variety show has allowed many unknown "little people" like myself to be seen, and it has also made talk shows from a niche hobby to an emerging popular cultural and entertainment activity in China.
Nothing is settled in the world. This program that changed the fate of many talk show actors has been suspended. Pumpkin lowered his head and glanced at the "17 minutes left for delivery" displayed on the delivery app's rider interface, and accelerated his driving speed. He had no time to worry about the spring and autumn.
Life is more than just a casual life, there is also a talk show
Pumpkin, born in 1996, is from Baoji, Shaanxi. After failing the college entrance examination twice, he came to Xi'an, the provincial capital. In order to take root in the big city, he has worked in sales, security, car washing, selling cold noodles... he has done it all. In 2019, he became an errand rider again.
At that time, Pumpkin always had a subtle obsession and avoided talking about his new career as an errand rider. He also consciously cut off past interpersonal relationships. In his own words, he lived a "separate life from the world." "Isolated" life. Even Fa Xiao, who works in Xi'an, only learned about his current situation when he bumped into Pumpkin who was busy delivering snack orders in the office building.
The life of an errand rider is filled with receiving orders, delivering orders, and being reminded of orders. Under the control of algorithms and platforms, the word "race against time" has been materialized. Riding a battery scooter speeds through the city streets, and even the process of picking up and delivering packages after parking is a trot. Pumpkin is afraid of seeing a customer reminder reminder pop up on the mobile phone interface, even if the reminder will not be deducted.
Most of the time orders are delivered smoothly, but there are risks. For example, no matter how careful you are, it is difficult to ensure that the cakes delivered are intact every time. At this time, Pumpkin has to lose a whole day's income to celebrate a birthday that is not on his birthday. Another example is that some real estate complexes explicitly prohibit electric vehicles from entering. After being scolded by the "ruthless" doorman, Pumpkin felt aggrieved and helpless. He carried a large box of beer with all his strength and walked between unfamiliar buildings. It was too heavy and he couldn't run this time. He secretly prayed that the route prompted by the system would not go wrong.
Going out early and coming back late, exposed to wind and sun, the route of the battery car intertwined into the map of Pumpkin's 23-year-old life. As an errand rider, you can earn 6,000-7,000 yuan a month. Pumpkin's living expenses are not high, and he has established himself in Xi'an.
"Single King", in the errand rider industry, as the name suggests, refers to the person who delivers the most orders. Pumpkin also became the "single king", but he was not satisfied with it. To be more precise, "single king" has never been the goal, he is always looking for other opportunities. In Pumpkin's view, running errands is just eating "youth rice". can't break the dilemma in life by just running errands.
Later, he encountered a talk show.
On this day, Pumpkin walked into a bar carrying a cake ordered by a customer. Not far away, a group of people were sitting in a semicircle, and the end of their sight was the man holding a microphone on the stage. The laughter was sparse, but it made Pumpkin's heart move. It turned out that this was a talk show. Standing in the bar, Pumpkin pressed "Pause Orders".
Later, Pumpkin learned that this form of talk show is called open mic. Sign up with the person in charge in advance. According to the order of queue, everyone will take turns to speak on the stage for 5 minutes. The more viewers who are amused, the better. Of course, there is no income when it comes to open mic.
Open mic is different from commercial performances. The venue selection is more casual, and the so-called stage does not have any professional equipment. Sometimes even the music is played by people on stage taking turns holding their mobile phones to "bring their own sound effects". Many professional talk show performers regard the open mic as a place for "joking grinding" - they tell newly written jokes and keep them if the audience responds enthusiastically; otherwise, they modify or discard them directly.
But for Pumpkin, open wheat is the rope connecting hope in life. Even though it is fragile and fragile, even though it is teetering, he must hold on tightly and use all his strength. Once he lets go, he will fall back into the turbulent flow of life.
At the end of October 2019, Pumpkin stood on the open mic stage. "I was very nervous. My mind went blank. I saw so many viewers on the stage and I didn't know what to say. I was suddenly speechless." pumpkin is still deeply impressed by his first talk show: " Later, my brain connected, and I finally remembered it, so I recited the manuscript. "
html opened the mic at 05 minutes, and the audience laughed enthusiastically. Although in Pumpkin's self-evaluation, the jokes he told for the first time were not outstanding and lacked comedy skills. The audience may just think he is funny. After, he continued to try several open mics, but the effect was not as expected, but Pumpkin’s determination to talk about talk shows was very strong: “If it were other people, after being hit a few times, they might not talk anymore. But I I have to persist, I have no way out.”
takes orders and delivers them during the day, and accumulates content materials while running around. He began not to object to accidents and blaming and making things difficult during errands. These were the inspiration for his jokes. went to open mics at night, gradually became acquainted with some comedy club owners, and began to receive commercial performances, and talk shows officially became a side job.
