author | Li Miao
instructor | Bai Jing
layout | Zhou Wuyue
operates | Yu Wenxi
editor | Huang Xicheng
This is the year that talk shows return. After two years, "Xidan" and " off friends " were strongly broadcast. This time the talk show returns, "Xiaoguo Culture" splits up, and the "protagonists" on the stages of "Xidan" and "Tuoyou" have also quietly changed. Not only has the proportion of newcomers and crossover players increased significantly, but the proportion of small and medium-sized brands has also changed. The exposure rate is also higher, and more talk show fans see a new dawn.
However, the stand-up comedians who can stand in the spotlight are only a very small part of this huge group. In June 2024, the documentary article ""Life is hard, but happiness is important" published by Future Editorial Department·New Wave: When a Beipiao Boy Resigned to Become a Full-time Talk Show Actor" takes us closer to the real growth experience of a talk show actor Qiu Xi, Today I am reposting an old article to share the story behind the talk show actor with my readers. For the sake of her love, she resolutely chose to quit her job. She had a brief moment of glory but was mostly unknown. Qiu Xi's state is just a reflection of the lives of many offline talk show actors.
Qiu Xi stood in the center of the stage, with the spotlight shining on him. There are more than 100 spectators sitting in the audience. Everyone holds a voting machine in their hands, and they also control their destiny - advancing to the next round of the Danliren Original Comedy Competition or being eliminated directly, it all depends on the audience's thoughts. . But the lights in the auditorium were extremely weak, and Qiu Xi's vision was as black as splashing ink, like a ship sailing in the deep sea, trapped in a silent night. He suddenly had a strange feeling that he was the only one in the room. All he has to do is say what he wants to express once on stage. expression is his favorite thing.
Talk show is the spiritual sustenance of the life of "Beijing Drifters"
Qiu Xi was born in Guang'an, Sichuan, a fifth-tier town that is not well-known outside the province. When introducing his hometown to others, he would often add, "It's Deng Xiaoping's hometown." In February 2019, when she graduated from university, 23-year-old Qiu Xi found an internship in Beijing through a recruitment website, working as an academic operations officer at "New Elite Career", a company specializing in career planning. Dragging her suitcase and taking the green train from Sichuan to Beijing, Qiu Xi officially became a "Beijing drifter".
Living in a big city, careful planning is a required skill. Through a friend's recommendation, Qiu Xi moved into a group rental house with a monthly rent of 800 yuan. In the capital city where land is at a premium, it is no exaggeration to describe it as “cheap”. The 90-square-meter group rental house accommodates 34 people. The interior was transformed into a space with more than a dozen bunk beds. Even the "second landlord" only set up a bed in the kitchen. The balcony where Qiu Xi lived was the only "single room". She was lying on the bed with all kinds of clothes of her roommates above her head. The living conditions are indeed difficult, but Qiu Xi doesn't care. Being able to come to a big city is more important than anything else, as long as there is a place to stay.
In the summer of 2019, the second season of " Talk Show Conference " was popular. Qiu Xi became interested in this form of comedy that uses humor to explain one's own experience and express personal opinions. During the precious 1.5-hour lunch break, most of the colleagues chose to lie down at their desks or open the folding beds to take a nap. Only Qiu Xi couldn't wait to open the Tencent Video app on her mobile phone. The latest episode of "Talk Show Conference" was just updated half an hour ago. , in order to catch up with updates in real time, he specially bought a quarterly membership of the video website. This short hour and a half was Qiu Xi’s happiest time in the whole week.
In the program, Qiu Xi learned that one of the organizers, "Xiaoguo Culture", also held an open mic in Beijing - there was no threshold, as long as you signed up, you could go on stage to give a talk show. After more than half a year, the internship job was successfully turned into a full-time job. Qiu Xi was relieved and started his first open wheat experience with excitement.
Nanluoguxiang is a popular place for talk shows to open mic in Beijing. The first time Qiu Xi appeared on stage was in a small bar in Nanluogu Lane. He still clearly remembers that the chairs in the bar can be opened so that the audience can stuff their clothes inside, and there is a late-night car wash next to the bar.
As a newcomer taking the stage for the first time, Qiu Xi was placed in the middle and front order. The opening is a test of the actor's performance in controlling the scene. Experts with good popularity and good performance are often arranged to the back or the finale to attract the audience to stay until the end. Qiu Xi thought he was quite well prepared. He spent a whole month writing the 5-minute manuscript and memorized it proficiently. He paced back and forth in the narrow alley to follow the manuscript, not even noticing that he was wandering near a public toilet. When I heard the host introduce myself, my heart beat faster.
opened the mic for the first time. He poked fun at foreign friends’ stereotypes about Sichuan people. There were a few cold moments along the way, and the nervousness and embarrassment spread throughout his body. He even thought about giving up. Fortunately, the last burden was lifted, and the laughter from the audience comforted Qiu Xi. On average, one game is quite satisfactory. "It's pretty normal, not as cold as expected." Qiu Xi commented on herself. But at the end of the performance, the custom of taking photos with the actors and the audience gave him a sense of ritual: It seemed that from this moment on, he became a part of the talk show world, from a bystander to a witness.
A group photo of Qiu Xi (first from right in the front row) giving a talk show for the first time (Photo provided by Qiu Xi)
As an academic operation, Qiu Xi’s main job is to introduce different types of career planning courses, including learning content, to clients who come for consultation. , teaching lineup, course advantages, etc., are essentially not much different from “sales”. He has always wanted to be a training instructor, which is obviously more consistent with his personal interests and development direction. However, in the company's job system, the threshold for this position is quite high. After all, lecturers are responsible for guiding others' career planning. They need a graduate degree or above, or have accumulated certain professional experience to be competent. Qiu Xi, who has a bachelor's degree and has been working for just over a year, was blocked from entering.
The threshold for talk shows is obviously much lower. "Talk shows don't require much ability on your part, and it has nothing to do with your academic qualifications, nor does it have anything to do with your job position. You can talk about anything about yourself, as long as you make it funny." Qiu Xi thinks that since she can't be a comedian for the time being, Lecturer, it’s also good to give talk shows in your spare time. Anyway, talk shows can satisfy one's desire for expression, divert the internal conflict at work, and can also bring happiness to everyone. Isn't this more interesting than being a lecturer?
He began to treat talk shows as his side job, although most of the time he was doing unprofitable open shows. I work during the day, and if I don’t work overtime at night, I go to various bars and small theaters in Beijing to give open mic lectures. I give 1-2 lectures a night. After that, I take the subway back to the group to rent an apartment. Life at that time was very tiring, but full of ambition. Qiu Xi was lying on the single bed on the balcony, with the clips from the performance a few hours ago still echoing in her mind.
Although he is only a part-time talk show actor, Qiu Xi has also worked hard. In addition to talk shows, he is also actively seeking to serve as the host of open mic. He feels that the host can practice his on-the-spot reactions better and can force himself to "make mistakes" on the spot.In addition to running open mics, he also contributed articles to the "Jokes Calendar" column of "Xiaoguo" every week for half a year. Three jokes were adopted and he received 300 yuan in royalties. This was his "first pot of gold" since he "engaged" in the talk show industry. He also uploaded video clips of each performance to Douyin with subtitles, and modified the jokes based on the opinions of netizens, although the number of comments was very few.
The boss of Chenxing Comedy saw that Qiu Xi was working so hard and sent out an invitation to perform a talk show. Although the performance fee was only 100 yuan, which may be the lowest level in the industry in Beijing, the venue for the commercial performance was also arranged in an "old and small" Cinema. But Qiu Xi is very happy. This is his first commercial performance in his life, and it can be regarded as a small stage victory. Nowadays, Chenxing Comedy has long since closed down, but Qiu Xi is still grateful to the label for giving him the opportunity. The commercial invitation gave him a boost. Perhaps, he can also support himself through talk shows.
Perhaps, God also likes to favor those who work hard. Once, the cctv2 financial column was reporting on the domestic talk show industry. Qiu Xi happened to be performing that day, and the reporter caught him for an interview. After the program was broadcast, Qiu Xi discovered that there were also "big names" who already had a certain status in the industry like Li Dan, Zhang Boyang and norah who became famous in "Talk Show Conference". Qiu Xi was so flattered that he sent the picture of himself captured in the CCTV2 report to the family WeChat group. My mother was also very happy: "I didn't expect you to be on CCTV."
