Growing stand-up comedy in China a serious business

GUANGZHOU - Every Saturday night, a small theater called Xigua, or "watermelon", capable of seating an audience of about 80 and located in Yongqing Fang - century-old alleyways in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou - is packed to the rafters.

Three or four stand-up comedians walk on the stage one after another and tickle the funny bones of the audience during a show that lasts an hour and 30 minutes. This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

"If you think what the performers say is funny, laugh out loud; but if it sucks, just heckle them with your applause," says a comedian, surnamed Ji, when warming up the audience at the beginning of a show.