(Note: Video at the bottom!) The past two weeks have been an amazing experience as Beijing Improv hosted the International Improv Festival. Troupes from all over the world, from Beijing to Shanghai, Tokyo to Istanbul, Xiamen to Hong Kong, Manila to Melbourne, all descended on Beijing to share their thoughts on improv, lead workshops, and […]
Laugh Beijing Blog
LaughBeijing has a facebook page!
April 20, 2013 by
I love the stuff that I put on this blog, and I want to find a way to spread it even farther, and faster. It’s like that desire everyone has to spread the bird flu — unconscious and inexorable. Oh wait. You mean we’re not supposed to spread the bird flu? That’s not normal behavior […]
My Journey to an Arts School for Tibetan Orphans Pt. 2
April 15, 2013 by
My Journey to an Arts School for Tibetan Orphans Pt. 2 Second part of my thoughts on my visit to a school for Tibetan orphans. Check the previous post for part 1! 4 16 13
My Journey to an Arts School for Tibetan Orphans Pt. 1
April 15, 2013 by
My Journey to an Arts School for Tibetan Orphans Pt. 1 A piece of mine published on World Of Chinese about a journey outside of Beijing to visit a school for Tibetan orphans. A bit more somber tone than normal, but hopefully still an interesting read. Part 2 will also be published on this blog! […]
Laughing, failing, learning – LIFE – BEIJING – Globaltimes.cn
April 15, 2013 by
Laughing, failing, learning – LIFE – BEIJING – Globaltimes.cn The Global Times has written an article about Improv in Beijing, and I have a quote in here too! They also took the title from my improv mantra of never fearing failure, and trying to fail better every time! 4 15 13
Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, and Western Comedy in China
April 13, 2013 by
Recently there has been a buzz about The Daily Show racking up huge views in China. Some of the China-related segments have made their way over to Youku and other video sites, and people are wondering: what does this mean for the future of satire in China? Satire, despite what you might hear elsewhere, is […]
Octogroupies
April 12, 2013 by
Yesterday an article I wrote for the PBS Economics blog was posted online. I’m not sure how many people are simultaneously interested in silly videos, China, and economics, but for those in that butter zone perhaps the article went over well. Or is the readership different entirely? I always wonder: who is it that reads […]
Chinese name, Amanda; English name, Amanda
April 10, 2013 by
Last week I performed a Western-style stand-up comedy piece entirely in Chinese meant for Chinese audiences. It was quite an experience; some of the jokes I thought would go over well fell flat; others did better than I expected. For instance, one of the successful jokes had to do with Chinese people who use their […]
The Beijing International Improv Festival is coming!!!
April 1, 2013 by
Starting on April 10th, Beijing will be receiving planefuls of improv performers flying in from all over the country, and the globe as well. In addition to troupes from places like Shanghai, troupes will be coming Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, and even as far as Turkey to perform for Beijingers over a monster two-week improvaganza. My own troupe […]
Ph. D’s Life: English language Xiangsheng in America
March 30, 2013 by
It’s not every day that you get to Skype a complete stranger to tell them they’re in the New York Times and didn’t know about it, but that’s what I did this afternoon when I called up Jingchen Wu. Last month I wrote about the NYT article featuring comedy from all over the world, including […]