W&M Featured Events
[PAST EVENT] Making China and America Laugh Again: US-China People to People Diplomacy in the Age of the Internet
Access & Features
- Open to the public
Part powerpoint, part standup, and all funny, Jesse Appell’s show Make America and China Laugh Again focuses on sharing experiences from his years performing comedy in China. Along the way, we hear stories about how he apprenticed to a traditional Xiangsheng “crosstalk” comedy master performer, his path to becoming a Mandarin-language standup comedy star in China with over 2 million followers, and what he has learned about the Internet’s role as the frontier of modern people-to-people relations between nations.
Jesse Appell is a Fulbright Scholar Alumni whose research focuses on Chinese humor and performance. He is a disciple of master Xiangsheng performer Ding Guangquan, and regularly performs Xiangsheng, bilingual improv comedy, and Chinese stand-up live and on TV. Appell creates comedic online videos intended for the Chinese audience; one of these, “Laowai Style,” gathered 2 million hits across several media platforms. Appell’s performances, writing, and commentary on Chinese comedy, media, and culture have been seen and heard on CBS, TEDx, PBS, NPR, and PRI, as well as Chinese media such as CCTV, BTV, and CRI. He has performed Chinese comedy at several venues, including Yale, University of Washington, and Brandeis on his Great LOL of China North American tour. He was listed as one of the People of the Year by the Global Times in 2012. Jesse founded Laugh Beijing in order to use comedy to bridge cultural gaps. Find more information about his work at www.laughbeijing.com.
This event will take place in person with online access upon request. If you would like to attend virtually, please email Emily Wilcox at eewilcox@wm.edu.
Contact
[[eewilcox]]