Discover talents in Guangzhou and Foshan

In order to promote Lingnan culture and inherit Cantonese crosstalk language art talents, "Huang Junying" was founded by the famous Cantonese crosstalk master Huang Junying Junying Art Center" has promoted the "Cantonese crosstalk on campus" activity in Nanhai, Foshan in recent years. As Huang Junying's best partner on stage, national first-class actor He Baowen also practices and spares no effort to cultivate Cantonese crosstalk talents.

He Baowen: In the 1980s, Cantonese crosstalk was a booming art, deeply loved by adults and children. Cantonese crosstalk performances were included in almost every theatrical performance, and many performers would specially look for them. We guide. However, with the rapid development of society, people's entertainment methods have changed. In addition, the people who loved Cantonese crosstalk are getting older, and the new generation does not know much about Cantonese crosstalk. As a result, its attention has gradually declined, and its development has begun to appear. The situation of not picking up the slack. In 2014, the Huang Junying Art Center settled in Nanhai, Foshan. The Guangdong Association for the Promotion of Chinese National Culture established the "Cantonese Crosstalk Development Fund" in 2019 and launched the "Cantonese Crosstalk into Campus" activity, bringing teacher Huang Junying's popular crosstalk works to the campus. Children demonstrate and develop their interests, allowing them to build confidence in traditional culture. By carrying out the "Cantonese Crosstalk on Campus" activity, we start from the foundation of art and develop simultaneously with theory and practice. We also regularly organize Cantonese crosstalk competitions in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to discover more future talents.

▲Huang Junying (left) and He Baowen (right) are the best partners on stage.

Sound Screen News: What profound and unforgettable feelings did you have at the event?

He Baowen: I am very happy to meet some children who are interested in cross talk and are full of potential, but there are not many. After all, they are only in their infancy, and most of them still memorize most of our works. When they see our works, they will imitate the performances, but they lack a little charm. We hope that through training, they can show more of their possibilities in the future.

Sound Screen Report: At the end of last year, at the "Launching Ceremony of the Cantonese Crosstalk Development Fund" and the "Cantonese Crosstalk Presentation Performance on Campus" held at the Guangzhou Cultural Park, most of the children who participated in the performance were from Nanhai, Foshan. Are their enthusiasm higher than that of local children in Guangzhou?

He Baowen: This is one of the results. Over the years, the "Cantonese Crosstalk in Schools" event has been held locally in Nanhai. Talents have been discovered through several competitions. I am very grateful to the local government's cultural and education department and parents for their strong support, allowing more young people to be exposed to traditional culture. This year we plan to extend the activities to university campuses in Guangzhou, set up a Cantonese crosstalk teaching and research team, compile and print a batch of Cantonese crosstalk brochures and teaching materials, covering various aspects such as meaning and technology, and establish a standardized youth art cultivation work system to enable more Many people can understand cross talk intuitively.

▲He Baowen (left) guides children at the "Cantonese Crosstalk in Campus" event.

Take the initiative to visit Huang Junying

Born in Shunde, Guangdong, He Baowen began to participate in amateur creation and performance of cross talk in 1972. In 1983, he officially joined the Guangzhou Crosstalk Art Troupe to engage in professional performances and received Huang Junying and Yang Da’s careful guidance. He Baowen, who has been full of desire to perform since childhood, said that he already loved performing when he was a student, but it turned out that his ambition at that time was to become a film actor when he grew up.

He Baowen: I have loved performances and watching movies since I was in elementary school. I once tried to go to the theater during my spare time and ran back to school immediately after watching it. Gradually, I yearned for the career of a film actor. When I was in school, I participated in drama performances. I would write down the lines in the movie in a notebook, and then I would find a few close classmates and assign roles to perform together. At the high school art performance, I saw two senior seniors performing northern cross talk, which I thought was quite funny. In the second year, my classmates and I wrote a cross talk script based on campus life.

At that time, we had no idea what "burden", "teasing" and "praising" were, but we were still recommended to represent the class in school performances. It was an unforgettable experience.

After graduating from high school, He Baowen determined to pursue a career in acting. He had planned to go north to study, but after seeing the admission requirements of the Beijing Film Academy, he felt that his level was not up to standard and was deterred. When he was interviewed by the Guangdong Puppet Troupe, he also voluntarily gave up the exam because he was too tall. However, these encounters did not extinguish He Baowen's passion for acting.