Screenshot of Qiu Xi's interview on the theme of cctv talk show (Source: cctv2 video screenshot)
Many people compare the open mic of a talk show to "opening a blind box". The lineup will not be announced before the open mic performance. The audience can only see the "true face" of the performers by entering on the day. Many well-known actors are also keen to try out jokes in various open mics. During Qiu Xi's road to open mic, she met many seniors - Mr. Huang Xi , the "originator of Chinese talk shows" who once gave a talk show at the White House in the United States, Boss Shi of Dan Liren Comedy, etc. Qiu Xi moved forward anxiously and asked Teacher Huang Xi if he could take a photo with her. Huang Xi readily agreed and took Qiu Xi's phone. Qiu Xi uploaded this photo to Weibo, . He likes to record moments like this that are getting closer and closer to success, even if it may be an illusion in the end.
Selfie photo of Qiu Xi (first from left) and teacher Huang Xi (picture provided by Qiu Xi)
"I hope I can continue to practice on talk shows in 2021. I look forward to standing on a bigger stage. I hope I can continue to persist and do what I love." Come on, Qiu Xi." In the 2020 annual summary, Qiu Xi wrote.
"Life is short, do what you like."
The days passed calmly like this. Although Qiu Xi still has not transferred to the lecturer position that she longed for, and professional burnout is slowly growing in her heart, but the talk show makes life interesting. The sustenance. When things don't go well at work, he uses talk shows to digest his low mood. Although the current performance is still average, many jokes that were thought to be explosive only received weak laughter. But at least standing on the stage, sharing his real experiences with the audience, and using humor to resolve worries can make him happy. Qiu Xi also had the thought of whether she would get better results if she concentrated all her energy on talk shows. But as a child born in an ordinary family, it is obviously too risky to support himself through talk shows in a big city like Beijing. This idea eventually died down.
Until the winter of 2021, the peaceful life was broken. Perhaps because of the heavy workload, Qiu Xi's retina detached and she was sent to the hospital, where she stayed for more than half a month.It was only later that he realized that his vision was obviously not as good as before. He often felt that there were objects similar to small flying insects floating in his field of vision, and occasionally black shadows blocked part of his vision. This was not just because of fatigue, but a sign of physical illness. It turned out that unknowingly, he had exhausted his body, working on countless ppts in front of the computer, and frequently sending WeChat introduction courses to customers in order to complete the company's sales KPIs.
We are always most vulnerable when we are sick. Qiu Xi was lying on the hospital bed, her mind filled with pessimistic thoughts. Fortunately, my girlfriend is always by my side, taking care of my daily life, helping with errands, and comforting me, just like a family member. There are also several elderly people living in the collective ward, probably in their 60s. The old man has a hanging bottle hanging in front of his bed for a long time. He needs help from others to get up and walk. His late-night dreams are often interrupted by the cough of one of the old men.
Qiu Xi suddenly realized that life is not always free to choose and control independently. When you are old and frail, it is difficult to follow your heart's desires and achieve what you set your mind to. This illness made him think a lot. Since talk shows are what he likes, instead of being stuck in reality and hesitating, might as well go all-in and devote himself to this industry. After
was discharged from the hospital, the doctor repeatedly told him to rest for a while and not to overuse his eyes. Qiu Xi took a long leave from the company and moved from a group rental to her girlfriend's home. He confessed to his girlfriend that he wanted to do a talk show full-time, and she replied: "I support whatever you do, and the most important thing is that you are happy." Qiu Xi was moved, but guilt surged into her heart, and she once again suppressed the idea of resigning.
What really made Qiu Xi make up her mind was the sad news of the sudden death of her friend Lao Cong. Lao Cong is one of Qiu Xi's friends who met in the talk show circle. They also participated in the talk show training class of Danliren Comedy. A lot of inspiration for Lao Cong's talk show came from his mother's experience of urging him to go on a blind date. Qiu Xi was once very envious: "You have too much material." Later, Lao Cong was seen by more and more people, and he stood on a bigger stage. Many talk show clubs have enthusiastically invited him to open their flagship show - as the protagonist of a business talk show, he can tell jokes for 45 minutes at a time on stage, which is three times the length of daily business performances.
Just when everything was moving in the right direction, fate suddenly revealed the cruelest final chapter. On November 29, 2021, Lao Cong, who was only 31 years old, died of myocardial infarction. When the bad news came, Qiu Xi's mind suddenly exploded. Shock and grief hit him, as if they would engulf him in the next second. Qiu Xi was stagnant for a long time, unable to accept the reality. Not long ago, Lao Cong sent him greetings on WeChat and wished him a speedy recovery.
In March 2022, Qiu Xi officially submitted his resignation to the company. Life is so short and no one knows what will happen tomorrow. "If I don't do what I like, if it doesn't happen, I will definitely regret it." The boss saw that he was so determined and no longer tried to persuade him to stay. My family members as far away as Sichuan did not object. In the eyes of parents, nothing is more important than their children's health. Although being a full-time stand-up comedian is not stable, it is definitely easier than the current job.
Qiu Xi prepared for the worst. Even if she could not make a penny as a full-time talk show actor, she could survive for half a year with her current savings. After half a year, the worst case scenario is to find another job. Later, Qiu Xi told his friends about this journey in his career, and everyone marveled at his determination and courage. In any case, Qiu Xi's life as a full-time talk show actor began.
The joy and pain of a full-time talk show actor
Qiu Xi has a lot of free time. Finally, she doesn’t have to get up early every day to catch the morning rush hour subway to go back to the company to check in. She rests at home during the day and goes to work at night - running to open mics or pick up commercial performances.Generally speaking, talk show performances are concentrated on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, which are convenient times for working people to watch. The rest of the time, I just run around and open the mic. The talk show culture in Beijing is quite prosperous. Half of the open-mic talk shows in Beijing sit on both sides of Dongsi North Street and South Street. There are also well-known comedy labels in the North Third Ring Road and East Third Ring Road, so there is no shortage of performance opportunities. Yes, Qiu Xi catches one or two open mics every day, and sometimes arranges one more for herself if her energy allows.
I also have enough time to create jokes. In the past, I would either write on weekends or squeeze in time during lunch break on weekdays. Now I finally have a lot of time to write paragraphs. I write during the day, sitting comfortably at my desk or on the sofa, with my favorite foreign songs playing on my computer. Quite pleasant. When I don’t want to create, I watch domestic and foreign talk shows at home to learn the skills of comedy creation.
The change in living conditions also caused inspiration to flow out. In the past, I was so busy with work that even if I had a flash of inspiration, I would be drowned in various urgent tasks and disappear in a blink of an eye. Now his past experiences can become the material for jokes. The changes in his mood after resigning have also made him more sensitive and easier to capture unique perspectives from ordinary life. He combined the scene of the delivery boy racing on the road with the working life of a worker, and the joke he wrote caused the audience to burst into laughter. This performance was uploaded to various video platforms by Qiu Xi. It is one of his most satisfying performance clips. Later, he also used this joke to win the opportunity to perform in the head club label Danliren Comedy.
After actually entering the industry, Qiu Xi realized that the talk show industry is also "another workplace." The number of performances determines the quality of life of actors. He also needs to actively sell, but this time the product he wants to sell is not the course, but himself. He can no longer passively wait for the owner or management invitation of the talk show club as before.
Qiu Xi, who is introverted and gentle, learns to take the initiative. He made a resume specifically for the talk show industry, and included the number of performances, comedy labels he had worked with, and performance photos in his resume. Select the few performance videos that you are most satisfied with, edit them and add subtitles as a stepping stone to self-recommendation. Once the resume is passed, it’s time for the interview. The interview format for talk show actors is a trial speech. I went to the site for one or two trial lectures. Once the manager thought it was good, there were more performance opportunities. "The difference between freelancing and fixed employment is that the latter only needs to face one boss, while freelancing has to face many bosses." Qiu Xi concluded.
However, life can never be predicted. At the end of April 2022, the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic broke out on a large scale in Beijing, and the epidemic prevention and control policies were upgraded. To protect the health and safety of the general public, most performances have been canceled or postponed. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued a notice: During the May Day holiday, operating activities at performance venues, entertainment venues, and Internet access service venues will be suspended throughout the city. As a result, the "Golden Week" of the talk show industry has also come to nothing. Like all people in the entertainment industry in Beijing, Qiu Xi's talk show life was forced to press the pause button.
