Freed through comedy

An unhappy marriage leads middle-aged woman to attempt to make audiences laugh with relatable stand-up routines now going viral, Xing Wen reports.

This summer, Fang Zhuren (a stage name, with the surname Fang), a 50-year-old woman from a rural village in Shandong province with only a middle school education, burst onto the country's stand-up comedy scene as the dark horse of the hit online competition, The King of Stand-Up Comedy Season Two.

The turning point came two years ago, when, in her own words, she was trapped by endless housework and an oppressive marriage. She was desperate for an escape.

Then, on a whim in March 2023, she scraped together 220 yuan ($30.62) to watch a live show by Li Bo, a female comedian from Shenyang, Liaoning province, who has over 13 million followers on the short-video platform Douyin.

That night, during the interactive segment, the performer spotted Fang in the audience.

"What do you do for a living?" She asked Fang, handing the microphone to her, who was sitting in the second row with a mask and looked slightly uneasy.

"I'm the director of the information center in our village," Fang replied.

"What kind of information do you handle?" the comedian asked.

"Oh, things like which family's daughter hasn't returned in two years, who owes money and won't pay it back, or which mother-in-law and daughter-in-law got into another fight. … That's pretty much the kind of news I keep track of," Fang deadpanned.

The crowd erupted in laughter and applause.

Fang's quick-witted, humorous improvised answer stole the show, and the clip later went viral, amassing millions of views online.

Impressed, the comedian invited Fang to join a comedy training session, and even got Fang's travel, accommodation, and training expenses covered.

That marked the beginning of Fang's journey into becoming a stand-up comedian.

Stand-up comedy then became Fang's catharsis, not only allowing her to release years of pent-up frustration from her marriage and family life, but finally giving her the courage to walk away from her "toxic 30-year relationship" and start anew.

In her debut on the aforementioned comedy competition, Fang delivered a hilarious yet touching set about how stand-up comedy empowered her to divorce her husband and build a new life with her two daughters.

The performance quickly made her a viral sensation.