Jesse Appell: The Great LOL of China

China Focus is pleased to share Beijing-based comedian Jesse Appell’s recent performance at UC San Diego, hosted by China Focus. Check out the video below, and listen to our podcast interview with Jesse to learn more about comedy in China!

Performer Biography

Jesse Appell (艾杰西) is a Fulbright Scholar Alumni whose research focuses on Chinese humor and performance. He is a disciple of master Xiangsheng performer Ding Guangquan, and regularly perform Xiangsheng (a form of Chinese comedy also known as crosstalk), bilingual improv comedy, and Chinese stand-up live and on TV. Jesse creates comedic online videos intended for the Chinese audience; one of these, “Laowai Style,” gathered 2 million hits across several media platforms.

Jesse’s performances, writing, and commentary on Chinese comedy, media, and culture have been seen and heard on CBS, TEDx, PBS, NPR and PRI, as well as Chinese media such as CCTV, BTV, and CRI. He has performed Chinese comedy at Yale University, University of Washington, Brandeis University and more on his “Great LOL of China” North American tour. He was listed as one of the “People of the Year” by the Global Times in 2012. 

Jesse founded http://www.laughbeijing.com, with the focus of using comedy to bridge cultural gaps by focusing on storytelling and character rather than surface differences and stereotypes.

作为中美富布莱特学者，艾杰西专注于中式幽默和表演方面的研究。他拜著名相声演员丁广泉为师，在全国各地定期进行相声、双语即兴喜剧、脱口秀等演出。他制作了一系列面对中国观众的视频作品，其中，最广为人知的“老外Style”获得了200万的点击率。他在美国经常做高校巡演，曾经在哈佛，耶鲁，布朗等学校给当地华人留学生做喜剧专场演出。

他曾经上过《谁能逗乐喜剧明星》，《非常了得》，《环球神奇炫》，等节目，经常在电视台脱口秀节目当嘉宾。他是全国最有经验的即兴喜剧演员之一，在中美两国演过十多年即兴喜剧，也在北京大学附属中学教即兴喜剧课程。 

在CBS，CCTV、BTV、CRI、TEDx、PBS、NPR、PRI等各大中外媒体上，常可见艾杰西的身影及其关于中国喜剧、媒体和文化的著述和评论。他于2012年入选环球时报“年度人物”。

作为双语喜剧编剧，杰西的目的是通过角色和叙述跨越文化冲突，并不接受具有刻板影响和浅层文化冲突的故事。

This event is generously co-sponsored by the 21st Century China Center, the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China, and the UC San Diego International House. The 21st Century China Center is host to some of the world’s leading China watchers. In the ‘Three Questions with…’ series on our blog, we sit down with these experts and ask them three questions related to their field of expertise. Please stay tuned for ‘Three Questions with…Jesse Appell’!