Life during the epidemic is as boring as a factory assembly line. Stay in the house all day, write a few sentences, and slump on the sofa watching dramas to kill time. Queuing up to do a nucleic acid test every two days has become the only opportunity to go out for a "window". Qiu Xi thought of her previous "burning the boat" - at worst, she would work for half a year, and if she couldn't do it, she would find another job. He smiled wryly and laughed at himself. He didn't expect to spend the past six months in this way. It seems that he will really have to find a job in half a year. Just as his girlfriend was going to Hangzhou for a three-month business trip, Qiu Xi also went to Hangzhou to perform for three months, surviving her first existential crisis since joining the industry.
Compared with part-time talk show actors, full-time talk show actors gain time and freedom, but they also face double risks. For talk show actors like Qiu Xi who have not yet become famous and have not yet made a reputation in the industry. "Poverty" is a normal experience. Since I live in my girlfriend's rental house, I naturally have to take the initiative to bear the rent. When there is a lack of stable income, a large fixed monthly expenditure makes an already stretched life even worse. Every few days before the rent is due, Qiu Xi can't help but feel anxious. He repeatedly checked the balances of Alipay and WeChat, mentally calculating the upper limit of spending in the past few days, in case he accidentally included the rent. When I was still working in the company, I would meet up with a few friends to write scripts and watch movies together in my free time. Occasionally, you can choose an Internet celebrity restaurant with a good atmosphere and good food to reward yourself for your hard work. Nowadays, keeping everything simple and saving as much as possible has become Qiu Xi’s creed.
In the talk show world alone, full-time talk show actors need to pay more attention to everything that happens in the industry. If they are not careful, they can easily get into trouble. Qiu Xi has repeatedly heard insiders complain about the misdeeds of certain talk show club owners with bad intentions. For example, some label owners trick actors into not arranging performances after signing a contract, forcing the actors to pay high termination fees and voluntarily terminate the contract. Another example is that some clubs plagiarize jokes everywhere. After signing a contract with an unsuspecting new actor, they are banned by the industry's "hate house and gangster", and they also get a bad reputation.
Therefore, Qiu Xi has not signed a contract with any talk show club. He is a person who is afraid of conflict with others. If he really falls into some signing quagmire, he does not think he dares to break up and retreat. But in contrast, Qiu Xi has never had relatively fixed opportunities for commercial performances. As of April 2024, Qiu Xi has performed more than 1,000 talk shows on stage, but the number of commercial performances is only more than 300, accounting for less than 40%. At the same time, he also lost the opportunity to be recommended by the label to participate in an online talk show.
As time went by, Qiu Xi found that she was not as self-disciplined as she had imagined. When he resigned, he stipulated that he should write a joke every day, write a 5-minute manuscript a week, and then spend another week polishing it into a finished product that can be performed on stage. But when it was actually executed, it was not as good as imagined. In the cradle of freelancing, people inevitably become inert. It’s impossible to wake up early. After waking up naturally, I’ll continue to waste another hour while playing with my phone and eating breakfast. Not long after I opened the computer document, I yawned again and again. Euphemistically called "change your mood and take a nap", you can binge-watch the series for several hours. One day passed, but the paragraph was not written.
What makes Qiu Xi even more anxious is that after living in a single life, her sensitivity to the surroundings has decreased, and the material for jokes has dropped sharply. The people who usually communicate the most are people in the talk show industry. We talk about only one-third of the industry, and it is difficult to inspire new creative inspiration. His past experiences were dug up over and over again, and the more he dug, the more barren he became. Writing became the chore he most wanted to avoid.
Forge ahead bravely in the cold scene and confusion
In the minds of talk show actors, the cold scene is the ultimate nightmare. Many talk show actors admit that whenever they say a joke they think will be "explosive" and the audience is completely silent, it is the most embarrassing, embarrassing and the moment they want to give up. Every time they think about it, they want to date them right away. An operation allows doctors to remove this memory from the brain. But for ordinary talk show actors who have not yet made their mark, silence is the norm.
Qiu Xi’s most memorable moment occurred when she participated in an offline newcomer competition held by a certain label not long after she entered the industry. It was his first time to participate in a talk show competition, and he prepared very carefully. The selected jokes have been tested in several open mic games, and the manuscript has been memorized by heart.He hopes to be seen by more people through the Rookie Competition, get more job opportunities, and use the Rookie Competition as a stepping stone for his dreams to move onto a broader stage.
Qiu Xi did not expect that none of the "baggage" that won the laughter during the open mic sounded. The audience looked at him quietly, without laughter or applause. Qiu Xi even felt that the audience was thinking: This person is so boring, please get off the stage. The depression after losing his self-confidence surrounded him, and his inner temperature was as "cool" as the voting results - out of 100 viewers, Qiu Xi only received 13 votes, ranking third from the bottom.
Am I not suitable for talk shows? Qiu Xi asked himself. He fell into a great depression. Qiu Xi's performance style is not as impactful as some actors. As soon as she takes the stage, she can use her full emotions and rich expressions to make the audience follow the rhythm naturally. When he came on stage, he gave people a peaceful and indifferent feeling. Some viewers described Qiu Xi's talk show as "like a friend around you who will share your bad things with you, but occasionally there will be jokes." This style is undoubtedly at a disadvantage for offline competitions where there are many experts, where the audience needs to be impressed in a short time, and where intensive laughter is needed to ignite the atmosphere.
Although Qiu Xi succeeded in consoling himself with "There are two people at the back", he was also determined to work hard to improve his talk show level. He "spent a huge sum" of 5,000 yuan to sign up for two Shanliren comedy training courses. One of the instructors was Shanliren's ace actor, Qi Pa Shuo Season 7 contestant and 2018 International Comedy Festival stand-up comedy champion Liu Yang, and the other was Liu Yang Gohan is a famous talk show trainer and is known as the "Chief Coach of Dan Liren".
Shanliren is worthy of being a "big company" in talk shows, and the teaching quality is excellent. Although it still needs time to digest, Qiu Xi feels that the training is very helpful to her. Only then did he realize that writing talk show jokes is very particular. The theme must be clear and prominent, and the structure must be continuous, continuous, and concise. It is impossible to write a high-quality manuscript just by accumulating interesting stories. There are more than ten main techniques for comedy creation: semantic correlation, reversal, production contrast, self-contradiction, and the three-step rule... In addition, the presentation on stage is also very important. You must tell the rhythm of the joke and use your own The emotions infect the audience. After systematic training, Qiu Xi found that she still had a lot to learn.
Qiu Xi (second row, third from left) took a group photo after participating in the Danliren talk show training (photo provided by Qiu Xi)
Not only is the talk show style, Qiu Xi believes that her personal characteristics are also quite mediocre and mediocre. According to his observation, actors who are more successful in talk shows have a distinctive personality that can be remembered by the public. For example, Wang Jianguo is a person who "loves talking about homophones", Hulan is the "king of volume", Niaoniao is a "social fear", and Pumpkin is a "takeaway rider". But Qiu Xi couldn't find his own "label": "You said your eyes are not good, but you can't compare with the black lamp; you said that your health is not good, but you can't compare with 王七七." Qiu Xi mentioned the black lamp and Wang Seventeen, both of whom have appeared on the stage of the fifth season of "Talk Show". Hei Deng's eyes are suffering from a rare disease, his vision is still deteriorating, and he wears sunglasses all year round; Wang Shiqi suffers from heart failure, and his body is A math teacher equipped with an artificial mechanical heart. They all have their own talk shows with outstanding personalities. Compared to the two of them, Qiuxi felt that she was nothing more than ordinary.
stands under the spotlight, and audience feedback has become the only indicator for talk show actors to measure the quality of their performances. After becoming a full-time talk show performer, Qiu Xi puts herself in a position of being scrutinized from time to time, unconsciously amplifying other people's criticism and denial of herself.
Inferiority is a monster. Once it appears, it will expand rapidly and become difficult to fight off. Qiu Xi no longer invites friends to watch his performances. He didn’t want his silence to be fixed in his friend’s memory. He was also afraid that his friend would praise him for “well said” with an obviously encouraging tone.
From the first talk show, Qiu Xi marked the photos of each performance with serial numbers and posted them on Weibo and Xiaohongshu as a record of her dream journey. The serial number gradually became larger, and when it gradually reached four digits, he stopped updating it. On the one hand, he wanted to save the ceremonial number "1000" for his main show - it was the real career milestone in his heart; on the other hand, he was worried that the audience would secretly complain after seeing his record: It turns out that This guy has been in so many shows and it still isn't funny.
