novelraw Chapter 40 - Spring Festival Gala Review, Future Generations
Chapter 40 - Spring Festival Gala Review, Future Generations
Chapter 40 Spring Festival Gala Review, Future Generations
After half a month on the road with the roadshow, Qu Yiming finally returned to Beijing. It wasn’t for the premiere of Lost in Love for 33 Days, but because the first review for the Spring Festival Gala was set to start tomorrow morning.
In addition to Qu Yiming’s To Help or Not to Help, four other programs would also be reviewed, including the crosstalk On the Topic of Giving and Joking by Jia Lin and her partner Bai Kainan.
With Ma Li and Du Xiaoyu included, this was just the first review of the Spring Festival Gala. The variety show Happy Comedy People from Liaoning TV had already introduced four comedy contestants to the Spring Festival Gala.
Some media had already started referring to Happy Comedy People as the “Spring Festival Gala Cradle.”
The annual grand final of Happy Comedy People was scheduled for December 31st, New Year’s Eve. Currently, the contestants who had the ability to compete for the annual championship were Shuang Shen—Shen Teng and Xiao Shenyang.
The former had the support of the Kaixin Mahua team to polish their script, while the latter had the help of Ben Shan Media’s screenwriting team. Qu Yiming speculated that this was probably the peak of Happy Comedy People as a variety show.
Comedy was a genre that heavily relied on creativity and had low reproducibility—once a good punchline was used, it was gone.
[…].
On December 1st, at 8:00 AM, the first review for the Spring Festival Gala took place in the CCTV Hall 1. Two programs were being reviewed that morning: Qu Yiming’s To Help or Not to Help and Jia Lin’s On the Topic of Giving and Joking. The official review started at 9:00 AM.
At that moment, Qu Yiming was chatting with Ma Li, Jia Lin, and others in the waiting room. Ma Li was well known, being Shen Teng’s golden partner and one of the best supporting actors in the comedy world.
Jia Lin, who would later become a comedy actress with a hundred billion box office, had filmed two movies. Although they received mixed reviews, they provided a much-needed boost to the comedy industry during a time when it was slowly declining. Neither of these two had performed at the Spring Festival Gala yet.
Jia Lin’s first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala would be in 2010—this very year. Ma Li would have to wait until four years later for her first performance on the Spring Festival Gala.
[…].
Qu Yiming had contacted Ma Li through the Happy Comedy People production team. When he told her that he wanted to bring her to the Spring Festival Gala, Ma Li nearly fainted from excitement.
Luckily, after more than a month of settling down, Ma Li had calmed her emotions. If Ma Li was able to perform on the Spring Festival Gala stage this year, Kaixin Mahua would be preparing a program for the 2011 Spring Festival Gala.
[…].
Comedy actors are often a bit unconventional in their looks. Once the topic was opened, Jia Lin turned to Ma Li and jokingly said, “No wonder comedy actors aren’t really good-looking, no wonder Yiming went off to work in the film industry.”
Ma Li rolled her eyes and replied with a playful tone, “What are you saying? What do you mean by that?”
“Ha ha ha…”
The room filled with laughter.
“Hey, everyone’s here.”
At that moment, the door to the restroom opened. Everyone turned to look. It was Uncle Ben Shan. After two months of recuperation, Uncle Ben Shan was looking quite well.
“Master.”
“Grandpa Zhao.”
“Uncle Ben Shan.”
The group stood up to greet him.
“Sit, sit, everyone.”
Uncle Ben Shan waved for them to sit down.
“I was invited to record a program, so I thought I’d come by to see the program you’re rehearsing.”
Jia Lin, a bit nervous, said, “I should tell my master that Grandpa Zhao is here to see my performance.”
She had studied under Feng Gong, the creator of “I Miss You So Much.”
Uncle Ben Shan smiled, “Don’t be nervous. When I brought Yiming to the Spring Festival Gala earlier this year, that guy came up and threw out the idea for Not Short of Money. In one day, he and the other screenwriters polished it into a draft, rehearsed it for ten days, and then it was ready for the Spring Festival Gala. Before we went on stage, I asked him if he was nervous, and he said yes. What happened? He gave the best performance, and we all became supporting characters.”
“Ha ha ha…”
Everyone laughed lightly, their gaze toward Qu Yiming filled with more admiration. With such talent, no wonder he became an overnight sensation.
Qu Yiming smiled wryly and said, “Master, are you praising me, or are you making fun of me?”
Uncle Ben Shan replied, “That depends on how you interpret it.”
“Alright, I’ll figure it out slowly.”
The playful back-and-forth between the master and disciple lightened the mood. With the comedy master of the current era present, Jia Lin and Ma Li seized the opportunity to ask for tips on performing comedy.
Uncle Ben Shan generously shared his knowledge, answering all their questions. Qu Yiming, who was listening nearby, also found the conversation to be quite insightful.
As they chatted, the time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was 9 AM. First up was Jia Lin and Bai Kainan performing On the Topic of Giving and Joking.
It was a traditional crosstalk program. The unique aspect of this performance was that it was the first time a female crosstalk actor appeared on this stage.
Jia Lin and Bai Kainan did a great job with the pacing, and their delivery of the punchlines was spot-on. Uncle Ben Shan felt that this performance had a good chance of being included in the Spring Festival Gala.
Next, it was time for To Help or Not to Help to undergo review.
“Oh no, my elbow, oh no, my kneecap, oh no, my lower back…”
When Qu Yiming suddenly lay down and recited Ma Li’s lines, Uncle Ben Shan’s eyes lit up. This twist was really brilliant!
Uh oh, looks like this year’s program will have a tough time competing with my disciple’s… But, it’s nice to see the next generation coming up.
Having lived through so many ups and downs, Uncle Ben Shan couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction when he saw Qu Yiming still coming up with such high-quality sketches.
[…].