上海：中國(guó)單口喜劇之都

羅南·奧康奈爾

Norah Yang is riding a wave of2 laughs. I can’t decipher3 what the 30-year-old Chinese comedian is saying， but whatever it is she’s eliciting4 a rapturous5 response from the crowd. And the longer I watch her， the funnier she becomes—not because I’m suddenly starting to understand Mandarin， but because there are elements of comedy which transcend language. From within her tangle6 of foreign words I begin to identify and appreciate Norah’s canny7 pacing， her manipulation8 of cadence9， her use of body movements and the way she employs facial expressions to emphasise every punch line10.

Everything Norah’s doing feels familiar to a lifelong standup fan; there’s an international quality to her comedy， coupled with levels of calm and confidence that belie11 her youth. If she can make me smile without the power of words， it’s little wonder she has the rest of the audience in the palm of her hand. It’s Friday night and Norah is killing it at Shanghai’s Kung Fu Komedy Club.

Shanghai is the undisputed12 standup capital of China. That’s the opinion of every performer I speak to at Kung Fu， a comedy venue13 offering weekly open mic nights， as well as regular English language and Mandarin shows. Every day there are standup shows spread across more than half a dozen venues in the city—but the major advantage Shanghai has over other Chinese destinations is the presence of its own dedicated14 club.

Andy Curtain， an Australian comedian who performs in both English and Mandarin， opened Kung Fu Komedy Club in 2015. He started organising gigs15 in Shanghai in 2009; after years of moving from one dingy16 venue to the next and being ripped off17 by landlords， he was on the verge of18 giving up when he found their current venue in the city’s downtown.

Having a permanent home has helped Kung Fu grow. It now hosts standup shows five or six nights a week， attracting well known international acts like American comedians Ari Shaffir and D. C. Benny. What makes Andy most proud， however， is the way the club has helped foster the talents of young Chinese comedians such as Norah and 21-year-old Rocky Chan. There are now so many Chinese standups emerging in Shanghai， he finds it hard to keep track19.

Yet just a decade ago the city didn’t have a standup scene to speak of at all， mirroring much of Asia. It’s a decidedly Western pursuit; in Asia， comedy is something performed mainly by groups who improvise20 or act out sketches21. Solo comedy performers tend to lean on physical， slapstick22 humour， as opposed to the storytelling and satire which characterises standup.

Sure， you can find standup gigs in Singapore， Thailand， Malaysia and even Vietnam， but these shows are dominated by expat23 performers and visiting Western comedians. I’ve been to shows in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City that felt identical to ones I’d attended in London and Perth.

But in Shanghai， it’s different. Unlike Thailand and Vietnam， the members of the audience here are mostly locals， and the jokes are mainly in Mandarin.

Norah and Rocky are newcomers to the circuit， with just 18 months and nine months of experience in standup respectively. Both have ambitions of becoming professional comedians. Rocky says he wants to use standup to show young Chinese people they can “express their views bravely”.

Neither does Kung Fu Komedy Club manager Mohammed Magdi. The 29-year-old Egyptian， who’s been doing standup for five years， believes Chinese comedy is set to become a juggernaut24. “Oh it’s going to be massive，” he tells me as he stands behind the club’s neon-lit bar. “It’s already a multimillion dollar industry in China and it’s only going to get bigger and bigger as the Chinese audience gets more and more familiar with the concept of standup as a one-man show.

“There are so many good Chinese comedians at the moment， some of them are legitimate25 celebrities， they’re on TV a lot， they tour the country selling out26 shows. In 10 years， I believe standup is going to be one of the pillars27 of the entertainment industry in China.”

楊諾拉贏得了滿堂笑聲。我聽(tīng)不懂這位30歲的中國(guó)喜劇演員在說(shuō)些什么，可不管她說(shuō)的是什么，此刻她引起了觀眾的熱烈反響。我越看她，越覺(jué)得她滑稽——并非我突然能聽(tīng)懂普通話，而是因?yàn)槟浅秸Z(yǔ)言的喜劇元素。聽(tīng)她講著那對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的外語(yǔ)，從中我開(kāi)始發(fā)現(xiàn)并欣賞到，諾拉能高明地掌控節(jié)奏，巧妙地把握抑揚(yáng)頓挫，善于運(yùn)用肢體動(dòng)作，并利用面部表情突出每一處點(diǎn)睛妙語(yǔ)。