In 2023, the domestic talk show industry experienced "talk show actors appeared on the Spring Festival Gala - the epidemic ended and the national performance market became active, and the talk show market was divided in multiple ways - the leading company in the industry was ordered to rectify due to serious inappropriate speech by its actors - industry The industry has begun a new round of shock. With the loss of audiences and the reduction of performances, many full-time stand-up comedians have sadly left the industry. The remaining actors have started to work in self-media to gain more exposure, and exchange traffic data for bargaining chips with talk show club owners to negotiate appearance fees.
Suddenly, a large number of talk show podcasts emerged in China. According to incomplete statistics, 19 domestic comedy brands have established their own podcast channels, and individual actors have established or co-operated more than 40 podcast channels. Qiu Xi is also one of them. He started a podcast called "Qiu Xi's Memo", which is updated monthly. Each issue invites 1-2 talk show actors to record and share their current status with each other, as well as their views and thoughts on specific topics, such as discussions on the talk show itself, thoughts on comedy aesthetics, methods of creating jokes, etc.
But Qiu Xi’s talk show podcast is not entirely to gain exposure, but more to record and express. He regarded "Qiu Xi's Memo" as a personal work. He wanted to leave some traces for this dream-chasing experience that he didn't know how long it would last, but at least he went all out. In these days when performance opportunities are tight, the opportunity to express yourself through podcasts is particularly valuable.
Through podcasting, he has also accumulated some "listening friends" - this is Qiu Xi's specific name for his listeners. He does not like to call them "fans". Some were talk show viewers who had previously watched his performance, and some were listeners who went to the show specifically after listening to the podcast. After watching the talk show, listeners will send Qiu Xi photos of the performance that they took, and also attach a sincere essay about their reflections after watching the show. Qiu Xi was deeply moved. "Qiu Xi's Memo" brought him much closer to others. He could clearly feel that people who listened to the podcast and then went to the show understood him better and were more willing to listen to him.
Qiu Xi found her confidence again. He knows that even if he is criticized or denied, this only proves that the critics and negators are not his audience. There will always be people who are willing to patiently listen to your story, and you can also influence others through your expression. As long as you are doing something you like, there is no need to be confused. "Talk shows and podcasts are the same. You have to return to your original intention. Always remind yourself and don't forget the reason why you started." Qiu Xi got out of her confusion.
The closest to success
On December 1, 2023, Shanliren Comedy announced the return of the "Sixth Shanliren Original Comedy Competition" on its official social media. This big news made the industry excited. This is the largest, highest level, and most influential offline event in the industry.Many well-known talk show actors have won titles in the Danliren Original Comedy Competition, such as Boss Shi, Chi Zi, Zhou Qimo , Zhang Boyang, etc. During the competition, the bosses of major clubs will also come to the scene to observe. When they see outstanding actors, they will issue invitations on the spot and provide job opportunities such as commercial performances, flagship shows, and special performances.
The 6th Shanliren Original Comedy Competition is grand in scale, with qualifying competition areas set up in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. This competition has changed from the previous invitation-only model. Anyone who is interested can sign up. The champion of each qualifying round will receive a bonus of 4,000 yuan, and the runner-up will receive a bonus of 2,000 yuan; after reaching the finals, bonuses ranging from 1,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan will be awarded depending on the ranking.
Qiu Xi did not hesitate and immediately started to prepare for registration. In fact, before this, he had also signed up for the audition of "Talk Show Conference". If Pumpkin suffered a "first round" five minutes after his appearance on the stage of "Talk Show", then Qiu Xi had an even more "unfortunate fate". He was eliminated in the audition stage and had no chance to record in "Talk Show". . However, for a full-time talk show, failure is not a big deal, and repeated defeats are commonplace.
Qiu Xi appeared in full body and shot a 7-minute video. The jokes were carefully selected from her performances in the past three years. After sending the video to the organizer’s contact email, the long wait began. He didn't have high hopes. There were so many experts in this kind of competition, and everyone was so talented that it was normal not to be selected. However, when she went to Yonghe Lama Temple to pray for blessings at the beginning of the new year, Qiu Xi still knelt down in the Yonghe Lama Temple devoutly, silently praying that she could miraculously break into the qualifying round.
On January 12, 2024, Qiu Xi received the most surprising news since joining the industry. He actually won one of the 80 qualifier seats and became one of the 30 qualifiers in the Beijing Division. A miracle really happened. Looking at the list of selected actors, there are many actors who have been in the industry earlier than me, are more experienced, and are extremely popular offline. And he can actually stand shoulder to shoulder with them. Qiu Xi was so excited that she immediately called her girlfriend to report the good news, her voice even trembling with excitement.
The organizer divided the 30 players in the Beijing competition into three groups, created three WeChat groups, and initiated a lottery in the order of appearance; then issued a red envelope, and the person with the largest amount of red envelopes automatically became the first to appear. actor. The luck continues, Qiu Xi is ranked in the seventh position. This position is relatively safe. He will not be reduced to "cannon fodder" because he comes out too early, and he does not have to worry too much about being forced to finish but not be able to dominate the field. .
Early in the morning, Qiu Xi had already climbed out of bed. He put on the clothes he had carefully matched the day before, including a black sweatshirt and blue jeans. These were all new clothes he had purchased for the competition. His girlfriend also commented that he looked stylish in this way. He practiced the script a few more times in front of the mirror, took a deep breath, and walked out of the house. On the subway, he found a seat, which was a good sign, and Qiu Xi quietly cheered himself up. He came to the competition venue in advance and greeted all his colleagues. Everyone's expressions were much more solemn than usual, and Qiu Xi also put away the idea of joking.
The contestants in front came on stage one by one. When they returned to the backstage, they were either relieved or looked downcast. Qiu Xi couldn't help but become nervous. He stood behind the curtain and glanced at the audience through the gap. The light was too dim and he couldn't see anything. When he heard the host shouting "The next contestant is invited, Qiu Xi," he raised his head, ran under the spotlight, stood in front of the microphone stand and took out the microphone, and said smoothly: "Hello everyone! I am Qiu Xi."
website On the stage, Qiu Xi said what she wanted to say smoothly without forgetting words or getting stuck. Since he couldn't see the audience, he gradually relaxed. While waiting for the audience to vote, my thoughts are racing.
In the early autumn of more than three years ago, he talked about open mic for the first time. He never expected that he would resign and become a full-time talk show actor. Along the way, he met many people and experienced many things. It seems like a long time has passed, but it still feels like it happened yesterday. The place he was standing now was not the venue of the Shanliren Original Comedy Competition, but the small bar where he made his debut for the first time, and he could still hear the sound of water running from the car wash next door late at night.
This qualifying round has come to an end. Qiu Xi received 34 votes, ranking 8th among the 10 contestants. But this time, he was not as frustrated and aggrieved as he was during the rookie game. He knew that no matter what, could reach this day, and he was no longer a loser in life.
Qiu Xi participated in the 6th Danliren Original Comedy Competition Beijing Division Qualifiers (Photo provided by Qiu Xi)
After the budget competition is over, it will be the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon in a few days. Qiu Xi packed her luggage and prepared to return to her hometown for the New Year. Before returning to his hometown, he planned to go to Chengdu to give a talk show. He doesn't plan to stay in Guang'an for too long. He has a performance in Beijing on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. The talk show market is showing signs of slowly picking up, and he will seize this opportunity. Moreover, elders always like to ask questions such as "What are you doing now?" and "How much money can you make in a month?" He doesn't want to explain too much about his career as a full-time stand-up comedian.
" Maybe to outsiders, freelancing is beautiful. But only you know the things behind it, and you have to bear the price of your choice. " Qiu Xi sighed. Two days later, Qiuxi updated her circle of friends: "I went to Danliren three times this year and experienced Daxili and stand-up competitions. Although the results seemed to be 'failures', I also saw a bigger stage. In the new year, we will Keep up the good work."
This article was first published on the WeChat public account "Xinchao". The original title was " "Life is difficult, but happiness is important": When a Beipiao boy resigned and became a full-time talk show actor ".
