When laughter is no laughing matter

He and a partner founded the club, which would eventually have 48 screenwriters and 60 performers and organize more than 4,000 gigs, sometimes as many as five a week, over seven years.

"I'll engage all kinds of comics, polite or rude, decent or obscene, as long as they can make people laugh," Xi says. "One of the club's principles is originality. Comics aren't allowed to lift stuff from the internet."

However, from a commercial perspective coming up with new material can be problematic, he says.

"There are some people in an audience who don't like new jokes because there's little resonance, and they just don't work. At times we comedians have become a bunch of oddballs rabbiting on about inconsequential guff that nobody really cares about."

As if Xi thinks you have not cottoned on to the fact that he is disillusioned, he then gripes about how Chinese stand-up comedy has become distorted in the way it has grown because money has become more important than performances and many of those in the industry have become greedy.

"The industry really has not come of age. I have not seen one Chinese performer who has hit the mark."

Chinese stand-up comedians lag their foreign competitors by at least 10 years, he says.

"Our performers are tied up making money rather than honing their craft, let alone creating new jokes."

Xi also attributes the poverty of Chinese stand-up comedy to culture, saying that in a country in which the collective spirit prevails, it is difficult for a one-person show to prosper.

He cites the roast, a form of stand-up comedy, as an example.

"The roast, as a forum for critiquing and poking fun at people, does not sit well in China because our culture is that of the gentleman rather than the critic."

Then, as if to convince you that he really is not having fun, Xi says:

"Stand-up comedy in China is meaningless. It's just something to help people relax."

Xi's often somber view of his industry contrasts sharply with the bouncy optimism of one of his rivals, the highly successful comedian Shi Laoban, with whom he often crosses paths as they sell their wares.

"I'm really upbeat," Shi says.

"I reckon this business will soon be turning a good profit."

Related:

Grains, leaves and the power of humor