The brave man went to Shanghai to give a talk show first
Another year of this life passed. In the winter of 2020, Pumpkin made a major decision - to go to Shanghai.
In 2020, the third season of Tencent Video’s online variety show “Talk Show Conference” became a hit and became a phenomenon-level online variety show. As the famous phrases on the show were spread on a large scale, Yang Li , Li Xueqin , Wang Mian ... the names of talk show actors became well known, and "talk show" was also widely used this year. Break into the eyes and lives of ordinary people.
Shanghai is the home of Xiaoguo Culture Media Co., Ltd., one of the producers of "Talk Show Conference", and it was also the place with the strongest cultural atmosphere of talk shows in China at that time. "Shanghai is to Chinese talk shows what Jerusalem is to the West." This joke reflects the grand scene of the "Magic City" to a certain extent.
Pumpkin is also a member of "Talk Show Jerusalem". He knows that if he wants to achieve long-term development in this industry, Xi'an is far from enough. First-tier cities like Shanghai and Beijing, where comedy industry giants Xiaoguo and Danliren each occupy their own territory, have the cultural soil suitable for the development of talk shows, and there are enough audiences who are interested in comedy, have the spending power, and can understand talk shows. , like a rich mine. "Gold Digger" Pumpkin went to Shanghai alone, lighting up another important landmark in his life map.
The new life is simple and fulfilling. This is also due to the fact that Pumpkin had already prepared all the "strategies" when he was in Xi'an. He compiled a list of all the talk show clubs in Shanghai, recorded the time, location and registration method of the open mic in a memo, and also recommended himself to the hosts of major comedy clubs to strive for more performance opportunities. During the day, he runs errands and delivers food just like in Xi'an, and runs at least one open mic every night. This is his requirement for himself.There are more performance opportunities on weekends, so I will perform more performances in one go. The house Pumpkin rents is in Jing'an District, Shanghai. Although it is on the edge of Baoshan District, the price is good and the transportation is convenient. A partitioned house costs 1,500 yuan, and you can reach the theater where the show is performed in 40 minutes by riding a scooter.
After arriving in Shanghai, opportunities really increased visibly.. It happened that the "Laughing Fruit Training Camp" was recruiting students. This is a new training program launched by "Xiaoguo Culture", the leading company in the talk show industry, in order to continuously replenish comedy talents for the industry and expand the talk show industry market. Become a student of the "Laughing Fruit Training Camp" and you can go to Shanghai for a week-long closed comedy training. From talk show creation, text polishing, performance presentation, and on-site emergency response, senior talk show actors or experienced comedy screenwriters are arranged to provide guidance.
Pumpkin was successfully selected to become a student of the "Laughing Fruit Training Camp". Li Dan joined as a special instructor on the fourth day to communicate face to face with the students. When other students asked questions such as "how to find your own style and persona", "how to balance when you want to express something, but the audience only wants to watch funny content" and "how to keep the desire for expression alive", Pumpkin stood up and asked : "Mr. Dan, how can I join the laughing fruit?" The newborn calf's behavior of not being afraid of tigers caused everyone including Li Dan to laugh.
Soon after, Pumpkin signed as a talk show actor under Xiaoguo Culture, and his name was included in the list of actors in the "Xiaoguo" mini program. Pumpkin saved the screenshot of the page with his name and avatar and sent it to Moments. Although the ticket price for his performance was set in the range of 80-120 yuan, which is obviously far from the highest price of 880 yuan for Xiaoguo's "top-tier" actors, Pumpkin is still satisfied. He felt that with an academic degree like his own, being able to earn a living by writing articles and speaking eloquently could be regarded as "making it out." Like the growing number of performances, the laughter and praise received are also gradually increasing.
By chance, one of the top 100 up owners of Station B named “Pianyuesheshiyuji” found Pumpkin and filmed a “Super Delivery Guy” video. After the video was posted on Station B, it was liked, collected and voted for more than one million times. Before appearing on the fifth season of "Talk Show", Pumpkin already had some online exposure.
