Smile Code (Lost Laughter) 失笑 - Zhu Le 祖乐

61

This was his true face: calm, restrained, unexpectedly blunt, a master of dousing cold water, instantly bringing clarity.

Gu Yi looked carefully at the sign outside the door, confirming that it was indeed the "Don't Disturb Comedy Center." Had she arrived too early? She texted Liu Ran, who replied that it was still early and suggested she sit for a while; the performance would begin at 7:30.

It was already 6:45... not too early, right? Well, perhaps the audience wouldn't arrive quickly because it was after work hours. The small theater was about a ten-minute walk from the Dazhi Station, and its location wasn't easy to find. Gu Yi looked at the message from Liu Ran, noticing that the enthusiastic tone had disappeared after she signed the contract. Had she already been accepted as part of their team? She sat down on a stool under the stage, missing the curtains and the backstage sofa of ounce. The red sofa, soaked in cigarette smoke, made her back and waist ache, but it felt like the space where every actor could grow wildly.

Now, this folding stool seemed to tell her: "Run away."

By 7:30, only a few people trickled in. Gu Yi sat in the front row and greeted them, exchanging glances. This scene seemed strangely familiar, reminding her of the time when she performed with Achi and the others at Hongqiao. Even that time had been better, at least there had been five audience members. Here, at 7:30, there were only two. There were also around twenty signed-up actors, but only four showed up. The plan was to fill an hour of performance, with tickets priced at 19 yuan. Gu Yi thought to herself, "Well, since I'm here, I have to perform. Small theaters start like this, and it will get better in the future. Even if there's just one audience member, I'll perform."

But when she jumped onto the stage and saw the lights, with no one in the audience, the white reflective stools were too glaring. The classic reassuring line, "Since I'm here, I might as well perform," couldn't save her now. Her delivery was stammering, and the audience looked utterly confused. Occasionally, a few elderly uncles and aunts came in and asked her enthusiastically, "Young lady, I have a piece of music criticism here. Can you comment on it?"

It was written in ornate characters, but Gu Yi didn't quite catch it. She couldn't figure out if she was at a comedy show or a book club, feeling like she had ended up working overtime in a completely different place. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the elderly audience, the first-row viewers successfully escaped, and in the first signed performance by the actors, Gu Yi added two of the uncles on WeChat, receiving a row of thumbs-ups. Liu Ran asked in the group chat: "How was the performance today?"

Unable to hold back, Gu Yi finally checked the "Don't Disturb Comedy" Weibo. It had 10,000 followers, most of which seemed to be bought. As someone who worked in new media, she never expected to check the size of the agency before signing the contract. The more she thought about it, the more off it felt. She went to check the company on Tianyancha, discovering it was founded in November 2018 with a registered capital of 1 million yuan. The place still smelled of fresh paint... This club had existed for less time than she had been doing stand-up. It seemed they were just taking advantage of the "boom" in comedy.

She needed to stay calm and not panic. She called Liu Ran, who was still at a bar, probably talking to other actors about signing contracts. When she mentioned the audience count, Liu Ran wasn't surprised: "Actually, the four performers today are relatively low in popularity. Do you know an actor named Achi? When he came to try performing, there were about 20 to 30 people. He performed for 15 minutes, and the crowd response was decent."

"But don't you have any fan base?"

"We're a platform, a club. Only when the actors become famous will the platform become famous. Actors also need to take some responsibility for the number of people at their shows. The full house at ounce wasn't because of you, but because it's a well-established comedy bar. You should promote your shows on your Weibo and public accounts. Only then will people who like you come. You need to cultivate your own fanbase."