While most students were busy shopping on Nov 11, Hou Yinguo, 25, a Chinese language and literature graduate student at Nanjing University, was working on Friends, his talk show.
在刚刚过去不久的“双十一”，大多数小伙伴都忙于网购，毕业于南京大学汉语言文学专业、25岁的候印国却在忙着准备他的脱口秀——《老友记》。
“There are a bunch of talk shows available online, but I wanted to make one that caters specifically to students,” he said.
他说，“虽然现在网上的脱口秀挺多，但我想做的是一档专门针对学生的脱口秀。”

Hou is not alone. Many students are attempting to create talk shows on campus, hoping to tell their stories and enrich campus culture. Unlike other programs, talk shows require careful preparation well in advance in order to have interesting and engaging content. Shows often encounter great difficulties in their journey to create something original.
像候印国一样，还有很多在校大学生也投身于脱口秀“事业”，他们希望能借此讲述学生自己的故事，丰富校园文化。不同于其他节目，脱口秀需要提前进行细致的准备工作，才能让内容有趣、引人入胜。原创性内容则常常是制作脱口秀面临的一大难题。
Priorities first
抓住重点
Finding suitable guests and topics is Hou’s top priority when it comes to Friends.
找到合适的嘉宾与恰当的主题是候印国制作《老友记》的重中之重。
“We want to talk about human issues that truly have an impact on students’ lives,” he said.
他说，“我们想谈一些与学生生活息息相关、有人情味儿的话题”
As the first episode was produced around Singles Day, the topic of discussion this time around was relationships. Hou and his colleagues invited Qi Lin, an associate professor at the Art Research Institute, to sit in as a guest.
因为第一期的发布正值“光棍节”，因此，候印国选择了感情作为谈话主题。候印国和他的同事邀请了南大艺术研究院副教授祈林作为这一期的嘉宾。
“Students consider him one of ‘the most handsome professors,’ so we expected him to attract a lot of viewers,” Hou pointed out.
候印国说，“他（祈林）是学生心中‘最帅的教授’之一，我们希望他的到来能吸引更多的观众。”
To keep things feeling natural on the set, Hou, who also hosts the show, doesn’t do a rehearsal with his guest. Rather, he simply gives the guest an outline of what he or she will be discussing. He and 10 others then spend a week recording the program.
为了让节目看上去真实自然，主持人侯印国并没有和嘉宾事先进行彩排。他只是给嘉宾提供了一份谈话提纲。然后，他将会和其他十位队友一起用一周的时间完成节目的制作。
“The whole process is fun,” Hou said. “We enjoy doing something we really like.”
他说，“（节目制作的）整个过程都很有趣，做自己喜欢的事，让我们乐在其中。”
When the video was uploaded on the website, it attracted hundreds of students.
他们的节目视频传到网上后，获得了成千上百名学生的关注。
Like chemistry
像做化学实验一样“作秀”
However, for Wang Xiaoya, 26, a graduate student majoring in journalism and communications at Tsinghua University, making a talk show is like doing an experiment. “Nothing really ever turned out how we expected it to,” he said.
对于清华大学新闻与传媒专业、26岁的王晓亚而言，做脱口秀更像是在做实验。他说，“什么事都没有我们想象得那么简单。”
Before graduating, he made a talk show called Huixiao Tianxia with Liu Huining, 25, a Japanese major at Tsinghua University. The show’s aim was to tell stories that weren’t already known across campus.
毕业之前，王晓亚曾做过一档名为《慧晓天下》的脱口秀，当时与她搭档的是清华大学日语专业、25岁的刘慧凝。他们节目的口号就是“讲述清华园里你不知道的事。”
“I have been here for seven years, and I have encountered many students with inspirational stories worth sharing with the rest of the school,” Liu said.
刘慧凝说，“这档节目我做了7年，遇到过很多同学，他们的励志故事都值得与其他同学分享。”
Both Liu and Wang also wanted to be broadcast television hosts, so they figured a talk show would be a great way to hone their skills before entering the job market.
刘慧凝和王晓亚都想成为一名电视节目主持人，他们觉得做脱口秀能更好得锻炼自己的主持能力，为将来走向社会做准备。
Overworked
工作量大
In the beginning, they did all the work — contacting guests, interviewing, recording and editing — on their own. “There was a lot of pressure. We once made three episodes in a week,” Liu said. But later, to ensure the quality, they agreed to produce only one episode each week.
一开始，他们需要承担所有的工作，包括联系嘉宾、采访、录制与剪辑都需要亲自上阵。刘慧凝说，“那时压力很大，我们有一次一个星期做了三期节目。” 但是，后来他们为了保证质量，决定每周只做一期。
They often went to the Student Activity Center to find interesting students.
他们常常去大学生活动中心，想找一些有意思的学生（录节目）。
Before recording, either Wang or Liu talks with their guest for an hour to break the ice and learn about them. After this is complete, they decide on an angle and prepare talking points.
每次录节目前，刘慧凝或是王晓亚都会和嘉宾聊上一个小时，化解双方的尴尬，彼此相互了解。聊天结束后，他们则会选择一个角度切入，准备节目中的话题。
“If both of us did a pre-interview, the guests wouldn’t tell us anything new,” Wang said.
王晓亚说，“如果我们俩事先都对嘉宾进行采访，那么节目上嘉宾就很难带来新的信息。”
During recording, Liu is responsible for coming up with questions tailored to the flow of the conversation. Wang, on the other hand, focused on what the guest is saying to control the rhythm of the interview.
节目录制时，刘慧凝负责提问，展开谈话，而王晓亚则专注聆听，把握访谈节奏。
Many times, they’re up until midnight preparing and producing the show, but they enjoy it all nonetheless. “Making a breakthrough isn’t easy, but I’m up to the challenge,” Wang said.
很多次，他们为了准备和制作节目都熬到深夜，但却乐在其中。王晓亚说，“想要有所突破并非易事，但是我已经做好准备迎接挑战。”
Their shows were welcomed by students on Renren.com and WeChat platform.
他们的节目曾在人人网和微信平台上受到学生们热捧。