Crosstalk: Stop playing with your uncle!

Chapter 8 Drawing Lots
In fact, with Qi Long and Gao Dongqiang's basic skills, they don't need to come here for special training.

If they were just performing on stage, they would definitely chat for a while, check the words that had to be said to advance the plot, and then go play with their phones.

The problem was that this time he was going to be examined by Mr. Shi Fukuan. As Mr. Shi's apprentice, Dongqiang was afraid, so they planned to practice singing in the park.

After the practice, Dong Qiang found that although Qi Long had been lying down for almost a year, his martial arts and verbal skills had not declined. He breathed a sigh of relief and they went to Mr. Shi Fukuan's house together.

Mr. Shi scolded the two apprentices and juniors who came to his house with gifts: "How long have you lived here? What are you bringing when you come?"

"I wonder if you like this Daocun snack? We just happened to buy some on the way." Dongqiang said with a chuckle.

Qi Long also said: "I came from Beichun City, so I should bring you some Northeastern specialties? Red sausage or something!"

"Don't try to silence me with this gift. If you two are okay with it, then it's okay. If not, I won't be polite!"

"Of course. If there are any problems, you can correct them at any time. I will take the beating and scolding!"

Mr. Shi pretended to be upset and said, "You are already so old, why are you still fighting?"

Crosstalk, crosstalk, the first word is “相”, which means to make an appearance. On the stage, crosstalk actors may have to play various images to shape the characters.

When performing in a small garden, in order to make the audience see clearly and also for the sake of humor, the actions of joy, anger, sorrow and happiness are often exaggerated.

So you can tell at a glance whether you are really angry or not.

This is also the reason why many crosstalk performers are used to exaggerating their performances. When they appear in TV dramas, people will feel that they are out of place and the movie ratings are not high.
The two put down their gifts and followed Mr. Shi into the study to start the performance.

"Hello everyone, let me introduce myself on stage. My name is Qi Long, and this is my partner Gao Dongqiang!"

"it's me!"

"We grew up together, learned crosstalk together, and have always been partners. We are as close as brothers. When we were young, our masters had strict requirements on us and we had to practice basic skills every day!"

“That’s basic!”

"It happens often. At dawn, we are woken up by our masters. I am wearing pants and go to the park with my partner to practice basic skills."

"Wait, why are you insisting that you're wearing pants? I'm not wearing any!"

Qi Long glanced at him and nodded: "Yeah!"

"What are you talking about? I have to wear pants too. Have you been a hooligan since childhood?"

"We are just wearing the same pair of pants, right? You always make me wear them."

The two were about to continue talking when Shi Fukuan raised his hand to interrupt them: "Wait a minute, this joke is useless in a small theater or commercial performance, but it won't work in a crosstalk competition. It can't be broadcast even if you tell it. Change it!"

Qi Long nodded respectfully, but Dong Qiang was a little confused: "Master, I remember you and Uncle Hou were on TV before, and you didn't say it directly, but you could also use metaphors like bare buttocks and so on!"

"The past was the past, and the present is the present! In the past, we could say anything to satirize crosstalk, but now it's different. In the Internet age, a sentence may be taken out of context and amplified. The Chinese Crosstalk Association is fighting against vulgarity more and more. If you want to participate in their competition, you have to speak within their rules."

Since Qi Long has never been on TV, some of his texts are not so appropriate.

It just so happened that Master Shi understood all this, so he began to make secondary changes to his text, only saying what could be said and omitting what could not be said.

"It's okay to satirize the Chinese men's football team. Haven't all their scandals been made into documentaries? But it's not okay for this thief company to satirize certain systems. Put it aside!" In addition to modifying the text, Mr. Shi also emphasized that Dongqiang should make use of his current image as a strong man. He can use pushing actions when necessary. Qi Long was pushed away and staggered because he couldn't hold on, but that was all for the show.

Dongqiang was not a muscular man before. He was a fat man like many other supporting actors!

Qi Long was on the stage with him. One of them was thin and the other was fat. The picture looked harmonious and beautiful.

But later, during the physical examination, Dongqiang was found to have many problems. For the sake of his health, this guy went to the gym and replaced his fat with muscles.

As the stage image has changed, the stage performance method must also be changed. It would be wrong to continue using the previous one.

This master class also benefited two Xiaoyuanzi crosstalk performers who had never appeared on TV.

In Xiaoyuanzi, although there is a time limit, it is often not that strict. If you are in a good mood, you can fill in the time with half an hour or an hour.

But this obviously cannot be done on television because there are time limits, and some baggage and ideas that should be discarded must be deleted to achieve better results.

After taking the master class from Mr. Shi, Qi Long was also taken by Dong Qiang to his family's property in the imperial capital.

The entire apartment building belonged to their family, and one of the households was rented by Qi Long to live in temporarily. The two of them had nothing to do, so they kept rehearsing.

Point the camera of your mobile phone at yourself and start performing. After finishing, watch the video to find problems and correct them, and prepare for the arrival of the crosstalk competition.

Dongqiang’s daily activities include rehearsal, fitness, eating and sleeping.

Qi Long has one more thing than him, which is to watch videos. Watch videos that only he can see, and see how crosstalk actors from another world handle jokes, extract the essence and strengthen themselves.

In the past two days, because people kept watching Qi Long's crosstalk videos in Deyun Club, his coins were also pouring in.

With 0.01 from every online viewer, I actually received more than a thousand coins, which is hundreds of thousands of sincere compliments!

It’s just that things become popular quickly in the Internet age; even ordinary people can become popular, let alone those who have real kung fu skills.

At the crosstalk competition semi-finals, there were hundreds of pairs of crosstalk performers from all over the country and many judges, all of whom were seniors in the crosstalk world. Shi Fukuan’s fellow apprentice Mr. Shi Shengjie was also one of the judges.

Such an environment is quite a challenge for crosstalk performers.

Because there were no audience members in the audience, only crosstalk performers. Crosstalk performers' sense of humor is much higher than that of ordinary audience members. Add to that the tense elimination atmosphere, and it becomes even harder to laugh out loud.

Without the atmosphere of laughter, the expressiveness of crosstalk will be poor.

Everyone who has watched crosstalk knows that if the recorded crosstalk reduces the noise of the audience’s laughter, the crosstalk will inexplicably sound awkward.

What caught Qi Long and his team off guard was that during the drawing of lots, Qi Long drew "1" among so many balls!
It would be even more dangerous if you were the first one to go up.

Because the judges have not seen other people's performances, their expectations may be very high. If your performance does not meet their expectations, the score you get will not be high.

However, if the judges see a few unsatisfactory works later on, the standards in their minds will slowly lower.

"You have such a stinky hand. I should have beaten you earlier!" Dong Qiang looked at Qi Long with disdain.

They were both familiar with each other. Qi Long had bad luck since he was a child. If he didn't do his homework, he would be the one to be picked by the teacher for random check.
Qi Long was helpless: "Why didn't you stop me just now!"

I wish you all a happy Lantern Festival!
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(End of this chapter)