# This Was Funnier in China: Jesse Appell's Cross-Cultural Comedy Journey

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/barbarians-at-the-gate-434733/this-was-funnier-in-china-jesse-appell-s-cross-cultural-comedy-journey
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/barbarians-at-the-gate-434733/this-was-funnier-in-china-jesse-appell-s-cross-cultural-comedy-journey.md
Podcast: [Barbarians at the Gate](https://stenobird.com/podcast/barbarians-at-the-gate-434733)
Published: 2026-05-05T07:17:50+00:00
Episode link: https://blubrry.com/barbarians/153860998/this-was-funnier-in-china-jesse-appells-cross-cultural-comedy-journey/
Audio file: https://media.blubrry.com/barbarians/content.blubrry.com/barbarians/BATG-2026-05-05-117.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/barbarians-at-the-gate-434733/episodes/this-was-funnier-in-china-jesse-appell-s-cross-cultural-comedy-journey
Duration seconds: 2925

## Resource

On this episode, we sit down with the one and only Jesse Appell—Chinese TV stand-up comedian, blogger, lecturer, tea entrepreneur, and passionate bridge-builder for US–China cultural exchange. In his newly published book, Jesse shares the unlikely story of how a Fulbright Fellowship to study the traditional Chinese humor form “crosstalk” (xiangsheng) launched him from student to television star, with his video clips capturing more than half a billion views on the Chinese Internet.

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## Transcript

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