This article is the practical work of students in the "wechina Micro China" project of the School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing University and the first-class course of the Future Editorial Department.
welcomes you to join us in finding micro China in the grand narrative by submitting articles, providing clues, etc.! Contact information: wechinatengxun@163.com. author | Li Miao instructor | Bai Jing layout | Zhou Wuyue operates | Yu Wenxi editor | Huang Xicheng This is the year that talk shows return. After two years, "Xidan" and " off friends " were strongly broadcast. This time the talk show returns, "Xiaoguo Culture" splits up, and the "protagonists" on the stages of "Xidan" and "Tuoyou" have also quietly changed. Not only has the proportion of newcomers and crossover players increased significantly, but the proportion of small and medium-sized brands has also changed. The exposure rate is also higher, and more talk show fans see a new dawn. However, the stand-up comedians who can stand in the spotlight are only a very small part of this huge group. In June 2024, the documentary article ""Life is hard, but happiness is important" published by Future Editorial Department·New Wave: When a Beipiao Boy Resigned to Become a Full-time Talk Show Actor" takes us closer to the real growth experience of a talk show actor Qiu Xi, Today I am reposting an old article to share the story behind the talk show actor with my readers. For the sake of her love, she resolutely chose to quit her job. She had a brief moment of glory but was mostly unknown. Qiu Xi's state is just a reflection of the lives of many offline talk show actors. Qiu Xi stood in the center of the stage, with the spotlight shining on him. There are more than 100 spectators sitting in the audience. Everyone holds a voting machine in their hands, and they also control their destiny - advancing to the next round of the Danliren Original Comedy Competition or being eliminated directly, it all depends on the audience's thoughts. . But the lights in the auditorium were extremely weak, and Qiu Xi's vision was as black as splashing ink, like a ship sailing in the deep sea, trapped in a silent night. He suddenly had a strange feeling that he was the only one in the room. All he has to do is say what he wants to express once on stage. expression is his favorite thing. Talk show is the spiritual sustenance of the life of "Beijing Drifters" Qiu Xi was born in Guang'an, Sichuan, a fifth-tier town that is not well-known outside the province. When introducing his hometown to others, he would often add, "It's Deng Xiaoping's hometown." In February 2019, when she graduated from university, 23-year-old Qiu Xi found an internship in Beijing through a recruitment website, working as an academic operations officer at "New Elite Career", a company specializing in career planning. Dragging her suitcase and taking the green train from Sichuan to Beijing, Qiu Xi officially became a "Beijing drifter". Living in a big city, careful planning is a required skill. Through a friend's recommendation, Qiu Xi moved into a group rental house with a monthly rent of 800 yuan. In the capital city where land is at a premium, it is no exaggeration to describe it as “cheap”. The 90-square-meter group rental house accommodates 34 people. The interior was transformed into a space with more than a dozen bunk beds. Even the "second landlord" only set up a bed in the kitchen. The balcony where Qiu Xi lived was the only "single room". She was lying on the bed with all kinds of clothes of her roommates above her head. The living conditions are indeed difficult, but Qiu Xi doesn't care. Being able to come to a big city is more important than anything else, as long as there is a place to stay. In the summer of 2019, the second season of " Talk Show Conference " was popular. Qiu Xi became interested in this form of comedy that uses humor to explain one's own experience and express personal opinions. During the precious 1.5-hour lunch break, most of the colleagues chose to lie down at their desks or open the folding beds to take a nap. Only Qiu Xi couldn't wait to open the Tencent Video app on her mobile phone. The latest episode of "Talk Show Conference" was just updated half an hour ago. , in order to catch up with updates in real time, he specially bought a quarterly membership of the video website. This short hour and a half was Qiu Xi’s happiest time in the whole week. In the program, Qiu Xi learned that one of the organizers, "Xiaoguo Culture", also held an open mic in Beijing - there was no threshold, as long as you signed up, you could go on stage to give a talk show. After more than half a year, the internship job was successfully turned into a full-time job. Qiu Xi was relieved and started his first open wheat experience with excitement. Nanluoguxiang is a popular place for talk shows to open mic in Beijing. The first time Qiu Xi appeared on stage was in a small bar in Nanluogu Lane. He still clearly remembers that the chairs in the bar can be opened so that the audience can stuff their clothes inside, and there is a late-night car wash next to the bar. As a newcomer taking the stage for the first time, Qiu Xi was placed in the middle and front order. The opening is a test of the actor's performance in controlling the scene. Experts with good popularity and good performance are often arranged to the back or the finale to attract the audience to stay until the end. Qiu Xi thought he was quite well prepared. He spent a whole month writing the 5-minute manuscript and memorized it proficiently. He paced back and forth in the narrow alley to follow the manuscript, not even noticing that he was wandering near a public toilet. When I heard the host introduce myself, my heart beat faster. opened the mic for the first time. He poked fun at foreign friends’ stereotypes about Sichuan people. There were a few cold moments along the way, and the nervousness and embarrassment spread throughout his body. He even thought about giving up. Fortunately, the last burden was lifted, and the laughter from the audience comforted Qiu Xi. On average, one game is quite satisfactory. "It's pretty normal, not as cold as expected." Qiu Xi commented on herself. But at the end of the performance, the custom of taking photos with the actors and the audience gave him a sense of ritual: It seemed that from this moment on, he became a part of the talk show world, from a bystander to a witness. A group photo of Qiu Xi (first from right in the front row) giving a talk show for the first time (Photo provided by Qiu Xi) As an academic operation, Qiu Xi’s main job is to introduce different types of career planning courses, including learning content, to clients who come for consultation. , teaching lineup, course advantages, etc., are essentially not much different from “sales”. He has always wanted to be a training instructor, which is obviously more consistent with his personal interests and development direction. However, in the company's job system, the threshold for this position is quite high. After all, lecturers are responsible for guiding others' career planning. They need a graduate degree or above, or have accumulated certain professional experience to be competent. Qiu Xi, who has a bachelor's degree and has been working for just over a year, was blocked from entering. The threshold for talk shows is obviously much lower. "Talk shows don't require much ability on your part, and it has nothing to do with your academic qualifications, nor does it have anything to do with your job position. You can talk about anything about yourself, as long as you make it funny." Qiu Xi thinks that since she can't be a comedian for the time being, Lecturer, it’s also good to give talk shows in your spare time. Anyway, talk shows can satisfy one's desire for expression, divert the internal conflict at work, and can also bring happiness to everyone. Isn't this more interesting than being a lecturer? He began to treat talk shows as his side job, although most of the time he was doing unprofitable open shows. I work during the day, and if I don’t work overtime at night, I go to various bars and small theaters in Beijing to give open mic lectures. I give 1-2 lectures a night. After that, I take the subway back to the group to rent an apartment. Life at that time was very tiring, but full of ambition. Qiu Xi was lying on the single bed on the balcony, with the clips from the performance a few hours ago still echoing in her mind. Although he is only a part-time talk show actor, Qiu Xi has also worked hard. In addition to talk shows, he is also actively seeking to serve as the host of open mic. He feels that the host can practice his on-the-spot reactions better and can force himself to "make mistakes" on the spot.In addition to running open mics, he also contributed articles to the "Jokes Calendar" column of "Xiaoguo" every week for half a year. Three jokes were adopted and he received 300 yuan in royalties. This was his "first pot of gold" since he "engaged" in the talk show industry. He also uploaded video clips of each performance to Douyin with subtitles, and modified the jokes based on the opinions of netizens, although the number of comments was very few. The boss of Chenxing Comedy saw that Qiu Xi was working so hard and sent out an invitation to perform a talk show. Although the performance fee was only 100 yuan, which may be the lowest level in the industry in Beijing, the venue for the commercial performance was also arranged in an "old and small" Cinema. But Qiu Xi is very happy. This is his first commercial performance in his life, and it can be regarded as a small stage victory. Nowadays, Chenxing Comedy has long since closed down, but Qiu Xi is still grateful to the label for giving him the opportunity. The commercial invitation gave him a boost. Perhaps, he can also support himself through talk shows. Perhaps, God also likes to favor those who work hard. Once, the cctv2 financial column was reporting on the domestic talk show industry. Qiu Xi happened to be performing that day, and the reporter caught him for an interview. After the program was broadcast, Qiu Xi discovered that there were also "big names" who already had a certain status in the industry like Li Dan, Zhang Boyang and norah who became famous in "Talk Show Conference". Qiu Xi was so flattered that he sent the picture of himself captured in the CCTV2 report to the family WeChat group. My mother was also very happy: "I didn't expect you to be on CCTV." Screenshot of Qiu Xi's interview on the theme of cctv talk show (Source: cctv2 video screenshot) Many