The newly crowned “punchline queen” 杨笠：被脱口秀改写的人生

郭外青

近年来单口相声、脱口秀等喜剧节目蓬勃发展，在以男性为主导的喜剧行业，越来越多的女性开始登上舞台，绽放属于她们的独特光彩。

难词探意

1. sketch /sket?/ n. 幽默短剧

2. dig /d?ɡ/ n. 嘲讽;挖苦

3. punchline /?p?nt?la?n/ n. （笑话最后的）妙趣横生的语句;妙语;画龙点睛之语

4. gag /ɡ?ɡ/ n. （专业喜剧演员的）噱头;笑话

“Men are adorable，” begins Yang Li in a sketch first aired last year. “But it is mysterious...After all， they can look so average and yet be so full of confidence.” It seemed a gentle dig by the newly crowned “punchline queen” of Rock & Roast（《脱口秀大會》）， a television show starring amateur comics. But as Ms Yangs fans spread the gag， male netizens threw anger. Last year， a group of them reported the 29?year?old to the broadcast regulator for “sexism”.

Western?style stand?up comedy has taken off since it appeared in China a decade ago. It is proving to be a more accessible art form for female comics. “With stand?up，” says Evangeline Z， a 28?year?old comedian in Shanghai， “there are no barriers to joining as long as you can talk.” Women bring new themes to the stage.

The show Rock & Roast， which began in 2017， has been a boost for Chinese stand?up and female participation in it. Evangeline Z says the form of comedy is “huge” in Shanghai. And she expects up to half of the citys 50?odd weekly performances are by women. But male and female comics alike warn spectators that what they are about to say could be offensive and they should not take offence. Xiao Ju， a 23?year?old part?time comedian， also in Shanghai， says that show goers expect to come in for “a bit of easy laughter”， so they are annoyed when the joke reveals something about themselves.

Female comedians attract stronger reactions from the audience than male ones， says Xiao Ju. Many people are still shocked when women swear on stage. Topics like shit， piss and farts are often not suggested on the stage. For fear of offending， many stick to crowd?pleasing themes like families and jobs.

Reading Check

1. What can we know about Rock & Roast according to the text？

A. It is a TV show.

B. It is a radio program.

C. It involves many famous actors.

D. It is mainly open to females.

2. What does the underlined word “boost” in paragraph 3 mean？

A. Issue. B. Push.

C. Promotion. D. Trend.

3. Which of the following is a safe topic on the stage according to the text？

A. Piss. B. Farts.

C. Jobs. D. Shit.

4. In which column of a newspaper may you read the text？

A. Travel. B. Geography.

C. Entertainment. D. History.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

But male and female comics alike warn spectators that what they are about to say could be offensive and they should not take offence. 但是男性和女性喜剧演员都会警告观众，他们将要说的话可能会有所冒犯，观众不应该为此而生气。

【点石成金】此句包含两个从句， what they are about to say could be offensive为that引导的宾语从句，宾语从句中又包含了一个由what引导的主语从句。