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Kavalan Solist Whisky, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Goose Island IPA
大约在10多年前的某个夜晚，印象中我穿过一个充斥着橘红色灯光、貌似酒吧或咖啡厅的空间，有点局促地下了楼梯，走进一个暗暗的、挤满人、还好没什么怪味的地下室。舞台上跑出个精力旺盛、高能量的男演员，开心地招呼着听众、介绍自己，也开始了他的脱口秀表演。在当时，那个空间可能是全台第一家有脫口秀演出的喜剧空间，应该也是我这位演员朋友在脱口秀的早期尝试。
Kavalan Solist Whisky
那时的我，或许仅仅把喜剧理解为一种笑看现实的艺术。其实我现在也想不起来他的演出内容，但依稀记得我们一起在加州等待学校申请的结果，在人生两个重要里程碑的中间态。多年后，直到上周末，才想起这个片段。若你有机会去看台北的脱口秀，看完后建议去夜市吃个卤味，配上一杯加冰的、风味层次丰富、也代表本地原创精神的噶玛兰单一麦芽威士忌。
Newcastle Brown Ale
從頻率跟語言來說，我可能看更多的是英文的單口喜劇或小品綜藝，比方說 Saturday Night Live、The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon、 George Carlin、Matt Rife 以及 Ricky Gervais 的單口喜劇。剛開始只是好奇，後來發現自己英文不好，不妨用開心的方式多聽聽。然後才逐步意識到，這些都是單口喜劇演員對不同議題的表達。我觀察到，西方喜劇往往透過尖銳的外部批判或直面衝突來達成深刻，開心之餘還能了解不同、相對真實的觀點跟表述。這時，喜劇對我而言，不僅是學習語言，更是理解不同文化如何處理衝突與現實的窗口。觀看時建議搭配：Newcastle Brown Ale: the One and Only、韓式烤五花肉（最好來自 LA 的 Korean Town）。
Goose Island IPA
Stand-up comedy in China, as a whole, is a different universe—from the range of topics and the cultural nuances in humor to the pioneering efforts by its trailblazers over the past decade. After the pandemic, it felt like major shows and offline events paused for a year. Now, in the second year of this hiatus, something entirely new seems possible. Perhaps this familiar sense of being 'in-between' is what triggered the memory of my first stand-up show as a audience.
After watching the second season of Rock & Roast and its Friends (a revised format of the popular Stand-up Comedy Competition/Show Rock & Roast), and reflecting on my experiences with other comedy genres, I noticed a stark difference. This year's show felt less like a competition and more like a silhouette of a generation, a snapshot of an era. At its core, it's still comedy, but it has transformed into a collection of moments from the lives of both new and veteran comedians. It feels like a documentary filled with emotion, tears, understanding, and reconciliation.
Where the Western comedy I often watch thrives on confrontation and critique, this new wave of Chinese stand-up turns inward, finding strength in vulnerability. Chaplin once said that the root of comedy is tragedy, and perhaps here, hardship serves as a direct reflection of, and a collective resonance with, a dynamic reality, ultimately giving its audience the strength to move forward.
While this post isn't about AI, I can't help but wonder if one day, an AI could do more than just help non-native speakers understand these shows. What if an AI could serve as a cultural insight tool? Could it analyze the texts to identify the structural differences in humor across cultures? Could it quantify the key themes of this "generational voice"—like workplace stress, interpersonal relationships, or self-reconciliation?
But the real challenge for AI won't just be analyzing what is said, but understanding the subtext, the shared silences, and the cultural context embedded in the laughter. If that day comes, it would offer the world a much deeper understanding of this generation in China at this particular time.
Should that day arrive, I'd highly recommend watching the show with bottles of Goose Island IPA—rich and complex in flavor, with a bitter note and a sweet aftertaste—paired with some Wenzhou or Cantonese-style seafood. I'd also recommend these comedians: Hū Lán (呼兰), Liáng Hǎiyuán (梁海源), Máo Dòu（毛豆）, Xiǎo Sì Yé（小四爷）,Xiǎo Lù (小鹿), Niǎo Niǎo (鳥鳥), Fù Háng (付航), Xiao Pa (小帕), certainly the Manzai Brothers (漫才兄弟), Mr. Luo Yonghao (罗永浩老师), and Hé Guǎngzhì (何广智), who just arrived in his Chang'an (长安).