It's all uphill, Pumpkin firmly believes.
First experience of the Talk Show Conference
Perhaps as Zhou Qimo, who is known as the "Talk Show Ceiling", said: "The roots of talk show are offline." But no one can deny that the online program "Talk Show Conference" has boosted The explosion played a vital role in the formation of China's talk show industry and the breakup of talk show culture. For talk show actors, "Talk Show Conference" is a palace of dreams. Here, they can use their humorous words to win a wider and deeper resonance, and can be seen by more people, and the harvest will make others The enviable "out of the circle" bonus.
Pumpkin signed up for the fifth season of "Talk Show". He passed the audition and became one of the 105 groups of contestants. Then came the fierce qualifying competition for the stage, with 105 entering 20 and 20 entering 10. Pumpkin was unstoppable, and the top 10 scores made it through the encirclement and won the final qualification for the stage.
He was fully prepared for the "Talk Show Conference". After get off work, I practice Mandarin in front of the mirror and practice my expressions. Find the cheapest KTV in the city and get used to the feeling of holding a microphone. I wrote three manuscripts in advance, presented them again and again at the Open Mac and Commercial Theater offline, and revised them again and again. "Prepare the manuscript first, and I can continue to write new ones after promotion." Pumpkin is as cautious as ever.
Pumpkin, who made his first appearance in the "Talk Show Conference", was wearing a sky blue delivery rider costume, with a crew cut and dark skin. During his competition with another talk show actor, Mr. Great, he chose his most satisfying article to challenge, which was about his experience as a food delivery rider.
In the recording studio at around 2 a.m., the program was still being recorded. Pumpkin is not nervous. He has performed the 5-minute content offline countless times before. Especially the joke where he and the community security guard call each other "battery car" and "walkie-talkie", it always blows up the audience every time he performs.
Pumpkin is a bit short-sighted. As he talks, a light comes on, but he can't see clearly which announcer is lighting the light for him. All he knew was that it meant he was one step closer to promotion. Hey, another one lights up!
Pumpkin ended his performance amidst applause. He habitually squinted his short-sighted eyes. When he focused his eyes, he realized that Na Ying and Zhou Xun, the comedians for the recording, did not take photos for him. Pumpkin narrowly lost to the Great Master with 2 lights and 3 lights, and his personal "Talk Show Conference" debut ended like this.
Such a result was caught off guard for Pumpkin. He never imagined that he would be "in the first round": "Before going on the show, I was very confident in my talk show. But the people who appeared on the variety show were all 50 of the top talk shows in the country. Show your talents, and you will find that you are not that good, just an ordinary person."
After the second episode of the fifth season of "Talk Show Conference" was broadcast, Pumpkin's elimination in the first round caused a heated discussion on the Internet. A large number of netizens flooded his Weibo, and the comment area exceeded three digits for the first time. During that period, he always received private messages from strangers, most of which were compliments and encouragements. Some of them complained about his injustice. They bluntly said that the comedian who did not take the lights was a big star and they could not understand ordinary people's talk shows.
Pumpkin looked at his talk show from the perspective of a bystander for the first time. Errand running experience, rural life, and struggles at the bottom, these narratives of small characters rooted in their own lives, will they be popular with audiences in big cities with good living conditions, and with talk show culture where elite aesthetic orientation is still the mainstream?
When other talk show performers talked about the popular topics of MBTI test, horoscope, and citywalk to the young audience, the audience was in a state of revelry, but Pumpkin was confused. Are the life materials and thoughts and expressions about little people that he is so proud of, no longer appropriate in this modern world?
He tried to adjust, trying to find out more about human nature from his life. Including when I am running errands, I am most annoyed by customers who remind me of my order; but when my takeout order doesn’t arrive for a long time, I can’t help but click “Reminder”. He calls these the "dark sides of human nature" and he is thinking about using the so-called "dark sides of human nature" to win the resonance of those audiences in the audience who are not part of his talk show audience.
Pumpkin likes Stephen Chow very much. Even his WeChat avatar is a still from Stephen Chow's " Truant to School Weilong 2": Stephen Chow, who was demoted and demoted to the traffic team, is sitting on the side of the tree-lined road with his worn-out white motorcycle helmet under his body. Wearing sunglasses and looking into the distance, he held a pair of grilled chicken wings in his hands. This is Pumpkin's favorite work: "I want to write something with black humor, like Stephen Chow."
