Stand-up comedy is a popular emotional outlet for young Chinese people. TENCENT / TUCHONG
Sue Liu, 29, is a primary school teacher in Beijing. At the end of a tiring week, she would love nothing more than to watch stand-up comedy.
29岁的苏·刘（音）是北京的一名小学老师。结束一周疲惫的工作后，她只想去看单口喜剧。
For Liu, the laughter that stand-up comedy brings is a form of relaxation itself and is a welcomed break after a long week. “Watching stand-up comedy has become a routine in my life,” Liu said.
对苏·刘（音）是来说，单口喜剧带来的笑声本身就是一种放松，一种结束了一周漫长的工作后的惬意休息。“看单口喜剧已经成为我生活的一部分，” 苏·刘（音）说。
Though China is new to stand-up comedy, the country’s young people, like Liu, are warming up to jokes and jibes. In 2020, the third season of Rock & Roast, an online variety show where comedians compete against each other, garnered 190 million views. Data from the data tracking company Guduo Media shows that the program’s audience is largely made up of those aged between 19 and 35.
尽管单口喜剧在中国刚刚起步，但像苏·刘（音）这样的中国年轻人，越来越喜欢幽默嘲讽的段子。2020年，第三季《脱口秀大会》收获了1.9亿播放量。喜剧演员在这档综艺节目中同台较量。据数据追踪平台骨朵传媒的数据显示，《脱口秀大会》大部分观众年龄在19-35岁之间。
Liu said that the new entertainment genre attracted her because of the topics discussed.
苏·刘（音）称，这种新的节目类型吸引她的原因在于其讨论的话题。
“Performers often speak to the reality of today’s society,” Liu said. “That’s why many young people often find this genre relatable.”
“演员往往直击当今社会问题，” 苏·刘（音）说道。“这就是为什么这类节目常能引起年轻人共鸣的原因。”
Liu likes Chinese comic twins Yan Yi and Yan Yue very much. The twins often focus on anxiety women often face as well as gender discrimination. For example, they have joked about the misrepresentation of female friendships in media and entertainment. “The only movie that doesn’t depict two women fighting with each other over a man is The Shining (an iconic horror movie from the US).”
苏·刘（音）很喜欢双胞胎姐妹颜怡和颜悦。这对双胞胎姐妹经常聚焦女性面临的焦虑和性别歧视。比如，她们讲过媒体和娱乐圈对女性友谊存在误解的段子。“唯一没有描述两个女人为了一个男人互相伤害的电影是《闪灵》（美国经典恐怖电影）。”
“They make us laugh, but also make us be conscious of or rethink about some issues,” Liu said.
“他们让我们开怀大笑，但也让我们意识到、或者重新思考一些问题，”刘苏说。
For Kit Chen, 28, a worker at an internet company, stand-up comedy is an important emotional outlet.
28岁的基特·陈（音）在一家互联网公司工作，对他来说，单口喜剧是一个重要的宣泄途径。
Chen said that he fell in love with stand-up comedy by accident. One day, after he finished his work and was returning home by subway, he scrolled through a video clip of comedian Li Xueqin. Within that limited period of time, Li used a lot of memes.
基特·陈（音）称，一次偶然的机会，他爱上了单口喜剧。有一天，他下班乘地铁回家，刷到了喜剧演员李雪琴的视频。在有限的时间里，李雪琴说了很多“梗”。
“Her humor and even self-mockery gives me a quick laugh to let off some stress in the fast-paced life,” said Chen.
“她的幽默，甚至是自嘲很搞笑，能让我释放快节奏生活中的一些压力，”基特·陈（音）称。
Life may be full of things that don’t go our way. But this entertainment genre “encourages youngsters to make peace with life through humor”, CGTN noted.
生活也许充满着不顺心的事。但是这种娱乐节目类型“鼓励年轻人用幽默跟生活和解，”中国国际电视台评论道。
