Here, we must make one thing clear. Although "Eating Noodles" by Peisi Chen and Zhu Shimao is recognized as the opening work of the Spring Festival Evening sketch, in a sense. In fact, in the history of CCTV Spring Festival Evening, the first program with the title of sketch was 1983 Spring Festival Evening Wang Jingyu's pantomime sketch "Eat Chicken". At that time, the host Liu Xiaoqing said, "Watch comedy sketches and eat chicken."
Eat Chicken became one of the most popular programs in 1983 Spring Festival Evening. As we all know, this sketch has puzzled the author and performer Wang Jingyu for more than 30 years. He was once timid, regretted and even suffered from depression.
First, the creation and premiere of Eat Chicken
In recent years, due to the efforts of Ye Fengchun and others, many audiences began to pay attention to pantomime. Mime is an imported product, but in 1980s, the mime industry in China reached a peak, and its representative figures included Benchang You who played Jigong, Deshun Wang who was old and charming, and Wang Jingyu, the author and performer of Eat Chicken.
Wang Jingyu 1962 graduated from the Central Academy of Drama and was assigned to China Youth Theatre for drama creation and performance. He once went to Guangdong to perform with a group and ate a braised chicken, but the chicken was not cooked well that time and it was a bit unpalatable. Inspired by this, he created the pantomime Eat Chicken.
Of course, the performance of pantomime Eat Chicken is more exaggerated than real life. Wang Jingyu designed many very funny details in his performance, such as smashing chicken bones with a hammer and twisting chicken tendons with pliers. His big mouth is particularly funny, so this work is full of smiles. So the title of Eat Chicken at that time was not a pantomime, but a comedy sketch.
The first performance of Eat Chicken was in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. After returning to Beijing, this work was adopted by the literary and art New Year's Eve party and CCTV's the legendary swordsman, and Wang Jingyu's Eat Chicken became his masterpiece.
Unexpectedly, in the days that followed, eating chicken became a burden for Wang Jingyu, and his works were criticized as "hiding the knife in the smile" together with CCTV's Laughing Party. Therefore, Wang Jingyu stopped performing Eat Chicken for many years, and even dared not mention this work.
This is the first time that Eat Chicken made Wang Jingyu famous, and it was also the first time that he was in trouble, but it was not the last time.
Second, Ma Kun assisted in "eating chicken" at the Spring Festival Gala.
The first Spring Festival Gala from 65438 to 0983 was directed by Huang Yihe and Deng Zaijun, and the four hosts were Ma Ji, Jiang Kun, Liu Xiaoqing and Wang Jingyu.
At that time, crosstalk was at the peak of history. As a representative of phonology, Ma Ji He is suitable to be the host in terms of popularity and professional ability, and Hou is also in the audience advisory group. Liu Xiaoqing is a popular movie star, and their three hosts are all familiar. Why is there a "little known" Wang Jingyu?
This is the brand of the times. A few years before the first Spring Festival Gala, Wang Jingyu starred in a series of well-known dramas, such as When Maple Leaves Are Red and Delicious, and Ridiculous. Because he successfully played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and won the first prize of the Ministry of Culture, Wang Jingyu is the big shot and darling of the literary and art circles at this time, and it is natural to be the host of CCTV Spring Festival Evening.
At the preparatory meeting of the Spring Festival Evening, Huang Yihe suggested to the four hosts that each of them should perform a program. Of course, Ma Ji and Jiang Kun will perform cross talk, while Liu Xiaoqing will sing Glory and Hope for the Red Army. Wang Jingyu blurted out: I can play "eat chicken".
Huang Yihe is very satisfied with Wang Jingyu's "registration". If he can perform "Eat Chicken" on the stage of the Spring Festival Evening, let alone the comedy effect, the symbolic meaning of light is very important to Wang Jingyu and CCTV. After all, they have been wronged for more than ten years.
However, Wang Jingyu regretted it after returning to China. He thought that he was at least an artistic playwright in the literary and art circles now. How could he propose to perform a comedy sketch "Eat Chicken" at the Spring Festival Evening? In addition, although the social environment has changed a lot, will it give people a bad opinion to perform eating chicken at this time?
Huang Yihe also has Wang Jingyu's hesitation, but he is not as worried as Wang Jingyu. In order to unload the ideological burden, Huang Yihe called on the scheming Ma Kun, trying to help overcome psychological barriers.
Ma Ji and Jiang Kun are crosstalk performers. As soon as we meet, let's use cross talk to design a "smooth cushion" for Wang Jingyu, and turn eating chicken into a natural collective contribution. In this case, even if something goes wrong in the end, everyone will bear it together. This suggestion was adopted by Huang Yihe, and Wang Jingyu was very happy. He finally decided to perform Eat Chicken at the Spring Festival Gala.
Third, the logic "eat chicken"
1983 On the Spring Festival Evening, Ma Kun helped "eat chicken" in this way:
When Gaowa Siqin and Yan Shunkai dressed up as Tigress and Xiangzi "visited the factory", Wang Jingyu passed Tigress with a plate of roast chicken. Tigress pulled Wang Jingyu: "How much is the chicken?"
Wang Jingyu tripped and the roast chicken fell to the ground (it was probably an accident). He explained to Tigress, "This is a prop for my performance, not for sale". Tigress pouted at the back: "Virtue!"
Then, when Yan Shunkai went to prepare for Ah Q's performance, Ma Ji invited Wang Jingyu to take the stage. He announced to the audience that Wang Jingyu would perform "Eat Chicken" in the next program.