In Pumpkin's eyes, Master Xing is unattainable, but Stephen Chow's experience has a familiar overlap with his own destiny. feel. With "no education, no skills, and no background", I must seize the opportunity and give it my all on the road of talk show. There is no way out.
This is the second time he mentioned "there is no retreat". "If you don't do talk shows, you will have to be a rider for the rest of your life. With my level of education, the upper limit is just that, and the most you can do is be a rider station manager. But talk shows are different. You have unlimited possibilities. You can even perform at the Bird's Nest, Performing abroad, appearing on TV, and attending the Spring Festival Gala.”
Pumpkin’s words are not unreasonable. On New Year's Eve in 2023, four talk show actors appeared on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage and used talk shows to send blessings to the people across the country. The program defeated the other 39 programs and topped the Spring Festival Gala ratings list.
One of the talk show performers on the Spring Festival Gala is named Xu Zhisheng . He became popular with the public through "Talk Show Conference". Later, with his humorous performance, clever reactions and unique appearance characteristics, he continued to be invited to popular variety shows, and the ticket prices of performances increased. He served as a guest at the famous singer Wang Sulong's concert, and even transformed into a costume. Comedy hero. From the stage of making happiness to a broader world, the talk show industry seems to have "infinite possibilities".
Pumpkin's "Infinite Possibilities" movement is also playing. There are more opportunities for business performances. On the road, I occasionally encounter audience members who recognize me and chat enthusiastically.The talk show has unknowingly become the main business, and the errand rider has been relegated to the side business. Sign up for the sixth season of "Talk Show Conference", win the qualification to be on stage again, and wait for the program recording notice.
In May 2023, the movement came to an abrupt end, and the uphill road reached a dead end.
Even if there are headwinds, we must move forward. The barbaric growth and accelerated expansion of the
industry has laid the foundation for a lack of standards and neglect of management. Due to serious inappropriate remarks made by its artists during performances, Xiaoguo Culture was fined heavily and all performances were suspended. In 2023, no talk show variety shows will be launched on major video platforms, including the upcoming sixth season of "Talk Show Conference" by Pumpkin.
The stagnation of leading brands, the disappearance of online programs, and the loss of audiences have all slowed down the pace of the talk show industry, and the white-hot wave has returned to silence.
Commercial performances have dropped sharply, and income has plummeted. In the past, front-row tickets worth 880 yuan could be snapped up in seconds, but now most venues are full of seats. There are more and more open microphone opportunities. On the one hand, there are more people changing careers, and as long as you sign up, you have a high probability of being able to attend. On the other hand, the comedy club’s original venues for commercial performances are better used instead of leaving them idle to pay rent. Doing open mics gives actors a chance to practice their skills, and maybe attract new audiences at low or free prices.
Pumpkin and Xiaoguo have terminated their contract. If the contract is not terminated, he will face the dilemma of zero performances. The life of a rider during the day and an open mic at night has restarted. The sudden drop from the high point of the uphill to the low point is very unsettling. He quickly grabbed a takeout order, and while waiting for a red light, he "picked up" the registration information for a certain open-mic WeChat group.
The accelerating battery car left the scenery behind. Not far ahead, a group of men and women of similar age and well-dressed walked briskly and carefree through the streets of Shanghai on weekdays. The 26-year-old Pumpkin has experienced vicissitudes and loneliness that do not belong to his age.
Fortunately, this is a fairly fair industry, at least from Pumpkin's point of view. The tide recedes slowly, and the naked swimmers exit. The remaining ones may not be outstanding, but they must have experienced many battles.
Looking back on 2023, the number of domestic talk shows has exceeded 200, which is recognized by the industry as a "special show year". In times of industry downturn, comedy club owners prefer to purchase stand-up specials. Actors who can hold special performances can at least tell mature jokes for more than an hour, and their performance level is relatively guaranteed. Compared with commercial performances of varying quality, they can win more reputation for comedy brands. The more direct reason is that they can bring in tickets. These actors often have a certain reputation or audience, and the audience is willing to pay for their performances.
On September 16, 2023, Pumpkin Life's first special show "The Takeaway" was staged in Xi'an. Pumpkin, who jokingly calls himself "Homecoming", returns to the familiar "Joke Comedy" theater where he has performed countless times. After he left Xi'an to start a more difficult talk show "fighting monsters and upgrading", every performance was posted on social platforms by a "joke comedy" with a "mother's family" tone.
was nervous, but not the stiff, helpless, blank-minded nervousness that he had when he first took the stage three years ago. Uneasy, but more of a kind of excitement looking forward to the unveiling of the results of years of experience and polishing.