people compare the open mic of a talk show to "opening a blind box". The lineup will not be announced before the open mic performance. The audience can only see the "true face" of the performers by entering on the day. Many well-known actors are also keen to try out jokes in various open mics. During Qiu Xi's road to open mic, she met many seniors - Mr. Huang Xi , the "originator of Chinese talk shows" who once gave a talk show at the White House in the United States, Boss Shi of Dan Liren Comedy, etc. Qiu Xi moved forward anxiously and asked Teacher Huang Xi if he could take a photo with her. Huang Xi readily agreed and took Qiu Xi's phone. Qiu Xi uploaded this photo to Weibo, . He likes to record moments like this that are getting closer and closer to success, even if it may be an illusion in the end. Qiu Xi (first from the left) and Teacher Huang Xi’s selfie (picture provided by Qiu Xi) "I hope I can continue to practice on talk shows in 2021. I look forward to standing on a bigger stage. I hope I can continue to persevere and do what I love. Come on Qiu Xi." In the 2020 annual summary, Qiu Xi wrote. "Life is short, do what you like." The days passed calmly like this. Although Qiu Xi still has not transferred to the lecturer position that she longed for, and professional burnout is slowly growing in her heart, but the talk show makes life interesting. The sustenance. When things don't go well at work, he uses talk shows to digest his low mood. Although the current performance is still average, many jokes that were thought to be explosive only received weak laughter. But at least standing on the stage, sharing his real experiences with the audience, and using humor to resolve worries can make him happy. Qiu Xi also had the thought of whether she would get better results if she concentrated all her energy on talk shows. But as a child born in an ordinary family, it is obviously too risky to support himself through talk shows in a big city like Beijing. This idea eventually died down. Until the winter of 2021, the peaceful life was broken. Perhaps because of the heavy workload, Qiu Xi's retina detached and she was sent to the hospital, where she stayed for more than half a month.It was only later that he realized that his vision was obviously not as good as before. He often felt that there were objects similar to small flying insects floating in his field of vision, and occasionally black shadows blocked part of his vision. This was not just because of fatigue, but a sign of physical illness. It turned out that unknowingly, he had exhausted his body, working on countless ppts in front of the computer, and frequently sending WeChat introduction courses to customers in order to complete the company's sales KPIs. We are always most vulnerable when we are sick. Qiu Xi was lying on the hospital bed, her mind filled with pessimistic thoughts. Fortunately, my girlfriend is always by my side, taking care of my daily life, helping with errands, and comforting me, just like a family member. There are also several elderly people living in the collective ward, probably in their 60s. The old man has a hanging bottle hanging in front of his bed for a long time. He needs help from others to get up and walk. His late-night dreams are often interrupted by the cough of one of the old men. Qiu Xi suddenly realized that life is not always free to choose and control independently. When you are old and frail, it is difficult to follow your heart's desires and achieve what you set your mind to. This illness made him think a lot. Since talk shows are what he likes, instead of being stuck in reality and hesitating, might as well go all-in and devote himself to this industry. After was discharged from the hospital, the doctor repeatedly told him to rest for a while and not to overuse his eyes. Qiu Xi took a long leave from the company and moved from a group rental to her girlfriend's home. He confessed to his girlfriend that he wanted to do a talk show full-time, and she replied: "I support whatever you do, and the most important thing is that you are happy." Qiu Xi was moved, but guilt surged into her heart, and she once again suppressed the idea of resigning. What really made Qiu Xi make up her mind was the sad news of the sudden death of her friend Lao Cong. Lao Cong is one of Qiu Xi's friends who met in the talk show circle. They also participated in the talk show training class of Danliren Comedy. A lot of inspiration for Lao Cong's talk show came from his mother's experience of urging him to go on a blind date. Qiu Xi was once very envious: "You have too much material." Later, Lao Cong was seen by more and more people, and he stood on a bigger stage. Many talk show clubs have enthusiastically invited him to open their flagship show - as the protagonist of a business talk show, he can tell jokes for 45 minutes at a time on stage, which is three times the length of daily business performances. Just when everything was moving in the right direction, fate suddenly revealed the cruelest final chapter. On November 29, 2021, Lao Cong, who was only 31 years old, died of myocardial infarction. When the bad news came, Qiu Xi's mind suddenly exploded. Shock and grief hit him, as if they would engulf him in the next second. Qiu Xi was stagnant for a long time, unable to accept the reality. Not long ago, Lao Cong sent him greetings on WeChat and wished him a speedy recovery. In March 2022, Qiu Xi officially submitted his resignation to the company. Life is so short and no one knows what will happen tomorrow. "If I don't do what I like, if it doesn't happen, I will definitely regret it." The boss saw that he was so determined and no longer tried to persuade him to stay. My family members as far away as Sichuan did not object. In the eyes of parents, nothing is more important than their children's health. Although being a full-time stand-up comedian is not stable, it is definitely easier than the current job. Qiu Xi prepared for the worst. Even if she could not make a penny as a full-time talk show actor, she could survive for half a year with her current savings. After half a year, the worst case scenario is to find another job. Later, Qiu Xi told his friends about this journey in his career, and everyone marveled at his determination and courage. In any case, Qiu Xi's life as a full-time talk show actor began. The joy and pain of a full-time talk show actor Qiu Xi has a lot of free time. Finally, she doesn’t have to get up early every day to catch the morning rush hour subway to go back to the company to check in. She rests at home during the day and goes to work at night - running to open mics or pick up commercial performances.Generally speaking, talk show performances are concentrated on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, which are convenient times for working people to watch. The rest of the time, I just run around and open the mic. The talk show culture in Beijing is quite prosperous. Half of the open-mic talk shows in Beijing sit on both sides of Dongsi North Street and South Street. There are also well-known comedy labels in the North Third Ring Road and East Third Ring Road, so there is no shortage of performance opportunities. Yes, Qiu Xi catches one or two open mics every day, and sometimes arranges one more for herself if her energy allows. I also have enough time to create jokes. In the past, I would either write on weekends or squeeze in time during lunch break on weekdays. Now I finally have a lot of time to write paragraphs. I write during the day, sitting comfortably at my desk or on the sofa, with my favorite foreign songs playing on my computer. Quite pleasant. When I don’t want to create, I watch domestic and foreign talk shows at home to learn the skills of comedy creation. The change in living conditions also caused inspiration to flow out. In the past, I was so busy with work that even if I had a flash of inspiration, I would be drowned in various urgent tasks and disappear in a blink of an eye. Now his past experiences can become the material for jokes. The changes in his mood after resigning have also made him more sensitive and easier to capture unique perspectives from ordinary life. He combined the scene of the delivery boy racing on the road with the working life of a worker, and the joke he wrote caused the audience to burst into laughter. This performance was uploaded to various video platforms by Qiu Xi. It is one of his most satisfying performance clips. Later, he also used this joke to win the opportunity to perform in the head club label Danliren Comedy. After actually entering the industry, Qiu Xi realized that the talk show industry is also "another workplace." The number of performances determines the quality of life of actors. He also needs to actively sell, but this time the product he wants to sell is not the course, but himself. He can no longer passively wait for the owner or management invitation of the talk show club as before. Qiu Xi, who is introverted and gentle, learns to take the initiative. He made a resume specifically for the talk show industry, and included the number of performances, comedy labels he had worked with, and performance photos in his resume. Select the few performance videos that you are most satisfied with, edit them and add subtitles as a stepping stone to self-recommendation. Once the resume is passed, it’s time for the interview. The interview format for talk show actors is a trial speech. I went to the site for one or two trial lectures. Once the manager thought it was good, there were more performance opportunities. "The difference between freelancing and fixed employment is that the latter only needs to face one boss, while freelancing has to face many bosses." Qiu Xi concluded. However, life can never be predicted. At the end of April 2022, the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic broke out on a large scale in Beijing, and the epidemic prevention and control policies were upgraded. To protect the health and safety of the general public, most performances have been canceled or postponed. