Odd Lots · Thursday, July 2, 2026
Dan Wong describes the challenges facing China's burgeoning stand-up comedy scene, noting that comics must submit scripts to censors before performances. This practice, exemplified by a recent incident where a comedian's pun led to club closures, significantly hinders creative expression and the development of genuine stand-up.
“And so how can that possibly be not excellent for creativity?”
“But the Chinese comic that I saw was essentially telling a series of skits, and it wasn't It's not stand up as I understand it.”
“And what happened. What happened to him? Well, all of these comic clubs in Shanghai were shot for I think something like four months, and they all closed down in Shanghai and across these festivals, across all of these public performances, the comics have to submit their scripts to the censors before they can do their routine.”