In Beijing, a regular ticket for a teahouse xiangsheng performance is 20 yuan (US$2.5 dollars), and in Tianjin it is only 10 yuan (US$1.2 dollars). Such a performance, lasting for three hours or so, usually consists of seven or eight pieces.
All these, as summarized by media, are known as the "Guo Degang phenomenon."
In Beijing, Guo Degang started small, in teahouses, but has now achieved nationwide fame. Today, not only are his performances in the Tianqiao Le Teahouse always booked full, but also his shows at big venues such as the Tianqiao Theater are also quickly sold out.
Hardworking and persistent artist
Guo's success did not come by luck. Neither did he achieve fame overnight. Previously, Guo had been performing in Dazhanlan in Beijing for 10 years.
Guo began to learn storytelling at the age of eight in 1981 from storytelling artist Gao Xiangkai in Tianjin. Later he learned xihe dagu, a folk art form popular in Hebei and Henan provinces till he was 15. Guo values very much those years of learning.
Just like many other noted xiangsheng performing artists, Guo also went to Beijing in the hope of pursuing a better career. However, he couldn't get enrolled into State-run troupes, and had to do various odd jobs to survive for a period of time.
Guo said he almost forgot about his own vocation, until one day he passed a teahouse where there was a xiangsheng show by some unknown performers.
From then on, he often went there to listen to the performances and later began to perform with them. That was in 1996. The first few years were very difficult for Guo. In the most embarrassing situation, there was only one person in the audience. Guo and his companions persisted. He did other jobs to support his performance.
Even though he has studied xiangsheng since childhood, Guo finds it very difficult to keep up with. "A master may trigger people to laugh with some words, but a student may fail even if he says the exact same words," said Guo.
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