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism issued a notice: During the May Day holiday, operating activities at performance venues, entertainment venues, and Internet access service venues will be suspended throughout the city. As a result, the "Golden Week" of the talk show industry has also come to nothing. Like all people in the entertainment industry in Beijing, Qiu Xi's talk show life was forced to press the pause button. Life during the epidemic is as boring as a factory assembly line. Stay in the house all day, write a few sentences, and slump on the sofa watching dramas to kill time. Queuing up to do a nucleic acid test every two days has become the only opportunity to go out for a "window". Qiu Xi thought of her previous "burning the boat" - at worst, she would work for half a year, and if she couldn't do it, she would find another job. He smiled wryly and laughed at himself. He didn't expect to spend the past six months in this way. It seems that he will really have to find a job in half a year. Just as his girlfriend was going to Hangzhou for a three-month business trip, Qiu Xi also went to Hangzhou to perform for three months, surviving her first existential crisis since joining the industry. Compared with part-time talk show actors, full-time talk show actors gain time and freedom, but they also face double risks. For talk show actors like Qiu Xi who have not yet become famous and have not yet made a reputation in the industry. "Poverty" is a normal experience. Since I live in my girlfriend's rental house, I naturally have to take the initiative to bear the rent. When there is a lack of stable income, a large fixed monthly expenditure makes an already stretched life even worse. Every few days before the rent is due, Qiu Xi can't help but feel anxious. He repeatedly checked the balances of Alipay and WeChat, mentally calculating the upper limit of spending in the past few days, in case he accidentally included the rent. When I was still working in the company, I would meet up with a few friends to write scripts and watch movies together in my free time. Occasionally, you can choose an Internet celebrity restaurant with a good atmosphere and good food to reward yourself for your hard work. Nowadays, keeping everything simple and saving as much as possible has become Qiu Xi’s creed. In the talk show world alone, full-time talk show actors need to pay more attention to everything that happens in the industry. If they are not careful, they can easily get into trouble. Qiu Xi has repeatedly heard insiders complain about the misdeeds of certain talk show club owners with bad intentions. For example, some label owners trick actors into not arranging performances after signing a contract, forcing the actors to pay high termination fees and voluntarily terminate the contract. Another example is that some clubs plagiarize jokes everywhere. After signing a contract with an unsuspecting new actor, they are banned by the industry's "hate house and gangster", and they also get a bad reputation. Therefore, Qiu Xi has not signed a contract with any talk show club. He is a person who is afraid of conflict with others. If he really falls into some signing quagmire, he does not think he dares to break up and retreat. But in contrast, Qiu Xi has never had relatively fixed opportunities for commercial performances. As of April 2024, Qiu Xi has performed more than 1,000 talk shows on stage, but the number of commercial performances is only more than 300, accounting for less than 40%. At the same time, he also lost the opportunity to be recommended by the label to participate in an online talk show. As time went by, Qiu Xi found that she was not as self-disciplined as she had imagined. When he resigned, he stipulated that he should write a joke every day, write a 5-minute manuscript a week, and then spend another week polishing it into a finished product that can be performed on stage. But when it was actually executed, it was not as good as imagined. In the cradle of freelancing, people inevitably become inert. It’s impossible to wake up early. After waking up naturally, I’ll continue to waste another hour while playing with my phone and eating breakfast. Not long after I opened the computer document, I yawned again and again. Euphemistically called "change your mood and take a nap", you can binge-watch the series for several hours. One day passed, but the paragraph was not written. What makes Qiu Xi even more anxious is that after living in a single life, her sensitivity to the surroundings has decreased, and the material for jokes has dropped sharply. The people who usually communicate the most are people in the talk show industry. We talk about only one-third of the industry, and it is difficult to inspire new creative inspiration. His past experiences were dug up over and over again, and the more he dug, the more barren he became. Writing became the chore he most wanted to avoid. Forge ahead bravely in the cold scene and confusion In the minds of talk show actors, the cold scene is the ultimate nightmare. Many talk show actors admit that whenever they say a joke they think will be "explosive" and the audience is completely silent, it is the most embarrassing, embarrassing and the moment they want to give up. Every time they think about it, they want to date them right away. An operation allows doctors to remove this memory from the brain. But for ordinary talk show actors who have not yet made their mark, silence is the norm. Qiu Xi’s most memorable moment occurred when she participated in an offline newcomer competition held by a certain label not long after she entered the industry. It was his first time to participate in a talk show competition, and he prepared very carefully. The selected jokes have been tested in several open mic games, and the manuscript has been memorized by heart.He hopes to be seen by more people through the Rookie Competition, get more job opportunities, and use the Rookie Competition as a stepping stone for his dreams to move onto a broader stage. Qiu Xi did not expect that none of the "baggage" that won the laughter during the open mic sounded. The audience looked at him quietly, without laughter or applause. Qiu Xi even felt that the audience was thinking: This person is so boring, please get off the stage. The depression after losing his self-confidence surrounded him, and his inner temperature was as "cool" as the voting results - out of 100 viewers, Qiu Xi only received 13 votes, ranking third from the bottom. Am I not suitable for talk shows? Qiu Xi asked himself. He fell into a great depression. Qiu Xi's performance style is not as impactful as some actors. As soon as she takes the stage, she can use her full emotions and rich expressions to make the audience follow the rhythm naturally. When he came on stage, he gave people a peaceful and indifferent feeling. Some viewers described Qiu Xi's talk show as "like a friend around you who will share your bad things with you, but occasionally there will be jokes." This style is undoubtedly at a disadvantage for offline competitions where there are many experts, where the audience needs to be impressed in a short time, and where intensive laughter is needed to ignite the atmosphere. Although Qiu Xi succeeded in consoling himself with "There are two people at the back", he was also determined to work hard to improve his talk show level. He "spent a huge sum" of 5,000 yuan to sign up for two Shanliren comedy training courses. One of the instructors was Shanliren's ace actor, Qi Pa Shuo Season 7 contestant and 2018 International Comedy Festival stand-up comedy champion Liu Yang, and the other was Liu Yang Gohan is a famous talk show trainer and is known as the "Chief Coach of Dan Liren". Shanliren is worthy of being a "big company" in talk shows, and the teaching quality is excellent. Although it still needs time to digest, Qiu Xi feels that the training is very helpful to her. Only then did he realize that writing talk show jokes is very particular. The theme must be clear and prominent, and the structure must be continuous, continuous, and concise. It is impossible to write a high-quality manuscript just by accumulating interesting stories. There are more than ten main techniques for comedy creation: semantic correlation, reversal, production contrast, self-contradiction, and the three-step rule... In addition, the presentation on stage is also very important. You must tell the rhythm of the joke and use your own The emotions infect the audience. After systematic training, Qiu Xi found that she still had a lot to learn. Qiu Xi (second row, third from left) took a group photo after participating in the Danliren talk show training (photo provided by Qiu Xi) Not only is the talk show style, Qiu Xi believes that her personal characteristics are also quite mediocre and mediocre. According to his observation, actors who are more successful in talk shows have a distinctive personality that can be remembered by the public. For example, Wang Jianguo is a person who "loves talking about homophones", Hulan is the "king of volume", Niaoniao is a "social fear", and Pumpkin is a "takeaway rider". But Qiu Xi couldn't find his own "label": "You said your eyes are not good, but you can't compare with the black lamp; you said that your health is not good, but you can't compare with 王七七." Qiu Xi mentioned the black lamp and Wang Seventeen, both of whom have appeared on the stage of the fifth season of "Talk Show". Hei Deng's eyes are suffering from a rare disease, his vision is still deteriorating, and he wears sunglasses all year round; Wang Shiqi suffers from heart failure, and his body is A math teacher equipped with an artificial mechanical heart. They all have their own talk shows with outstanding personalities. Compared to the two of them, Qiuxi felt that she was nothing more than ordinary. stands under the spotlight, and audience feedback has become the only indicator for talk show actors to measure the quality of their performances. After becoming a full-time talk show performer, Qiu Xi puts herself in a position of being scrutinized from time to time, unconsciously amplifying other people's criticism and denial of herself. Inferiority is a monster. Once it appears, it will expand rapidly and become difficult to fight off. Qiu Xi no longer invites friends to watch his performances. He didn’t want his silence to be fixed in his friend’s memory. He was also afraid that his friend would praise him for “well said” with an obviously encouraging tone. From the first talk show, Qiu Xi marked the photos of each performance with serial numbers and posted them on Weibo and Xiaohongshu as a record of her dream journey. The serial number gradually became larger, and when it gradually reached four digits, he stopped updating it. On the one hand, he wanted to save the ceremonial number "1000" for his main show - it was the real career milestone in his heart; on the other hand, he was worried that the audience would secretly complain after seeing his record: It turns out that This guy has been in so many shows and it still isn't funny. In 2023, the domestic talk show industry experienced "talk show actors appeared