CHELSEY MARK / MAI XIAO LONG: Acting, Emceeing, Comedy, and More
#050 - Acting, Emceeing, Comedy, and More | Chelsey Mark / Mai Xiao Long
“I want people to know what it takes to be happy.”
In a sentence, that sums up talking with Chelsey Mark. Chelsey - known as Mai Xiao Long in Chinese - is from a family of actual Canadian legends. His father was a long-term Member of Parliament, his grandfather helped build the Canadian railroads, but Chelsey came to China to find his calling. He’s been here 18 years, and as he says in the interview, he moved here a boy but it made him a man. He started in music, became an in-demand emcee, and from 2007-2012 he was the official host of NBA China’s coverage. Chelsey has done seemingly hundreds of great, high-profile interviews and entertainment gigs, whether hosting, singing, dancing, acting, rapping, playing an instrument, doing comedy, or leading a motivational event. In terms of public performance, there isn’t much that he hasn’t done, and I imagine he’ll be very successful in everything he does next. Enjoy!
Please SUBSCRIBE to “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” at Apple Podcasts / iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2 or search and subscribe wherever YOU get your podcasts
SPONSOR:
Stackry “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” sign-up link: http://bit.ly/BigFish2018 or (if bit.ly doesn’t work for you) https://www.stackry.com/?utm_source=Big_Fish&utm_medium=Campaign&utm_term=10%25
Use the offer code BIGFISH at the checkout, and save 10% off your first shipment!
BD’s “My Stackry Unboxing Video": https://youtu.be/FvEWXxzZm3I
GUEST:
Chelsey Mark links - Western:
Website: https://www.maixiaolongchelseymark.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaixiaolongChelseyMark/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/chelseymaixiaolong
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maixiaolongchelseymark/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChelseyMarkMXL
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseymarkmaixiaolong/
Chelsey Mark - China Social Media:
Weibo 微博: https://weibo.com/maixiaolongchelsey
Public WeChat 微信公众号: maixiaolongcm
BDC (Brendan Davis Consulting): https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/brendan-davis-consulting/
LITTLE FISH IN THE BIGGEST POND e-book PREORDER page: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/book/
“BFMK" HOST / SHOW:
“Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigFishMiddleKingdom/
Brendan Davis on WeChat: BrendanDavis
Brendan Davis on Twitter: @VeritasInLux
Other links to LISTEN: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/podcast-links/
JESSE APPELL: The Comedy Scene in China
“I always sum up China in two words: cognitive dissonance.” - Jesse Appell
Boston native Jesse Appell has launched a successful business and speaks Chinese like a local, but that’s not all he’s accomplished during his time in Beijing. Jesse is one of only a handful of Westerners who is trained in the Chinese comedy art of xiangsheng, or crosstalk. It’s a discipline with a storied history here, and Jesse won a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to come study under a true master of the art, Ding Laoshi. But that was just the start of his career in China.
Jesse’s primary focus nowadays is on running the US-China Comedy Center here in Beijing. At the Center, they feature both single language and bilingual improv and standup comedy shows. Jesse founded the Center just about a year ago, but it’s already become a focal point for the growing comedy scene here. To give you an idea of what these shows are like, in the show notes I am including links to several examples of Jesse in action, which are subtitled and really funny regardless of your native language.
As a writer, Jesse has also been working hard to crack the elusive cross-cultural comedy code for movies. He has been developing a buddy picture that’s designed to truly appeal to both markets, and from what he says about it here, I think he might be onto something.
This episode gets very deep into the worlds of comedy, creativity, and filmmaking, so it’s especially worth checking out if you work in those worlds, aspire to, or just enjoy them and want to learn more. But Jesse’s thoughts about the obstacles to true communication are keenly observed, and should be interesting to anyone trying to understand the other cultural better. I hope you enjoy it!
Lastly, another quick reminder that we are still a featured show on the Castbox.fm website and the Castbox podcast app! Castbox works in your web browser, iOS, and they have an especially nice new app for Android devices. Please check us out on Castbox, and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to us.
US-China Comedy Center:
www.uschinacomedy.com
WeChat:
Uschinacomedycenter
Weibo:
@艾杰西
Jesse Appell - Chinese standup (subtitled):
https://youtu.be/UA2P-q9MxXk
"Chinese Mitch Hedberg" routine
http://m.youku.com/video/id_XNzU3ODkyNDgw.html
Xiangsheng overview:
https://youtu.be/7QxW-KBE6EA
"BFMK" site:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/
Brendan Davis on Twitter:
@VeritasInLux
Carl King (composer):
http://carlkingdom.com
Apple Podcasts:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2
CastBox:
http://castbox.fm/u/4711710
Ximalaya:
http://m.ximalaya.com/82109155/album/8651374
CHINAVERSARY
Hey! Thanks for checking out my site, and (hopefully) my new podcast, "Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom". I am writing this on May 20, 2017 China Standard Time, and today is my ONE-YEAR "Chinaversary":
It's the date I moved, after lots of visits and time spent here, to Beijing from Los Angeles. It was a big move, and a big deal for me at the time, but the weight and (mostly) powerful consequences of that decision grow by the day for me...so I wanted to talk about it with my friends, and as I've done so, lots of what they have had to say has been worth sharing with YOU, hence the podcast.
So I'm not sure how you ended up checking out this page, but I am glad you're here. There is a lot more to say about the hows and whys and ups and downs and benefits of me move, and on the podcast I will end up saying MUCH more than I would subject you to reading here. Hardly anyone reads blogs these days, right? Especially "groovy expat adventure" oriented ones.
But podcasts are a great, and growing, way to share information, insights, and entertainment with all kinds of people, in the comfort of their own ears and at their own pace / level of commitment, so...I humbly offer my contribution to that medium, and to the growing conversation focused on how East and West can best work, understand, and agree with each other.
The very first episode (featuring <7 minutes of me talking about the show and giving enough relevant backstory about myself to launch this sucker) is up and live NOW! You can check it out in iTunes HERE, search it on the Google / Android / Windows-friendly podcast aggregators by show name, or just listen to it online HERE.
But regardless of HOW you check it out, I hope that you DO - especially considering some of the interesting people I have lined up to interview for the subsequent episodes. I have venture capitalists, film and TV creators and personalities, standup comedians, screenwriters, philanthropists, artists and educators and business people of all kinds queued up to bring to you, one each week, and I really can't wait for you to hear what these folks have to say.
Okay! Please check out the show if you're interested, SUBSCRIBE if you like it, and and send me feedback or however you like. I am easy to find online and will reply as soon as I can. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the show!