The audience was packed with seats. Pumpkin, who was wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt and black sweatpants, had a beam of light shining on him. He told stories about these years, using his favorite "black humor" method, and each "hell joke" made the audience laugh countless times.
was a complete success. Pumpkin solemnly took a photo of the flower baskets he received at the premiere. They were sent by the audience, including Hei Deng and Tang Xiangyu, who were best friends in the industry - they had appeared on the stage of "Talk Show Conference" together. The
special performance is a milestone for the actor, and the dawn of Pumpkin's life emerges again. One month after , his special show was renamed "Five-Star Review". On the promotional poster, Pumpkin maintains the shape of a takeout rider, wearing a yellow "Single King" helmet and a blue rider costume. On the other side, there is a design of a takeout list receipt. The "takeout" order is priced at 99 yuan. This is from a friend Black light ideas.
's "Five-Star Review" special was purchased by more than 40 talk show clubs across the country.The national tour is in full swing, and Pumpkin's footprints have left in Beijing, Hangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu, Nanjing, Qingdao... and even Singapore.
Pumpkin, who was going abroad for the first time, took several selfies in the front row of the economy class cabin while holding up his air ticket and his own ticket. The bilingual poster at the entrance of the theater was equally novel, and he couldn't help but press the shooting button a few more times.
The sun is shining brightly in Singapore in mid-December. Tropical rainforests, sky gardens, and public green spaces can be seen everywhere, and green is the main color here. Pumpkin rarely wears myopia glasses, and he wants to burn the entire scenery into his eyes. I haven’t been this happy for a long time. This year-end trip is my reward for all the hard work I have done this year. Yes, just like the year-end bonus. "Shanpao went abroad for the first time and spent a weekend in the summer." Pumpkin updated Weibo.
Pumpkin, real name is Zhao Dong. His father is a suona craftsman in the village, and he cooks and performs all weddings and weddings in the village. His mother owns a convenience store at the head of the village. The Shaanxi steamed noodles and shaved noodles she makes are Pumpkin’s favorites.
is good at making happy pumpkins on stage. He doesn’t talk much in private, so “silent” is not an exaggeration to describe him. When first chose the talk show route, his parents were worried. They really couldn't figure out how an introverted and taciturn child could use words to arouse the interest of a group of strangers. Like many Chinese-style families, parents' worries often take the form of harsh criticism: "How much ink in your belly can support your ambition." A few years later, my mother is still thinking about her original blow to the pumpkin.
"There are stops and starts along the way.
Following the traces of a young man's drift.
...
I once had a hard time extricating myself from the vastness of the world.
I was also addicted to it. Talking in my sleep.
Can't tell the truth. Don't struggle. Don't be afraid of jokes."
"The wind is rising." ", Pumpkin's favorite song, has accompanied him through countless galloping moments. "With the song "The Wind Rises," I feel like I've been being blown by the wind, floating and running everywhere, and now it's going further and further away." He wrote this state of mind into a special joke. One time when I got home, my father actually played this song on the suona.
"Talk show is like a beam of light, illuminating my life. It has become a part of my life. This is destined." Pumpkin always thinks, if he had been born a few years earlier, or born later. In a few years, I may have completely missed the talk show. But he happened to be living at this moment, in the rolling tide of the times, and like the lucky ones like Xu Zhisheng and He Guangzhi, he grabbed the olive branch thrown by fate.
"Life is a stage. When you come, you have to show off your ambitions and leave a lasting mark." Pumpkin took the time to take a few bites of his lunch box, and 10 minutes later, it was his turn to take the stage again.
On April 13, 2024, another stop of the "Five Star Rating" special tour ended successfully at Guangzhou Liying Plaza Wild Space Talk Show Theater, "Thank you everyone, I am a pumpkin!"
Amid cheers and applause, "The Wind Rises" played from the theater speakers, and the suona played loud, deep, long and far-reaching music.
This article is the first excerpt from the graduation project "Using Laughter to Clear the Fog of Life: Documentary of Talk Show "Little People"" by Li Miao, a 2022 master's degree student at the School of Journalism and Communication at Nanjing University. The full text is published in three parts. The article by
was first published on the WeChat public account "Xinchao". The original title was ""Talk Show is My Light": When a Takeaway Rider Decides to Talk Show".
