Zhou Libo (; born on April 22, 1967, in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
) is a Chinese
stand-up comedian
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
, television actor and host. In addition to comedy, he has also been a judge on ''
China's Got Talent
''China's Got Talent ''() was a Chinese reality television series on Dragon TV and a part of the ''Got Talent'' franchise, hosted by Cheng Lei. It is a talent show that features all different kinds of performances of all ages competing for perfor ...
''. In late 2008, Zhou created his own stand-up comedy called "Shanghai Style Small Talk" () which includes ''A Laughable Talk on the Past 30 Years'' and ''A Laughable Talk in Big Shanghai''.
Comedic style
His comedic style is based upon the Shanghainese style of comic dram, which is delivered in a linguistic mixture of
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
,
Shanghainese
The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the Districts of Shanghai, central districts of the Shanghai, City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as ...
and some English words and phrases. Zhou frequently discusses topics such as urban life, economic and political issues. Traditional comic dramas are included in his performances in which a pair of performers are engaged in conversation and only on occasion break the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
. Shanghainese-style comedic performances tend to have only one performer speaking to the audience, a feature that is also found in modern Western stand up comedies, in contrast to the Chinese ''
xiangsheng
Xiangsheng (), also known as crosstalk or comic dialogue, is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy, and one of the most popular elements in Chinese culture. It is typically performed as a dialogue between two performers, or rarely as a ...
'', which most of the time consists of a comic duo.
In "A Laughable Talk on the Past 30 Years," Zhou discussed the drastic changes in Shanghai since the "
Chinese economic reform
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed " Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of C ...
," and his show also covers content such as the changes of clothing trends, ups and downs in the
Chinese stock market
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Excha ...
, and the shoe-throwing incident during premier
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...
's visit to
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.
Zhou's material and delivery is entirely improvised when performing on stage due to ongoing and recent events so that the show is 'up-to-date' and keeps up with global events in which he may cover within his show.
Personal life
His parents originated from the
Zhenhai
Zhenhai is a district and former county of the sub-provincial city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province in eastern China. It has a population of 200,000.
History
The town of Zhenhai grew up at the foot of Zhaobao Hill on a tongue of land at the mo ...
district in the city of
Ningbo
Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
located in
Zhejiang province
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...
.
In the early hours of January 19, 2017, Zhou's black Mercedes was pulled over by police in
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
. Upon further inspection of the vehicle, police discovered a
.38 ACP
The .38 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as the .38 Auto or 9x23mmSR, is a semi-rimmed pistol cartridge that was introduced at the turn of the 20th century for the John Browning-designed Colt M1900. It was first used in Colt's Model ...
Colt Mustang
The Colt Mustang is a line of two lightweight, single-action pocket pistols chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge, produced by Colt's Manufacturing Company. The firearm line was produced from 1983 to 1996 as the Colt Mustang and from 2011 to pres ...
pistol and two bags of
crack cocaine
Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...
in the back seat. Zhou was immediately detained.
Discography
* ''Reincarnation'' (第二次投胎)
[http://datalib.ent.qq.com/star/4787/starinfo.shtml ]
* ''A Laughable Talk in Big Shanghai'' (笑侃大上海)
* ''A Laughable Talk on the Past 30 Years'' (笑侃三十年)
* ''I'm Crazy About Money'' (我为财狂)
Filmography
*''
Mr. Zhou Live Show''
*''
China's Got Talent
''China's Got Talent ''() was a Chinese reality television series on Dragon TV and a part of the ''Got Talent'' franchise, hosted by Cheng Lei. It is a talent show that features all different kinds of performances of all ages competing for perfor ...
''
*''
Chinese Dream Show
''Chinese Dream Show'' () is a Chinese reality television, reality talent show that premiered on 2 April 2011 on the Zhejiang Television network. Program recording was done in Hangzhou. This show is now airing at 21:10(UTC+8) every Friday on Zhejia ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Libo
Chinese male comedians
1967 births
Living people
Male actors from Shanghai
China's Got Talent
Chinese stand-up comedians
Chinese male stage actors
Chinese male television actors
Chinese male voice actors
Chinese television talk show hosts