Cross-talkers at cross-purposes on crossed paths

Those of you who are somewhat knowledgeable of the cross-talking fraternity no doubt consider us to be a merry bunch of fellows, content to drink tea and tell jokes when the mood takes us. This could not be further from the truth. We may smile for the spotlight but behind the scenes it is a cutthroat business.

Pardon the pun but recently there has been a lot of cross talk. My hometown contemporary Guo Degang (pictured), arguably more famous than me, is mounting an all-out verbal attack on two of his erstwhile contemporaries, Xu Deliang and Wang Wenlin. They accuse him of being unethical, while he threatens to sue them for slander if they keep "talking nonsense".

What nonsense? Xu says he is paid a miserly 10,000 yuan ($1,465) for comic scripts, which Guo admits is true but adds they need to be rewritten and since he's the boss he should have the lion's share of profits. Xu and Wang respond they are not monkeys and cannot survive on peanuts. Guo says they have a gentleman's agreement, while Xu and Wang believe Guo is no gentleman. I suspect it is the lawyers who will ultimately be laughing all the way to the bank.