Guo Degang - An Unprominent Crosstalk Actor

Author: Guo Degang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Some say Guo Degang's xiangsheng (comic dialogue) is non-mainstream and forms an opposition to mainstream xiangsheng. He's not very willing to admit this. Why? Actually, xiangsheng doesn't have mainstream or non-mainstream categories—it's just xiangsheng. Some people might say there are conflicts or opposition between certain individuals, but even close brothers might fight, and father and son might even resort to violence. Let alone the xiangsheng world? People often say that the best way to learn xiangsheng is through family tradition, with fathers passing it down to their children. If you're born into such a xiangsheng family, it might be easier to learn. First, there's the artistic atmosphere—the elders can teach you. Second, you have a background and support, so no one in the industry would dare to bully you. Neither of these applies to me. My family has no one involved in this profession; going back generations, none of them were in xiangsheng. They were all ordinary people—though, of course, telling xiangsheng is also a very respectable profession. My father was a police officer, and he didn't really want me to pursue this career because many actors have criminal records. He was an accidental figure in traditional Chinese, overturning the conventional thinking of TV xiangsheng. During the low point of an art form, Guo Degang served as a timely and considerate warm-up act, sticking to the theater for ten years and earning a nationwide following of "steel fans," representing the return of traditional to its essence.