By making himself the butt of a joke, Chau Sing-chi kicks axx, big time. He steals more than a laugh from you and me when he gets away with yet another legendary Mo Lei Tau, roughly translated as nonsense. Nonsense, though, makes sense at a time when absurdity has become the new normal. No, you don’t have to transform into a Kafkaesque insect to know what absurdity is. You just need to know, through Chau, that you are not alone living with absurdity. Chau channel you as much as you channel Chau. Of course, Chau is the one laughing all the way to the bank while collecting everyone’s thumbs-up. No good comedian works for food only.
Absurdity sells. This should be no laughing matter, but it is.
In his 2006 movie Man of the Year, the late Robin Williams wondered aloud why an 80-year-old lady with a walker had to be treated like a potential terrorist on her way to an airplane. Then came his punchline, which I paraphrase here: If a little old lady who could barely walk turned out to be a terrorist, then the United States had already lost to terrorism, period. In response to his skit, one might say, “Jeez! We give them power in Washington, and all we get is Williams’ punchline. No wonder democracy has been a laughingstock since Athens.” Well, I respectfully disagree. Just try to make a Williamsque joke openly on the other side of a small pond known as the Pacific Ocean. Let’s see if you can come back to this side in one piece, assuming that you do come back. Democracy, flawed as it is, still means something.
I have just used the above American example as a setup to explain why Chau Sing-chi is or was so wildly popular in Hong Kong and beyond. That doesn’t mean that Chau is political agenda-driven. He is 100% audience-driven, and his audience likes how he jokes about absurdity. Speaking Cantonese the way Hong Kong natives do, I have no difficulty in peeling Chau’s comic onions, the best of which can make me cry until I laugh.
动物本性，据地自保防外，无可厚非。现在不是常说“本土主义”么？在香港，陀地有两种，一种是盘据某区某街甚至某类夜店的黑社会帮派，据说子夜十二时过后就由他们“喳fit”,即“话事”也即是独拥话语权及行动权，信不信由你。第二种则与三教九流无关，只是以土生土长自豪自傲的群众。我有幸, 说地道港式粤语，没有“鬼佬”口音，所以不时被误作陀地。是其是，非其非，有机会即加以澄清“原产地”。我总觉得被称作陀地很不受用。Thanks, but no thanks.
By making himself the butt of a joke, Chau Sing-chi kicks axx, big time. He steals more than a laugh from you and me when he gets away with yet another legendary Mo Lei Tau, roughly translated as nonsense. Nonsense, though, makes sense at a time when absurdity has become the new normal. No, you don’t have to transform into a Kafkaesque insect to know what absurdity is. You just need to know, through Chau, that you are not alone living with absurdity. Chau channel you as much as you channel Chau. Of course, Chau is the one laughing all the way to the bank while collecting everyone’s thumbs-up. No good comedian works for food only.
Absurdity sells. This should be no laughing matter, but it is.
In his 2006 movie Man of the Year, the late Robin Williams wondered aloud why an 80-year-old lady with a walker had to be treated like a potential terrorist on her way to an airplane. Then came his punchline, which I paraphrase here: If a little old lady who could barely walk turned out to be a terrorist, then the United States had already lost to terrorism, period. In response to his skit, one might say, “Jeez! We give them power in Washington, and all we get is Williams’ punchline. No wonder democracy has been a laughingstock since Athens.” Well, I respectfully disagree. Just try to make a Williamsque joke openly on the other side of a small pond known as the Pacific Ocean. Let’s see if you can come back to this side in one piece, assuming that you do come back. Democracy, flawed as it is, still means something.
I have just used the above American example as a setup to explain why Chau Sing-chi is or was so wildly popular in Hong Kong and beyond. That doesn’t mean that Chau is political agenda-driven. He is 100% audience-driven, and his audience likes how he jokes about absurdity. Speaking Cantonese the way Hong Kong natives do, I have no difficulty in peeling Chau’s comic onions, the best of which can make me cry until I laugh.
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摘星爷 “戏语” （粵普对照）
無厘頭 （冇奶油）
呢句嘢嘅出處其實係「冇理由」，諧音搞笑成咗冇奶油，又諧音搞成咗一句粗口：無厘頭X。呢個X係某性別人類嘅特徵。所以唔出得街架。
這本来是句香港市井脏话。基本意思是“没理由”，后来谐音又谐音成为无厘头。在香港打工的时候，曾经有一位来自上海的贵族士女向我抱怨某人太过无厘头。我出于人性本有良知，就半明示半暗示太太小姐尤其是女孩子万万不可口出无厘头，否则给人家吃了豆腐也懵然不知。伊人果然冰雪聪明，只是脸上泛红了好一阵子。
鵪鶉咁嘅樣
就係話個樣同埋個表情純到死，好容易俾人呃咗都唔知。又有所謂「剝殼鵪鶉」，即係話嗰啲剛到青春發動期嘅少女。
弄古典诗词的，大概都知道“鹧鸪天”這个词牌。鹧鸪善歌，其声仿若天音。不过，港式粤语则对鹧鸪（即鹌鹑） 颇为奚落，喻作无知之人。所以港人称受欺受骗作“俾人kum鹧鸪”。鹌鹑、鹧鸪、羊牯，都是受害者。
陀地
嗱，要拆解呢件嘢都幾複雜架，因為係江湖術語嚟架。總之，就係指嗰啲「地方勢力」喇，佢哋撻朶，話自己係乜乜字頭，咁你知我講邊種人啦，冇乜必要就唔好惹佢哋喇。講番轉頭，依家好多本土人士都話自己係陀地，只係想表示係正宗港人啫，唔係話「行老黑」。
动物本性，据地自保防外，无可厚非。现在不是常说“本土主义”么？在香港，陀地有两种，一种是盘据某区某街甚至某类夜店的黑社会帮派，据说子夜十二时过后就由他们“喳fit”,即“话事”也即是独拥话语权及行动权，信不信由你。第二种则与三教九流无关，只是以土生土长自豪自傲的群众。我有幸, 说地道港式粤语，没有“鬼佬”口音，所以不时被误作陀地。是其是，非其非，有机会即加以澄清“原产地”。我总觉得被称作陀地很不受用。Thanks, but no thanks.
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所在时区，晚了。将来有机会再续。谢谢各位！
—— Lingyang Jiang
周星馳與吳孟達視頻接鏈：
https://bbs.wenxuecity.com/teatime/616249.html
你是男生，还是女生啊？
借着字幕看了一下你提供的二个链接。神奇，两个年龄相差那么大竟然配合的那么好。
周星驰与吴孟达，两人拍档（合演），可追溯到电视剧集《他来自江湖》（小羊还未出生呢）。此后可谓影形不离。吴孟达是个天才喜剧演员，演技不下于周星驰。
可否知道你们出演的剧目？很好奇。。这文学城到处都是演艺界大咖呀。：）