Introverted, shy, reserved. These are hardly words one would normally associate with a comedian, but Yue Yunpeng, who possesses all these traits offstage, has become one of China’s favorite crosstalk superstars.

内向、害羞、矜持……这些词似乎和喜剧演员八竿子打不着边，但却是在中国广受欢迎的相声界巨星岳云鹏的真实写照。

Among the many crosstalk performers who are also currently active in theater and TV shows, Yue’s prevalence comes second only to his master, Guo Degang. Not only a star of the traditional Chinese comedic performance scene, 31-year-old Yue has expanded his horizons to include movies. In the romantic drama I Belonged to You (《从你的全世界路过》) which was released on Sept 29, he plays a silly yet loveable fool.

在众多目前活跃于剧院和电视上的相声演员中，岳云鹏稳坐除师父郭德纲之外，相声界的第二把交椅。31岁的岳云鹏不光是中国传统喜剧之星，同时将自己的事业版图扩展到了大银幕。在9月29日上映的爱情电影《从你的全世界路过》中，他扮演了一个蠢萌的傻瓜形象。

Like many of his peers, Yue first started to learn crosstalk as a survival skill. But unlike most other apprentices, buttering up the master wasn’t one of his strong points. Even worse, he found himself judged by peers as not being cut out for the art, even ending up on the verge of being thrown out of the comedy club Deyun Society on three separate occasions.

和许多同行一样，岳云鹏一开始将相声作为一门生存技能来学习。但和大多数相声学徒不同的是，他并不擅长阿谀奉承那一套。更糟糕的是，他被很多同行认为不适合这门艺术，甚至有三次差点被喜剧社团德云社扫地出门。

Modern crosstalk is made up of four essential skills – speaking, imitating, teasing and singing. Yue, a man of few words, later discovered his vocal chords were best suited to singing and imitating– his self-arranged song Five Rings (《五环之歌》) has become a national hit.

现代相声艺术要求具备四大基本功——说、学、逗、唱。寡言少语的岳云鹏后来发现，他的声音最适合唱和学——他自编自创的《五环之歌》还成为了国民神曲。

Yue has also gradually formed his own style of speaking – mean, but in a funny way. He reorganizes some classic crosstalk works and adds his own distinctive Henan dialect to them. If audience members heckle crosstalkers during a show, while Guo Degang would retaliate in a witty way, Yue goes for a more direct approach, normally shouting: “Get out!” His straightforward language, alongside his exaggerated facial expressions – especially his popped-out but small eyes – create hilarious comedic effects.

岳云鹏也逐渐形成了自己的相声风格——三言两语戳中笑点。他重新编排了一些经典的相声段子，并加入了自己标志性的河南口音。要是观众们在表演期间起哄，郭德纲一般会以诙谐幽默的方式回敬回去，而岳云鹏却通常会直接大喊一声“滚出去！”。他直白的语言，夸张的面部表情——尤其是小小的金鱼眼——营造出了欢乐的喜剧效果。

An article by Blog Weekly calls Yue “the Forrest Gump of the crosstalk world”, but while crosstalk may not have come naturally to him at first, his persistence and sincerity have led to his success.

《博客天下》杂志的一篇文章称岳云鹏为“相声阿甘”，尽管一开始岳云鹏并没有多少相声天赋，但他的坚持和真挚令他走向了成功。

As a down-to-earth figure, Yue attracts fans not only with his talent, but more importantly, his authenticity. He even admits to Marie Claire magazine that he take offers of TV reality shows and films just to make more money. Wang Yuqin（←？查过了，说这个人叫王俣钦）, Yue’s agent, also tells Blog Weekly that Yue doesn’t like it when someone stands behind him to take a picture and then ridicules his big face.

脚踏实地的岳云鹏因才华而吸粉无数，但更重要的是，他为人真诚。在接受《嘉人》杂志采访时，他甚至承认他接拍电视真人秀和电影就是为了赚钱。岳云鹏的经纪人王俣钦也向《博客天下》杂志表示，岳云鹏并不喜欢有人在背后偷拍，嘲笑他脸大。

He doesn’t see himself as a pin-up celebrity. He’s not a flatterer. He responds to annoying things just as we non-famous people do. But just like us, he’s not perfect, except at crosstalking, that is.

他并没有将自己视作一个炙手可热的大明星，也不是个溜须拍马的人。他和普通人一样有着自己的烦心事。除了说相声以外，他也和我们所有人一样，并不完美。这，就是岳云鹏。