on the Spring Festival Gala - the epidemic ended and the national performance market became active, and the talk show market was divided in multiple ways - the leading company in the industry was ordered to rectify due to serious inappropriate speech by its actors - industry The industry has begun a new round of shock. With the loss of audiences and the reduction of performances, many full-time stand-up comedians have sadly left the industry. The remaining actors have started to work in self-media to gain more exposure, and exchange traffic data for bargaining chips with talk show club owners to negotiate appearance fees. Suddenly, a large number of talk show podcasts emerged in China. According to incomplete statistics, 19 domestic comedy brands have established their own podcast channels, and individual actors have established or co-operated more than 40 podcast channels. Qiu Xi is also one of them. He started a podcast called "Qiu Xi's Memo", which is updated monthly. Each issue invites 1-2 talk show actors to record and share their current status with each other, as well as their views and thoughts on specific topics, such as discussions on the talk show itself, thoughts on comedy aesthetics, methods of creating jokes, etc. But Qiu Xi’s talk show podcast is not entirely to gain exposure, but more to record and express. He regarded "Qiu Xi's Memo" as a personal work. He wanted to leave some traces for this dream-chasing experience that he didn't know how long it would last, but at least he went all out. In these days when performance opportunities are tight, the opportunity to express yourself through podcasts is particularly valuable. Through podcasting, he has also accumulated some "listening friends" - this is Qiu Xi's specific name for his listeners. He does not like to call them "fans". Some were talk show viewers who had previously watched his performance, and some were listeners who went to the show specifically after listening to the podcast. After watching the talk show, listeners will send Qiu Xi photos of the performance that they took, and also attach a sincere essay about their reflections after watching the show. Qiu Xi was deeply moved. "Qiu Xi's Memo" brought him much closer to others. He could clearly feel that people who listened to the podcast and then went to the show understood him better and were more willing to listen to him. Qiu Xi found her confidence again. He knows that even if he is criticized or denied, this only proves that the critics and negators are not his audience. There will always be people who are willing to patiently listen to your story, and you can also influence others through your expression. As long as you are doing something you like, there is no need to be confused. "Talk shows and podcasts are the same. You have to return to your original intention. Always remind yourself and don't forget the reason why you started." Qiu Xi got out of her confusion. The closest to success On December 1, 2023, Shanliren Comedy announced the return of the "Sixth Shanliren Original Comedy Competition" on its official social media. This big news made the industry excited. This is the largest, highest level, and most influential offline event in the industry.Many well-known talk show actors have won titles in the Danliren Original Comedy Competition, such as Boss Shi, Chi Zi, Zhou Qimo , Zhang Boyang, etc. During the competition, the bosses of major clubs will also come to the scene to observe. When they see outstanding actors, they will issue invitations on the spot and provide job opportunities such as commercial performances, flagship shows, and special performances. The 6th Shanliren Original Comedy Competition is grand in scale, with qualifying competition areas set up in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. This competition has changed from the previous invitation-only model. Anyone who is interested can sign up. The champion of each qualifying round will receive a bonus of 4,000 yuan, and the runner-up will receive a bonus of 2,000 yuan; after reaching the finals, bonuses ranging from 1,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan will be awarded depending on the ranking. Qiu Xi did not hesitate and immediately started to prepare for registration. In fact, before this, he had also signed up for the audition of "Talk Show Conference". If Pumpkin suffered a "first round" five minutes after his appearance on the stage of "Talk Show", then Qiu Xi had an even more "unfortunate fate". He was eliminated in the audition stage and had no chance to record in "Talk Show". . However, for a full-time talk show, failure is not a big deal, and repeated defeats are commonplace. Qiu Xi appeared in full body and shot a 7-minute video. The jokes were carefully selected from her performances in the past three years. After sending the video to the organizer’s contact email, the long wait began. He didn't have high hopes. There were so many experts in this kind of competition, and everyone was so talented that it was normal not to be selected. However, when she went to Yonghe Lama Temple to pray for blessings at the beginning of the new year, Qiu Xi still knelt down in the Yonghe Lama Temple devoutly, silently praying that she could miraculously break into the qualifying round. On January 12, 2024, Qiu Xi received the most surprising news since joining the industry. He actually won one of the 80 qualifier seats and became one of the 30 qualifiers in the Beijing Division. A miracle really happened. Looking at the list of selected actors, there are many actors who have been in the industry earlier than me, are more experienced, and are extremely popular offline. And he can actually stand shoulder to shoulder with them. Qiu Xi was so excited that she immediately called her girlfriend to report the good news, her voice even trembling with excitement. The organizer divided the 30 players in the Beijing competition into three groups, created three WeChat groups, and initiated a lottery in the order of appearance; then issued a red envelope, and the person with the largest amount of red envelopes automatically became the first to appear. actor. The luck continues, Qiu Xi is ranked in the seventh position. This position is relatively safe. He will not be reduced to "cannon fodder" because he comes out too early, and he does not have to worry too much about being forced to finish but not be able to dominate the field. . Early in the morning, Qiu Xi had already climbed out of bed. He put on the clothes he had carefully matched the day before, including a black sweatshirt and blue jeans. These were all new clothes he had purchased for the competition. His girlfriend also commented that he looked stylish in this way. He practiced the script a few more times in front of the mirror, took a deep breath, and walked out of the house. On the subway, he found a seat, which was a good sign, and Qiu Xi quietly cheered himself up. He came to the competition venue in advance and greeted all his colleagues. Everyone's expressions were much more solemn than usual, and Qiu Xi also put away the idea of joking. The contestants in front came on stage one by one. When they returned to the backstage, they were either relieved or looked downcast. Qiu Xi couldn't help but become nervous. He stood behind the curtain and glanced at the audience through the gap. The light was too dim and he couldn't see anything. When he heard the host shouting "The next contestant is invited, Qiu Xi," he raised his head, ran under the spotlight, stood in front of the microphone stand and took out the microphone, and said smoothly: "Hello everyone! I am Qiu Xi." website On the stage, Qiu Xi said what she wanted to say smoothly without forgetting words or getting stuck. Since he couldn't see the audience, he gradually relaxed. While waiting for the audience to vote, my thoughts are racing. In the early autumn of more than three years ago, he talked about open mic for the first time. He never expected that he would resign and become a full-time talk show actor. Along the way, he met many people and experienced many things. It seems like a long time has passed, but it still feels like it happened yesterday. The place he was standing now was not the venue of the Shanliren Original Comedy Competition, but the small bar where he made his debut for the first time, and he could still hear the sound of water running from the car wash next door late at night. This qualifying round has come to an end. Qiu Xi received 34 votes, ranking 8th among the 10 contestants. But this time, he was not as frustrated and aggrieved as he was during the rookie game. He knew that no matter what, could reach this day, and he was no longer a loser in life. Qiu Xi participated in the 6th Danliren Original Comedy Competition Beijing Division Qualifiers (Photo provided by Qiu Xi) After the budget competition is over, it will be the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon in a few days. Qiu Xi packed her luggage and prepared to return to her hometown for the New Year. Before returning to his hometown, he planned to go to Chengdu to give a talk show. He doesn't plan to stay in Guang'an for too long. He has a performance in Beijing on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. The talk show market is showing signs of slowly picking up, and he will seize this opportunity. Moreover, elders always like to ask questions such as "What are you doing now?" and "How much money can you make in a month?" He doesn't want to explain too much about his career as a full-time stand-up comedian. " Maybe to outsiders, freelancing is beautiful. But only you know the things behind it, and you have to bear the price of your choice. " Qiu Xi sighed. Two days later, Qiuxi updated her circle of friends: "I went to Danliren three times this year and experienced Daxili and stand-up competitions. Although the results seemed to be 'failures', I also saw a bigger stage. In the new year, we will Keep up the good work." This article was first published on the WeChat public account "Xinchao". The original title was " "Life is difficult, but happiness is important": When a Beipiao boy resigned and became a full-time talk show actor ". This article is the practical work of students in the "wechina Micro China" project of the School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing University and the first-class course of the Future Editorial Department. welcomes you to join us in finding micro China in the grand narrative by submitting articles, providing clues, etc.! Contact information: wechinatengxun@163.com.
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