He Baowen: At that time, as long as I had the opportunity to act, I would not miss it. I often went to Guangzhou Cultural Park, Guangzhou Youth Culture Palace and other places to perform as guest performers. I was very happy when I could earn 30 cents in performance fees. . As time went by, I became more and more addicted to acting. I remember that the Guangdong Music and Art Troupe held a cross talk convention. Several friends and I bought tickets to attend the event to learn, hoping to improve ourselves. The first cross talk that taught me a lot of skills was the work "Female Captain" created by the famous performing artist Xia Yutian and performed by the famous cross talk actor Ma Ji. The "baggage" in the work is very complete, and the links are linked together. It has left an unforgettable impression on me and I have benefited a lot. It turns out that there is so much knowledge in making others laugh. In addition, in my free time, I will go to the Guangdong Provincial Sun Yat-sen Library to read books and periodicals, learn about the basic techniques and theories of cross talk, and accumulate creative materials.

Sound Screen News: How did you and Huang Junying get involved?

He Baowen: On some performance occasions, I had the opportunity to meet Teacher Huang Junying several times, but we were not very familiar with each other. Moreover, he and Teacher Yang Da were both professionals, but we were amateurs. . Later, in a competition, I created a joke called "Steering Wheel". Before the game, someone suggested that I ask teacher Huang Junying to give me some advice, so my partner and I took the initiative to visit him. At that time, he was studying singing skills with teacher Cui Lingxiao. After understanding my intention, he asked me to perform for him immediately and made suggestions for my script and interpretation. The whole finished product suddenly improved a lot. That was my first formal face-to-face communication with Teacher Huang Junying.

In 1983, Huang Junying, together with Yang Da, Lin Yunhong and Cui Lingxiao, took the lead in establishing the "Guangzhou Crosstalk Art Troupe", with Huang Junying as the leader and nearly 30 members including Zhang Yuekai and Lin Zhaoming. Cantonese cross talk was at its peak at that time, with as many as a dozen performances a month, showing a booming trend.

He Baowen: (laughing) At that time, the annual "Miss Hong Kong" election was one of the most popular programs among TV viewers, but our Cantonese crosstalk performance would not coincide with the "Miss Hong Kong" election. There were still a lot of fans during the period, and the attendance rate was full. Unfortunately, as people's entertainment methods gradually increase, the attention of Cantonese crosstalk is not as good as before. Moreover, many audiences now use their mobile phones to record performances during performances. This practice not only involves copyright, but also damages the enjoyment of the performance. Because Cantonese crosstalk performance is different from singing and dancing, once the "baggage" is known in advance, it will lose interest, making creation more and more difficult and the works fewer and fewer. Therefore, I hope that the "Cantonese Crosstalk Comes to Campus" event will allow us to discover more all-round talents who can perform and write, and make more contributions to the inheritance of Cantonese crosstalk.

▲(from left) Ho Po Man and Huang Junying performed the Cantonese cross talk "The Power of Fire" at the "Southern China Carousel Art Gala" in 2004.

Feeling more gratified than accomplished

This year is Ho Po-man’s 37th year of professional Cantonese crosstalk performance. He can both "praise" and "funny" in Cantonese cross talk performances, creating lifelike and natural characters, and often combines editing, directing, and acting. His works such as "Quick Three, Slow Four, Disco", "Eating Phases", "Interesting Cantonese" and "Chicken Talk" left a deep impression on the audience. Among them, the cross talk sketches "Unlicensed Doctor" and "It's Hard to Tell the Truth from Fake" have won many awards. He Baowen advocated that crosstalk sketches written by crosstalk actors should use crosstalk language and crosstalk baggage as the main features, and achieve the effect of crosstalk in the form of sketches.

He has recorded sitcom sketches "Live at Seven O'Clock" and "Distant Relatives Are Not as Close as Neighbors" for Guangzhou Television (now Guangzhou Radio and Television), and recorded dozens of sketches for Guangdong Television (now Guangdong Radio and Television) variety show "Cantonese Charm" A Cantonese sketch, widely loved by the audience.

Sound Screen Report: What is the greatest sense of accomplishment that performing Cantonese crosstalk brings you?

