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。我聽不懂這位30歲的中國喜劇演員在說些什么，可不管她說的是什么，此刻她引起了觀眾的熱烈反響。我越看她，越覺得她滑稽——并非我突然能聽懂普通話，而是因為那超越語言的喜劇元素。聽她講著那對我來說錯綜復雜的外語，從中我開始發(fā)現(xiàn)并欣賞到，諾拉能高明地掌控節(jié)奏，巧妙地把握抑揚頓挫，善于運用肢體動作，并利用面部表情突出每一處點睛妙語。

在單口喜劇的終生鐵粉看來，諾拉的舉手投足他們再熟悉不過。她的表演具有國際化特色，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。這是某個周五的晚上，諾拉在上海功夫喜劇俱樂部的表演棒極了。

上海是中國公認的單口喜劇之都。我在功夫喜劇俱樂部采訪過的表演者都這么認為，這家喜劇表演館定期舉辦英語和中文演出，每周還有開麥之夜。上海有不下六七個這樣的場所，每天都有單口喜劇演出遍布各處。而比起中國其他地方，上海的主要優(yōu)勢是擁有本地專屬的俱樂部。

柯安迪是一名來自澳大利亞的喜劇演員，能用英語和中文表演，2015年他創(chuàng)辦了功夫喜劇俱樂部。2009年，他在上海開始組織現(xiàn)場喜劇表演。多年來演出場地換了又換，盡是些簡陋臟亂之地，被好幾個房東敲了竹杠，差點要放棄，就在這時他在上海的市中心找到了現(xiàn)在這個地方。

功夫喜劇俱樂部有了這個固定的家才得以成長?，F(xiàn)在，這里每周有五六個晚上舉辦演出，吸引了國際知名的演員，如美國喜劇演員阿里·沙菲爾和D. C.本尼。不過，讓安迪感到最自豪的是，俱樂部培養(yǎng)了諾拉和21歲的陳洛基這樣的中國青年喜劇演員，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)很難隨時掌握新動向。

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

當然，在新加坡、泰國、馬來西亞，甚至越南都可以看到單口喜劇現(xiàn)場演出，但主要由移居當?shù)氐耐鈬輪T和來訪的西方喜劇演員出演。我在曼谷和胡志明市看過演出，感覺跟我在倫敦和珀斯看過的一模一樣。

上?？删蛢蓸恿?。與泰國和越南不同，這兒的觀眾多數(shù)是本地人，笑話大多用中文講。

諾拉和洛基是俱樂部里的新人，分別只有一年半和9個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，他想通過單口喜劇來告訴中國的年輕人，他們可以“勇敢地表達自己的看法”。

功夫喜劇俱樂部的經(jīng)理穆罕默德·馬吉迪也這么認為。這位29歲的埃及人從事單口喜劇有5個年頭了，他相信中國喜劇注定會強大起來?！鞍?，肯定能發(fā)展到很大規(guī)模?！彼驹诰銟凡磕藓鐭粽找陌膳_后面，這樣跟我說：“喜劇在中國已經(jīng)是價值數(shù)百萬美元的行業(yè)，中國觀眾越來越熟悉獨角表演形式的單口喜劇，這樣下去只會越做越大。

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

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎選手）