Speaking of challenges, what do you find toughest about crosstalk?

Basically, the language is the challenge. If you want to learn Chinese, you have to have a musical ear. In my first year, I had to recite a lot of texts. We call it guankou in crosstalk. There is a long text and you have to say it all at once [in one breath]. You start slowly, but by the end you're at a really high speed. There are a lot of tongue-twisters and a story to tell, with multiple characters.

Recently, I've been performing a crosstalk about China's historical Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the relationships between famous figures like Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fei. This piece requires the four basic techniques of crosstalk: speech, mimicry, comedy and song. In the singing part, you have to imitate all the different voices. You have to think about every word you are pronouncing, and make sure you pronounce it in the right tone. It's like music. But learning crosstalk has helped me because it's not only about the spoken language, it's also a way of thinking. And this is the highest way of learning a language. 

How do you feel about performing?

The stage always has its good and not-so-good aspects. Four years ago, I was performing with my crosstalk master in Shanxi Province, and I suddenly forgot all my words. My brain just went completely blank. It was just three or five seconds, but on stage that's a very long time and there are cameras shooting. I was there thinking what to say, and my master was looking at me in great surprise. But I snapped out of it and started talking again. These things happen. It's out of your control.

What's your favorite thing about crosstalk?

The interaction between you and the audience is something wonderful. Now in China, more people know about me and this ups the pressure. But [it's] good pressure and it gives me more responsibility. To be a model for foreigners coming to China to study Chinese is more valuable than any possible salary for me.