Funny...ha-ha or peculiar?

Every culture has its own sense of humor. That's why Jim Carrey in The Mask might not make all Chinese people laugh, but a piece of crosstalk can. The Chinese do humor in several forms: xiangsheng (crosstalk) was the most popular, then came xiaopin (comic skit), and now errenzhuan (two-person sketch).

Crosstalk, known in China as the "art of laughter", is a traditional art form between two performers satirizing society and its people through funny stories. Although a good crosstalk performer is said to be "earning a living by talking", it is not the case in the West.