He Baowen: In my heart, I feel more gratified than accomplished. Compared with the past, although the current development of Cantonese cross talk is not as brilliant as it was in the past, fortunately, teacher Huang Junying is still taking up the banner, devoting himself to the industry and creating many classic works. In the 1990s, I served as the leader of the Guangzhou Crosstalk Art Troupe. At that time, the literary and art department of Guangzhou TV Station cooperated with the Guangzhou Crosstalk Art Troupe to promote Cantonese crosstalk and produced 46 episodes of the sitcom sketch "Live at Seven O'Clock". The program is launched every other day in a live broadcast format, and the production time is very tight. As a writer, director, and actor, I usually write the script immediately after the performance that night. I get up and rehearse with the actors immediately. After rehearsing for a day, I go to the TV station to do the live broadcast. You can imagine the pressure. These works can still be found online. Sometimes I still find them full of laughter when I re-read them. If these works hadn't been recorded at the time and recorded on video, these creations might have disappeared, so I'm very happy about that.

▲He Baowen (second from right) said that he was very happy to meet children who are interested in crosstalk and full of potential at the "Cantonese Crosstalk in Campus" event.

Sound Screen News: What is the original intention that still makes you love performing in front of the screen?

He Baowen: I have always loved performing. Although I have reached the rare age, as long as the society needs me, the industry needs me, Teacher Huang Junying needs me, and the audience needs me, as long as my physical condition allows, I will continue to act.

Sound Screen News: You have injected the joy of most of your life into your works and conveyed it to the audience. Are you also so optimistic in your daily life?

He Baowen: Always smiling is my outlook on life. Don’t get angry easily when facing things, try to think of the good, and naturally everyone will be happy.

Sound Screen News: Chen Jianxiong, He Zhifeng, Wu Haijie, etc. are all the successors of the new generation of Cantonese cross talk. What are your messages to them?

He Baowen: I grew up watching Chen Jianxiong, and I discovered him from the performance of San Palace in the city. His performance is quite spiritual and his understanding is also high. He is quite talented at writing sketches and has won many awards, but he is still a little behind on cross talk, which is more difficult to create. Ho Chi Fung and Ng Hai Kit are relatively young. They have collaborated on a "Laughter Concert" earlier. Based on Cantonese cross talk, they added singing elements. The form is richer and can attract a group of new audiences. I also agree with this. support. I hope the three of them can continue to promote Cantonese cross talk.

▲(from left) Huang Junying, He Baowen and Chen Jianxiong performed the sketch "Fat Boy Rice" in 1995.

I don’t know if you have heard of Huang Junying, an old artist. If you are a friend here in Guangdong or a friend in Guangzhou, I believe you have heard it, even since you were a child, and those classic lines are sometimes still used.

In fact, I think Huang Junying’s artistic achievements are very high. He is a leading figure in the field of Cantonese cross talk. He has been engaged in art for 67 years, and he is already old. . In the 1950s, Cantonese crosstalk did not actually exist. At that time, Huang Junying got acquainted with Ma Ji, a crosstalk artist who was famous throughout the country, by accident. From then on, he studied with Ma Ji, and Huang Junying He is a native Cantonese. He hopes to express what he has learned in his own language, so he began to create the field of Cantonese cross talk.

In the process, he also went with his friend Yang Da and his apprentice He Baowen to contribute to the cause of Cantonese cross talk.

At that time, I also grew up listening to Huang Junying's cross talk, and I even had a few CDs hidden at home, and batch after batch of cultural cross talk with Cantonese characteristics began to evolve.

Although the 82-year-old Huang Junying has retired, he is still active in this field. He hopes that his apprentices can better develop this field and bring joy to others while also making people happy. Lingnan culture is passed down through different forms.

This reminds me of Guo Degang, the representative figure of cross talk in the north. In fact, Guo Degang also learned art from a master since he was a child. Moreover, in the early days, Guo Degang was pursuing the art of cross talk, hoping that he could bring northern cross talk to the forefront. The cross talk has been further developed.

But in fact, I think that the current northern cross talk has lost some of its original charm, and it even sounds bad. The northern cross talk has evolved into a vulgar feeling. There are some old memes that are even used over and over again, causing viewers to feel aesthetic fatigue. Why is this?

In fact, not to mention northern cross talk, even southern cross talk will have the same problem. The root cause is that real art is difficult to understand and understand. If you simply pursue The value art itself can bring to society is cultural heritage, but it cannot create some economic value for itself. We also know that society needs to develop, and people also need to develop. The reason why northern crosstalk has become what it is now The situation is to meet the needs of the market. But what I would rather see is a cross talk performance with more charm and cultural atmosphere, rather than a cross talk deliberately created to meet the needs of some audiences.