Gift of the cross talk gab

The repertoires range from traditional works to works that are right up with the times, he says.

Two of the performers in the show, Ma Jun and Sheng Wei, graduated from the Northern Traditional Folk Arts School in Tianjin and became partners in 2009. In Laugh Out Loud they performed original pieces such as Two Brothers.

"Xiangsheng is a very contemporary performing art, and we pay a lot of attention to creating new stuff and injecting fresh elements into traditional works," says Sheng Wei, who began studying at the Northern Traditional Folk Arts School in 2004 and graduated in 2010.

"We start by coming up with an idea and then write the script together. We keep on revising the piece as we perform it onstage and observe the audience reaction. A piece is complete only once you've revised it at least 100 times."

The worst experience for a xiangsheng performer, Sheng says, is when the punch line is delivered "and absolutely no one laughs".