Comedian's Love

Author: Jiang Kun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: "I tell the story vividly, but the child, haha, she didn’t listen at all. Honestly, you tell yours, I play mine, let no one disturb the other." Look at this self-assured father—who turns out to be comedian Jiang Kun! In the stage, Jiang Kun speaks eloquently and wittily, making the audience laugh out loud; in life, he never forgets to dig for humor everywhere, only to end up looking exhausted and aging much faster than his wife Li Jingmin. Even strangers began to doubt whether Li Jingmin was Jiang Kun’s original wife.
Recently, Jiang Kun also joined the bandwagon of celebrities publishing books, co-authoring a memoir titled The Love of a Comedian with Qing Wen. This book reveals Jiang Kun’s personal life as an ordinary person—love, friendship, socializing, business, and the internet, showcasing the growth of a comedy star.
The book features over 100 "secret" photos, with Jiang Kun providing unique and slightly teasing captions for each, taking a jab at himself.
Jiang Kun also has an unfocused audience.
Many young parents have experienced this: all day long, children cling to you, saying, "Dad, Mom, tell me a new story." You rack your brain, remembering the story your grandmother told you when you were young, like Grandma Wolf, and just as you finish, the child adds, "Tell another one!" So you tell one, but you don’t have any more; you don’t tell one, and you don’t want to disappoint their expectant gaze. You find yourself in a dilemma—you can either be patient and coax the child with gentle words or make up a story you don’t even know yourself; or you can be grumpy and yell, "Go! Go! Stop bothering the adults!" But later, you’ll regret driving your child away.
At this point, you’d think, "We have stories too—tell a segment of Walter, play a tune from White Tiger Mountain, or even a bit of Sherlock Holmes." But the children don’t understand. Oh, how could they forget the stories they heard when they were four or five? Yes, the key is what to tell them. You’ll need to be patient, hold up a little picture book, and recite it seriously, no matter how much the child listens or not.
Look! I’m telling the story vividly, but the child, haha, she’s not listening at all. Honestly, you tell yours, I play mine, let no one disturb the other.
"Comedian Jiang, you forgot me and Mom!"
The arrival of a new life adds weight to the shoulders of young parents. During Li Jingmin’s maternity leave, Jiang Kun was busy grocery shopping, cooking, and changing diapers. Once, when the child was thirsty, Jiang went to get water, but in the hustle, he accidentally put salt instead of sugar in the bottle. After the child drank it, he still cried uncontrollably. No matter how Jiang and Li tried to comfort him, it was useless.
Finally, Li tried the water in the bottle and realized why the child was crying.
Jiang shook his head and smiled sadly, saying to the child, "Sorry, baby, I’m not a very good dad."
In 1980, it was the busiest year for Jiang. He traveled to Shenyang, Qingdao, Baoding, and some places in Jiangsu, performing and immersing himself in life for nearly 11 months. While Jiang was away, Li worked during the day, took care of the child at night, and handled household chores on weekends. The exhaustion was inevitable.
Several times after returning from trips, the daughter pouted and complained, "Comedian Jiang, you’re always out and never come back. You forgot me and Mom."
When it came to raising her, Jiang didn’t follow his parents’ methods. He let her grow naturally, absorbing the social environment around her. Little Jiang Shan grew up healthily in an atmosphere of equality, love, happiness, and warmth.
Perhaps due to her parents’ genes, Jiang Shan loved music from a young age. Observant parents noticed her unique talent and enrolled her in piano lessons, seeing no harm in it for her to develop her artistic side, regardless of whether she pursued it professionally.
Little Jiang Shan didn’t disappoint her parents’ expectations. She was deeply devoted to learning the piano, and her intelligence, intuition, and ability to absorb amazed her teachers. At just four years old, she could play adult-level piano pieces even though she couldn’t speak fluently yet. Not only could she play, but she could also sing. She had no patience for the famous singer tapes in the house, listening to them over and over again. With a naturally good voice, extraordinary memory, and mimicry skills, she could sing any song perfectly after hearing it just a few times, note for note. Those who heard her sing said her style was very modern—if you only heard her sing and didn’t see her, you’d never guess she was a 13-year-old girl.
In 1990, Jiang Shan secretly went to the Beijing Middle School Art Festival with her father. Her pop song performance earned her a thunderous ovation from the audience, and all the judges were captivated by her voice. They widened their eyes in astonishment at the 13-year-old singing star before them and, without hesitation, awarded her the highest and most just score. She won the pop song competition.
None of the judges at the event knew she was Jiang Kun’s daughter—she had completely relied on her own talent.
Seeing her daughter’s success, Jiang was both happy and guilty, and his attitude changed from opposition to support. Suddenly, Jiang Shan became a sought-after child star, and at this moment, Jiang sent her to Australia to study through a friend, believing she had studied too little and that fame and fortune were too early for her.
Later, Jiang Shan transferred from Australia to the United States to focus on English. There, she stood out among a tiny number of Chinese students. Jiang Shan, a yellow-skinned Asian girl, shocked everyone by topping the school’s general exams, becoming one of the best among thousands.
Now, Jiang Shan has excelled in her studies in film production and is preparing to collaborate with renowned figures in the European film industry to create a new film model. It’s believed that the singing star of yesterday will also become a dazzling film and television producer tomorrow. Over 100 never-before-seen, exclusive photos are now revealed, offering a glimpse into the rich and varied life of a superstar—her love, family, friendships, business endeavors, traveling across five continents, performing, collecting folk art, hosting shows, filming, advertising, developing the internet, and researching the reform and development of traditional arts.