Don’t Miss Comedian Carl Rappa’s Return Show This Weekend

Former Beijing-based comedian Carl Rappa will be returning to the capital this weekend (Jan 5-7) to put on three special comedy shows. Now based in Chicago, Rappa started his comedy journey in Beijing before then moving to Shanghai and finally back to Chicago to pursue doing comedy full-time. 

Rappa will be doing three different shows in Beijing with Friday’s show focusing on his experiences living in China, Saturday’s on more American centric jokes and Sunday’s being a mixed show with other comedians. Ahead of his return to the capital’s stage, we caught up with Rappa to learn more about his experiences in the comedy scene.  

How long have you been doing stand-up comedy for?
I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for around three years.

What made you decide to start doing comedy and how did you get started?
I like making people laugh. A lot of my style includes different voices and characters. It mostly originated in school as I enjoyed doing impressions of my teachers to make my classmates laugh (usually during class). I got started in Beijing at the Paddy's Tuesday open mics and the community was very encouraging and quick to offer longer stage time at shows.

What was it like doing stand-up for the first time?
My first joke was about what it would be like using SpotHero (a parking app) in China and it bombed. Mostly because nobody knew what the hell SpotHero was. The next joke was about hot pot and killed. The rest of the jokes went well for the remaining set. It was also mostly one-liners which is very different than the longer bits I enjoy doing now.

What have been your best and worst moments since doing comedy?
Worst moment: Wuhan show. I made the mistake of opening with just jokes and relying on punch lines, rather than being relatable in the beginning and making a connection with the audience. Best moment: Changsha show the night after Wuhan. It was a smaller venue but I was more relaxed and it felt like I was conversing with the crowd rather than just telling jokes. It was very redeeming to end on a high note after bombing. 

What comedians would you say have influenced you most?
I think the comedians that influenced me the most were Bill Hicks, Patrice O'Neal, Richard Pryor, Dave Chapelle, and Louis CK. (Original list, I know…) I enjoy how a lot of their material is timeless and still funny even after listening to it multiple times. I still remember many of their punch lines word for word.  

When was the last time you performed in Beijing? How does it feel to be performing here again?
I last performed in Beijing in 2021 and am looking forward to performing there again. It's always nice to return to where you started, even though there are a lot fewer expats than last time.

How does performing in Chicago differ to performing in China?
It's much easier to get on shows in China because there's less comedians so you get stage time fast which helps you grow quicker and be ready for big crowds. In Chicago, however, I'm a bit more free to be creative with my writing because you can use more metaphors, play on words, and references. For many people in China, English is their second or third language and their cultural references may be very different. It does teach you to write more universally though. 

Lastly, any words of advice for other budding comedians out there?
Be interesting. Use pacing, volume fluctuations, pauses, and work on comedic timing and acting as well. How you tell the joke is more important than what the joke is. If a joke sounds like it could have been a tweet, what is the point of saying it out loud? It should be a performance.

Carl Rappa will be performing on Fri, Jan 5 at 8.30pm at JinShang Yuan, on Sat, Jan 6 at 8.30pm at La Maison Lyonnaise  and on Sun, Jan 7 at 7pm at 6 Nanyang Theater. Early bird tickets are RMB 100 (available until Thu, Jan 4) and standard tickets are RMB 135.

JinShangYuan
20 Xinyuanli West, Chaoyang District
朝阳区新源里西20号

La Maison Lyonnaise
44 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区光华路44号

Nanyang Theater 
3F, 6 Nanyang Hutong, Dongcheng District
东城区南阳胡同6号

READ: 2023 Year-in-Review: Places That Reopened

Images: courtesy of Carl Rappa