What's crosstalk?
Crosstalk is fast, witty, brainy and very funny. It is a performance art with a lot of history behind it - and crosstalkers are still trying to get it right.
Crosstalk can be solo banter, or dialogue between two people. The laughs come from puns, insults and clever wordplay. Sometimes comic crosstalkers have dialogues with themselves during a routine, or they may talk to an imaginary person.
Ventriloquists are usually good at crosstalk, as they have to develop witty conversations between themselves and their dummies.
Chinese crosstalk
Xiangsheng, the delivery of quick-fire crosstalk to amuse an audience, is one of China's oldest performing arts. It goes back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) when comic actors got laughs by imitating the funny bits of what well-known people said or did. During the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), comedians performed fast-paced monologues and dialogues as street theatre in Beijing.