在單口喜劇的終生鐵粉看來(lái)，諾拉的舉手投足他們?cè)偈煜げ贿^(guò)。她的表演具有國(guó)際化特色，加上年輕人少有的高度鎮(zhèn)定和自信。她不用言語(yǔ)的力量便可把我逗笑，難怪能掌控其他觀眾的情緒。這是某個(gè)周五的晚上，諾拉在上海功夫喜劇俱樂(lè)部的表演棒極了。

上海是中國(guó)公認(rèn)的單口喜劇之都。我在功夫喜劇俱樂(lè)部采訪過(guò)的表演者都這么認(rèn)為，這家喜劇表演館定期舉辦英語(yǔ)和中文演出，每周還有開(kāi)麥之夜。上海有不下六七個(gè)這樣的場(chǎng)所，每天都有單口喜劇演出遍布各處。而比起中國(guó)其他地方，上海的主要優(yōu)勢(shì)是擁有本地專屬的俱樂(lè)部。

柯安迪是一名來(lái)自澳大利亞的喜劇演員，能用英語(yǔ)和中文表演，2015年他創(chuàng)辦了功夫喜劇俱樂(lè)部。2009年，他在上海開(kāi)始組織現(xiàn)場(chǎng)喜劇表演。多年來(lái)演出場(chǎng)地?fù)Q了又換，盡是些簡(jiǎn)陋臟亂之地，被好幾個(gè)房東敲了竹杠，差點(diǎn)要放棄，就在這時(shí)他在上海的市中心找到了現(xiàn)在這個(gè)地方。

功夫喜劇俱樂(lè)部有了這個(gè)固定的家才得以成長(zhǎng)。現(xiàn)在，這里每周有五六個(gè)晚上舉辦演出，吸引了國(guó)際知名的演員，如美國(guó)喜劇演員阿里·沙菲爾和D. C.本尼。不過(guò)，讓安迪感到最自豪的是，俱樂(lè)部培養(yǎng)了諾拉和21歲的陳洛基這樣的中國(guó)青年喜劇演員，幫助他們施展才華。如今，上海不斷有許多單口喜劇演員嶄露頭角，他發(fā)現(xiàn)很難隨時(shí)掌握新動(dòng)向。

[6] ? 然而僅十年前，上海根本沒(méi)有任何單口喜劇表演場(chǎng)所，反映出當(dāng)時(shí)亞洲大部分地區(qū)的情況。顯然那是西方人的愛(ài)好;在亞洲，喜劇主要是團(tuán)體即興表演或以小品的形式呈現(xiàn)。獨(dú)角喜劇演員往往依靠肢體或打鬧來(lái)表現(xiàn)幽默，而不是用單口喜劇特有的講故事和諷刺的方式。

當(dāng)然，在新加坡、泰國(guó)、馬來(lái)西亞，甚至越南都可以看到單口喜劇現(xiàn)場(chǎng)演出，但主要由移居當(dāng)?shù)氐耐鈬?guó)演員和來(lái)訪的西方喜劇演員出演。我在曼谷和胡志明市看過(guò)演出，感覺(jué)跟我在倫敦和珀斯看過(guò)的一模一樣。

上海可就兩樣了。與泰國(guó)和越南不同，這兒的觀眾多數(shù)是本地人，笑話大多用中文講。

諾拉和洛基是俱樂(lè)部里的新人，分別只有一年半和9個(gè)月的單口喜劇表演經(jīng)歷。他倆都有志成為職業(yè)喜劇演員。洛基說(shuō)，他想通過(guò)單口喜劇來(lái)告訴中國(guó)的年輕人，他們可以“勇敢地表達(dá)自己的看法”。

功夫喜劇俱樂(lè)部的經(jīng)理穆罕默德·馬吉迪也這么認(rèn)為。這位29歲的埃及人從事單口喜劇有5個(gè)年頭了，他相信中國(guó)喜劇注定會(huì)強(qiáng)大起來(lái)。“啊，肯定能發(fā)展到很大規(guī)模。”他站在俱樂(lè)部霓虹燈照耀的吧臺(tái)后面，這樣跟我說(shuō)：“喜劇在中國(guó)已經(jīng)是價(jià)值數(shù)百萬(wàn)美元的行業(yè)，中國(guó)觀眾越來(lái)越熟悉獨(dú)角表演形式的單口喜劇，這樣下去只會(huì)越做越大。

“如今有這么多優(yōu)秀的中國(guó)喜劇演員，其中有些是真正的名人，他們經(jīng)常上電視，在中國(guó)的巡回演出場(chǎng)場(chǎng)爆滿。我相信，十年后單口喜劇將成為中國(guó)娛樂(lè)業(yè)的一大支柱。”

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)選手）