Medicine of laughter

A US comedian spent his prolonged vacation staging a show to raise money for Wuhan, Hubei province, in its fight against COVID-19.

A video clip from Jesse Appell has gone viral in China. It has garnered more than 100 million hits on Sina Weibo and 140 million hits on Douyin, known as TikTok internationally, since being published in late February.

The 29-year-old comedian staged a standup show in Boston in late February to raise money for China. He first introduced Chinese crosstalk to his audience and then talked about how Chinese people have been keeping their sense of humor under such tough conditions.

"I want to show the American audience what is happening in China," Appell says.

He performed with humorous video clips made by Chinese residents during their isolation in Hubei on Douyin, which brought down the house.

"The audience responded far beyond my expectation," he says.

"I hope the epidemic can go away as soon as possible, so everything can go back to normal."

The standup artist left Beijing for Boston to see his family on Jan 23 for the Spring Festival holiday.

"I meant to come back on Feb 2," Appell says.

Then, he found his return ticket was put on hold by United Airlines, which had canceled flights to the Chinese mainland until April 30 and reduced flights to some other Asian countries amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"So, I'm stuck at home," he says.

After following the situation in China, Appell decided to put his vacation to good use.

"I saw some comments (on my previous shows) saying how my comedy has helped at a hard time," he says. "I felt I needed to do more."

So Appell planned the charity show at Newton North High School, where he studied, and decided to raise money for medical supplies for hospitals in Wuhan. More than 500 people came to the show, which ended up raising $12,000.

"Some people bought $10 tickets and donated $90," Appell says.

The money was later spent on more than 50 boxes of medical supplies, which were donated directly to hospitals in Wuhan through WeStar, a charity organization in the eastern United States.

Appell says he'd like to express his thanks to doctors and nurses in Wuhan.

"They are tired and suffering, sometimes without equipment. I hope these can help them, and that everyone is healthy soon," he says.

The high school principal Henry Turner was impressed by Appell's show.

"We have been thinking a lot about people in Wuhan and in China," Turner says, adding that he wished them all the best and would pray for them.

"As the child of a nurse, I know the amount of care that they put into all of the patients," Turner adds.

Nancy Marianucci, a faculty member of the school's foreign language department, identified with Appell's cause.

"We believe that we're one global community," she says.

"We are all human and we're here to help and serve each other."

Appell hopes his show can get more attention online, so he can help to raise more money for China.

"Even though I can't be in China, my heart is still there," he says.

Appell first came to China in 2010 on a study abroad program from Brandeis University, where he studied East Asia and international relations.

"We engaged in intense but fun Chinese language training in Beijing," he says.

That was when he was drawn to Chinese crosstalk performances.

"I was already into comedy performance in college and high school," Appell says.

With help from David Moser, a faculty member of the program, Appell decided to concentrate on the art form.

Then he applied for the Fulbright program and got a scholarship after graduation from Brandeis to study crosstalk art and Chinese humor in Beijing in 2012.

"I wanted to understand Chinese culture through crosstalk," he says.

Through Moser, who was one of the first disciples of Ding Guangquan, the late Chinese crosstalk artist and mentor, Appell began exploring the art form under the tutelage of Ding.

"Ding was very supportive of us on all fronts. He held our performance to the high standard that is required of an authentic crosstalk artist," Appell says.

"All of us (students) received reviews after our weekly performance and then sharpened our skills accordingly."

Appell got to practice what he learned on a weekly basis and performed on TV under Ding's arrangement. The more he learned, the more he was attracted by Chinese culture and lifestyle.

"I found out it was much more fun. China is very dynamic now, so I stayed," Appell says.

At the same time, he kept up with his beloved talk show and improvised performances. He performed Chinese and English standup shows taking such approaches as poking fun at English and Chinese accents. He also performed and put some video clips online, such as "Laowai Style－Foreigner in Beijing's Gangnam Style Parody". Some videos of his performances gathered more than 11,000 views on YouTube and 40 million hits across different Chinese websites.

He also opened a small comedy theater and ran a comedy school, trying to use the medium to bridge the cultural gaps between the US and China. Appell says he gives about 200-300 live performances a year.

"The Chinese audience has shown an increasingly broader taste and responded well to those comedy forms," Appell says, adding that not many people appreciated talk shows at the beginning of his time in Beijing.

All his performances are based on inspiration from his social life and things he deems interesting.

"You have to have an attitude in talk shows, and people who like it will enjoy your performance and laugh," he says. "It's good for me to stay true to my ideas and express them."

Speaking about his future plan, Appell says he would like to focus more on online performance in the future. Before his departure to the US, he participated in Top Funny Comedian, a Chinese reality TV show.

"It was different from live shows, where I could tell the audience' response right away," he says.

Still, Appell says he got to apply all his skills to the new scene.

"So many people supported me after the show was broadcast," he says.

For now, though, Appell misses his life in Beijing.

"I miss my friends, working and eating with them," he says.

"I'd like to host a talk show first thing when I go back and invite all my friends to have a hotpot afterwards."