Stand Up For China

Des Bishop explores what makes the Chinese laugh.

Des finds out the hard way and learns Mandarin to take his jokes to China. He discovers that there is a long tradition of comedy in China called 'Xiangsheng' or 'Crosstalk' often in the form of two comedians playing off each other.

However, the younger generation are keen to hear something new and more challenging and stand-up comedy is taking its place in clubs across Beijing. "Everybody in this crazily developing society is so busy," an audience member tells Des. "We need a channel to get our anger and stress out".

Des discusses with comedians what the government will allow them to say and what will be off limits. Join him in a comedy club in Beijing to find out what goes down well - and what does not - in Stand Up For China.