Playing the joker

Stand-up comedian Zhou Libo pokes fun at scalpers on stage at the Majestic Theater, but outside they are raking in money from selling tickets to his show.

"When they see me, they shout to me 'Go! Wenchuan (a Sichuan city destroyed in the May earthquake in 2008)! Go! Libo!'" says Zhou, 42, whose haipai qingkou, or Shanghai-style stand-up comedy, has become one of the hottest tickets in town.

Forty-five of the 62 shows he is scheduled to perform in up until the end of this year are sold out.