Zhu Dunhua (left) and Wang Zongnan ride around the campus of Tsinghua University to find inspiration for their comedic sketch, Free for Hometown Folks.

Comedy has a unique way of bringing people together. This is a belief shared by many comedians, including Wang Zongnan and Zhu Dunhua, two Gen Zers from across the Taiwan Strait.

Wang, hailing from Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province, is a graduate student at Tsinghua University and a devoted enthusiast of stand-up comedy. Zhu, originally from Taipei in China's Taiwan region and now also studying at THU, serves as the president of the THU Comedy Club.

In just seven days, the two collaborated to create a comedic sketch based on a topic related to Taiwan. Their performance on March 29 at THU's i-Center was met with resounding applause and laughter.

Their creative process is featured in the latest episode of China Daily's Strait Forward, a program that focuses on youth from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Their show, titled Free for Hometown Folks, told a story set in a barber shop in Chiayi county, Taiwan, in 1999.

Wang portrayed the barber, a Sichuan native who had lived in Taiwan for over 40 years and decided to offer free haircuts to his fellow Sichuanese. Zhu played a 25-year-old local woman who, in a humorous twist, attempted various schemes to pass herself off as a Sichuanese, setting the stage for a delightful farce.

Wang introduced the concept for this sketch, explaining, "For a sketch, we typically need a comedic premise, something absurdly funny. It could be a character quirk or a particular setting. The humor escalates as the sketch progresses."

Speaking about the elderly man in the Taiwan barbershop, Wang said, "He relocated from Sichuan. So, when he encounters someone from his hometown, he becomes nostalgic. He gets really excited and offers them a free haircut."

Zhu agreed with his idea. "I find it quite plausible," she said. "It resonates with the feelings of homesickness that mainlanders in Taiwan experienced during that time."

Zhu herself also identified with these sentiments. "My name, 'hua', was given to me by my father because he wanted me to remember my Chinese heritage," she explained. "My sister's name also contains 'hua' in it."

Now that Zhu's family has moved from Taiwan to Beijing, she aims to pursue her career there. "Beijing feels like my second home," she said.

Reflecting on her comedic journey, Zhu remembered listening to many mainland radio comedy programs during her childhood, such as The Merry Teahouse and Laugh Your Way in the Wild West, as well as traditional crosstalk, which significantly influenced her comedic personality.

Establishing the THU Comedy Club with a few schoolmates last year, Zhu has been organizing performances and open mic nights for its members, while enhancing her own comedic skills at the same time.

She currently interns as a high school teacher, incorporating comedic techniques into her teaching methods. Even the topic of her graduation thesis is closely related to stand-up comedy.

For Wang, his introduction to comedy was accidental. In the summer of 2020, a friend who performed stand-up in the United States returned to China and participated in an open mic event in Chengdu, where Wang was asked to review his material.

After reading it, Wang jokingly said, "If you can perform this, then so can I."

This experience prompted Wang to join a comedy club, delve into comedy books and videos, and start crafting jokes and sketches.

Wang even created an English musical stand-up routine titled I Don't Wanna Speak English, playfully mocking his study abroad experience in Sweden.

His talent caught the attention of renowned comedian Joe Wong, who invited Wang to be a guest performer on his show.

However, Wang's parents weren't too supportive of his comic career initially, as they believed he should pursue "a more refined form of art".

In the face of this, Wang doubled down on his comedy pursuits. "There's a study that says comedy is a prejudice reliever. I think it's also a stress reliever," he said.

"I feel like stand-up inherently carries a rebellious tone. The less support I get, the stronger my urge to rebel."

He recalled a touching moment when he felt his father's acknowledgment. One night as he was brushing his teeth, he kept hearing something playing in his father's room and soon realized it was his stand-up song.

"I deliberately brushed my teeth for a long time, and I heard that song playing on repeat three times," he said.

"My dad rarely directly expresses appreciation for my comedy, so I was pretty moved."

When asked why young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait are drawn to comedy, Wang and Zhu responded in unison, "Who doesn't love to laugh?"

Wang added, "I think for those who like comedy, if they get the same punchline, they hold similar values and views of life."

Zhu concurred, "If I appreciate your comedy, it somewhat means I appreciate you."

guiqian@i21st.cn