Wang Jingyu came running with an empty plate: "Where's my chicken? Hosting the horse, I lost my props. "
Ma Ji teased: "It's not flying, it's too hot in this room." Wang Jingyu disdained: "Can roast chicken fly?"
At that time, when the camera turned, Jiang Kun was squatting in the corner of the studio hall, eating chicken, only to see his mouth full of chicken legs and shiny food.
Wang Jingyu stood up and complained that Jiang Kun had eaten his props, and Jiang Kun defended him. Who said it was a prop? This is a real roast chicken.
Ma Ji stood up to "uphold justice" and began to complain that Jiang Kun ate other people's props. Jiang Kun stuffed a piece of chicken into Ma Ji's mouth.
Ma Ji's "short story" immediately changed his attitude and blamed Wang Jingyu: "You are the same person, can't you perform without props? You give everyone a non-physical performance. "
Then, Ma Ji asked Liu Xiaoqing to announce that Liu Xiaoqing officially said "the next program, the comedy sketch Eat Chicken", which was the first time that the word "sketch" was officially reported in the Spring Festival Evening (it was informal before).
While Liu Xiaoqing announced the curtain call, the "cushion dialogue" between Ma Ji and Jiang Kun continued. Wang Jingyu and Jiang Kun whispered that Jiang Kun ate his props while lifting the table. Jiang Kun replied, "I haven't eaten since the rehearsal. What happened to my eating? "
On the other hand, Ma Ji continued to play the role that he was tired of sewing, and told Wang Jingyu to stop complaining and carry it out quickly.
Next, Wang Jingyu performed the famous pantomime Eat Chicken in the Spring Festival Evening. At the end of the program, Jiang Kun went on stage again to help Wang Jingyu who was stuck in the throat by a chicken bone. The two of them tore at each other, and finally Jiang Kun pulled out a feather duster from Wang Jingyu's mouth. The bottom of this program is quite brilliant.
The live laughter of Eat Chicken was very good, and the audience laughed their heads off. This smiling little audience seems to be Liu, a scarab.
And Ma Ji and Jiang Kun's "lyrics" for Wang Jingyu's "live" performance are also very successful. Later, some viewers even asked, this is not arranged, is it? Did Jiang Kun really eat Wang Jingyu's props?
Fourth, eating chicken made Wang Jingyu suffer from depression.
After the Spring Festival Gala, "Eating Chicken" became popular, and so did Wang Jingyu. His first performance "Eat Chicken" 20 years ago made him famous in the literary and art circles, and this time it made him famous in front of the national audience. In the following years, he became a frequent visitor to the Spring Festival Gala, where he performed two pantomimes, and Benchang You, who was also a pantomime, also took the opportunity to attend the Spring Festival Gala.
However, Wang Jingyu is not happy. He was criticized by an expert at a seminar. The elder Wang Jingyu admired pointed out that you played Sherlock and won an award. I didn't expect you to play such a shallow work as eating chicken now, which makes people feel sorry and sad. Grandstanding will ruin your future.
If this criticism is heard by Peisi Chen, it is estimated that he will refute it or simply slam the door and leave. However, Wang Jingyu is different. The other party is his predecessor whom he admires very much. Hearing this, he also added a psychological burden to himself.
In order to prove that pantomime is also an art, Wang Jingyu later performed many pantomime performances, but his heart still can't shake off the shadow brought by this evaluation.
On Wang Jingyu's back, there is also a burden from the audience who like him and eat chicken. He is so angry that every time he walks into the street, someone always points at him: "Look, the one who eats chicken." Even when a reporter interviewed Wang Jingyu, he would yell, "Chicken eater".
Such a title is almost equivalent to insult in Wang Jingyu's mind. He has been engaged in drama for half his life and finally became a' chicken eater', which is like obliterating his artistic achievements on the stage of drama. He thought, you should at least add the word "acting". "Acting" is better than "eating chicken"
Afraid of what comes, 1993, Wang Jingyu ate fried chicken legs in a fast food restaurant, only to be watched again: "Look, the chicken eater really ate it this time."
Worst of all, when Wang Jingyu was chewing fried chicken legs, someone took a picture of him, which made Wang Jingyu fly into a rage instantly. He found the onlookers who took photos: "If you dare to report photos, I will go to court to sue you."
In fact, this kind of onlookers behavior is indeed a bit excessive, but it is not excessive for most stars. The key to Wang Jingyu's bad temper is that the burden in his heart is too heavy.
In this case, "eating chicken" made Wang Jingyu famous and made him suffer from depression.
Fifth, the final performance of "eating chicken"
1997, Wang Jingyu was invited to perform in the United States. He prepared two programs, tightrope walking and happy rope. But the organizer found him and said that the audience wanted him to play "Eat Chicken".
This sentence makes Wang Jingyu's head big again, and eating chicken is really a ghost. However, the organizer's next words relieved him. The other party said that many Chinese and overseas Chinese like to eat chicken, and they want to see it in order to find memories and thoughts about the Spring Festival and recall the happy time when the family sat around the TV watching the Spring Festival Gala.
Wang Jingyu was moved. He didn't expect that Eat Chicken, a work that brought him so much trouble, would have such a great impact on the audience. He promised to eat chicken again!
The performance was an unprecedented success. Unexpectedly, it also cured Wang Jingyu's depression. This is probably the so-called desensitization therapy.