Dearth of comediennes no laughing matter

Vision of the future

Born and raised in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, Yang graduated from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, where she majored in graphic design.

Before becoming a professional comedienne, she worked in the capital as a graphic designer, and at one time checked theater admission tickets.

However, she said her life was boring and aimless, and it was not until she watched the stand-up comedy reality show Roast in 2017, produced by Tencent Video, that she realized this was where her future lay.

On Roast, celebrities perform as stand-up comics. They make fun of themselves and tell jokes about embarrassing incidents that have resulted in them hitting the headlines.

In 2017, at a small club in Beijing, Yang had her first experience of performing stand-up comedy.

"The club was recruiting new comics. I spent a week preparing for my performance. I just spoke about small incidents in my life, but I was very nervous about testing my ideas onstage," she said.

"Although I didn't get any laughs, I felt good afterward and enjoyed performing in front of an audience.

"Initially, I just wanted to talk, to express myself. It's fun telling my stories and bringing a touch of irony to my views, and it feels great when I make people laugh."

At that time, Yang was performing about 10 shows a week. Gradually, she gained experience in writing her own material, and her onstage nerves disappeared.

"I just performed as much as possible, which was a great way to help me forget my nerves," she said.

After becoming a scriptwriter for Roast, in 2018, Yang signed for Shanghai Fun Factory Entertainment Co.

Founded in 2014, the company promotes stand-up comedy in China through live performances at home and overseas. It also produces stand-up comedy reality shows, including Rock & Roast and Roast.

The origins of stand-up comedy can be traced to Europe and North America in the 1800s.

However, it is still relatively new in China, with open mic nights first emerging in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai in about 2009.Successful stand-up shows, such as 80's Talk Show and Rock & Roast, have seen the Western style of comedy take root in China, attracting many young fans.

Some bars and clubs in the bigger cities offer Chinese stand-ups the chance to perform to live audiences.

With the profession taking off in the country, these stand-ups can now make a living from it, but some also have to continue doing their day jobs.

Although there are still only a few stand-up comediennes in the country, some of them have shown they have the talent to perform and have won large fan bases with their views on life from a feminine perspective.

Fifty comics from across the country－13 of them female－took part in the first round of competition for third season of Rock& Roast.

In addition to Yang, twin sisters Yanyi and Yanyue stood out with their performances on the show.

Born in Jiangxi province, the 25-year-olds began their careers as stand-up comics after graduating from Southwest University of Political Science & Law in Chongqing three years ago.

They got into the business by taking part in a workshop launched by Shanghai Fun Factory Entertainment Co in 2017, before becoming stand-up comedy scriptwriters.

Yanyi said: "Since childhood, we've loved reading books and we always dreamed about becoming writers. We've watched some Western stand-up comedy shows online but we never planned to become comedy writers and performers ourselves."

The twins were encouraged to take part in the workshop by the writer, scriptwriter and stand-up comic Li Dan.

Li, 30, was a scriptwriter for the 80's Talk Show. In 2017, he helped launch the first season of Roast, which was a huge success. Four seasons of the show have been broadcast, attracting a total of more than 7 billion online views.

Yanyi said: "Starting out in stand-up comedy can be overwhelming and a little scary. Li Dan kept encouraging us to write and perform, which was tempting but challenging for us."

Last year, the twins performed during the second season of Rock &Roast, but finished last.

However, this year, they won plenty of laughs and applause during their appearances on the show－far-exceeding their expectations.

One of their routines centers on prejudice about women's weight. They tell jokes about the fashion house Brandy Melville and its line of extra-skinny clothing.

"We actually went to one of the stores to shop. Many young women were trying to shimmy into Brandy Melville's only-size skinny jeans, and this inspired us to talk about weight discrimination," Yanyi said.