Yang Da

Yang Da

Yang Da, male, from Tangkou Town, Kaiping, was born in 1935. He is a famous crosstalk master and a national first-class actor. He is known as "Yangcheng comedian" and "thousand face comedian". His representative works include love between life and death, Guangzhou dialect, etc.

brief introduction

Yang Da, whose ancestral home is Tangkou Town, Kaiping, is a famous crosstalk master and a national first-class actor. He is known as "Yangcheng comedian" and "thousand face comedian". Yang Da was born in Chikan ancient town of Kaiping in 1935 and grew up there. In 1957, he became a professional folk singer of Guangdong folk music troupe. He began to perform crosstalk with Huang Junying in 1958 and retired from the stage in 2000. There are dozens of crosstalk works, such as "love for life and death", "Guangzhou dialect", "a Mao a Shou", "breaking the rules", "a little higher than you" and "borrow the phone", among which "duel song" and other passages are included in the book "Yangcheng comedian - selected works of Guangdong crosstalk".

Speaking of Cantonese crosstalk actors, Yang DA and Huang Junying, the "dream combination", are generally recognized as the leaders and experts of crosstalk. However, in his early artistic career, Yang Da went out singing Kaiping folk songs.

When he comes into contact with Yang Da, he laughs before making a sound. When it comes to rising, he can't help but stand up and compare hands and feet. He said: "you can't call me uncle Da, but you should call me Dazai. I'm 73 years old, minus one Jiazi. I'm only 13 years old." ——This is Yang Da: straightforward and interesting. There are too many versions of Yang Da's story, and there are also many confusing places. What attracts people's attention most is that there was a media report in Hong Kong that Yang Da was dead. So far, many people still believe it.

On August 26, 2012, at the 60th anniversary party of Huang Junying's career, Yang Da, an old, tall and thin body, appeared among the guests. Yang Da also performed on the same stage.

This is the information recently exchanged between the reporter and Yang da

Music in the corner

Growing up under the influence of Kaiping folk songs

Reporter: some people say you are from Tangkou, Kaiping. Others say you are from Chikan, Kaiping. Where are you from?

Yang Da: (laughter) I was born and raised in Chikan. My ancestral home is 49, Tangkou. Because when I say 49 outside Kaiping, others think I'm from 49 town of Taishan. For the sake of elucidation, they say I'm from Chikan.

Reporter: when you were young, Chikan town should be a place with strong cultural atmosphere.

Yang Da: that's true. At that time, music and folk songs could be heard in every corner of Chikan town. Like most people in Chikan Town, my whole family loved music very much. At that time, there were two trees in front of our house, under which was a good natural stage. Every day after dinner, my father and several elder brothers would open the private partnership. Gongs and drums, dulcimers, etc. would ring for the first time, and the whole family would participate in the performance, which was very lively. When neighbors pass by, they will say, "I'll sing a few words." At that time, the river transportation in Chikan was very developed. My five brothers often performed on the boat. When I saw the five brothers performing, I would grind them up and watch them. I often didn't know that the boat was moving. Fortunately, my family is not worried because they can't remember the number clearly.

Reporter: (laughter) your parents don't worry about losing a son?

Yang Da: as soon as they guess, I must have been listening to the music of five brothers and heard that I have gone to Guangzhou.

Reporter: How did you enter the gate of music and folk songs?

Yang Da: seeing the performance of adults, my heart is also eager to learn. The most unforgettable is the first lesson, my father gave me a board, let me "palm board". At first, I didn't think it was fun to "por, por" a few times. Later, I realized that the palm board is an entry-level technology. Only when the palm board is right, can it match the up time.

Reporter: did your childhood wish have anything to do with art?

Yang Da: when I was a child, my dream was to be a magician. In 1952, when I was 17 years old, I was studying in Nanlou middle school. I went to Guangzhou alone during the holidays to find the famous magician Weng Dade. For the next three years, I have been learning magic in the form of "day reading".

Reporter: How did you sing Kaiping folk songs to Guangzhou?

Yang Da: in 1957, the five counties and cities of Jiangmen held a literature and art show in Kaiping. Kaiping County Cultural Center has arranged a Cantonese opera to participate in the performance. I am the only actor from Chikan. Maybe it's because I sing Cantonese Opera in the impure Cantonese dialect. After the performance, Foshan art school, Guangdong music and folk art troupe and Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe all want to admit me. Later, under the guidance of my predecessors, I joined the Guangdong folk music Troupe (the predecessor of the Guangdong music Troupe).

cut a striking figure

Singing Kaiping folk song for Chairman Mao

Reporter: did you jump directly from a town amateur orchestra to a provincial Orchestra?

Yang Da: at that time, I had to pass the exam to enter Guangdong folk music group, but my exam was special. On the night when I arrived in Guangzhou, the regiment performed in the railway culture palace and asked me to go and have a look. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the performance, someone said to me, "Dazai, you can be a guest." I'm embarrassed: I can't even make up in such a big scene. At that time, I performed the famous wooden fish "eighteen to see you off", because the accompanists were all from Siyi. Although they didn't rehearse in advance, they cooperated with each other very well. After one performance, the audience applauded continuously, and I was pushed out to perform again. After another performance, the applause still couldn't stop. I was pushed out again until there was no song to match the music Sing Kaiping's Jiafang song love sister love brother and sell chicken tune lazy woman. When I ran out of "three axes", fortunately, I was relieved that I didn't have to be pushed out of the stage at half-time. In addition to the costumes, Li Tian, then director of the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of culture, came in backstage. He nodded to me and congratulated me all the time. I had to nod to anyone who spoke. (laughter)

So I passed the exam. When he returned to his hometown to move his registered permanent residence, the whole county was in a uproar: "the actors of a town's amateur troupe suddenly jumped to the provincial Orchestra, and the dragon's Gate dance was not so powerful." I also held a public performance in Chikan, three nights in a row. It was different, and it said "farewell performance."

More than 40 years ago, Mao Zedong visited Guangzhou many times. Guangdong Folk Music Group provides entertainment for the chairman, and I am responsible for singing Kaiping folk songs. On the same day, the leader informed me to go to Guangzhou hotel. Four musicians and I, along with the guards and leaders, walked into a quiet lounge. There is a big sofa in the rest room. Chairman Mao is sitting on the sofa. Seeing that the chairman is close to me, my heart is like a deer, and my legs are trembling. I sing the wooden fish Huajian Ji, which is widely sung in Kaiping countryside. At that time, the chairman leaned on the sofa with his eyes closed. With the rhythm of erhu, Yangqin and Dongxiao, he tapped on the armrest of the sofa.

"Dream combination"

And Huang Junying are a natural partner in cross talk

Reporter: I heard that you are a "miscellaneous family"?

Yang Da: (laughter) in the late 1950s, besides singing folk songs, I also started to work on "moving Northern Arts to the South" and began to transplant some foreign forms of Quyi to enrich the performance of Guangdong quyi, including lotus flower falling, flower dish, money board, storytelling and crosstalk.

As early as the 1950s, some literary and artistic workers in Guangzhou tried to perform crosstalk, the main northern music, in Guangzhou dialect, but it was rare to perform on stage. In 1958, Huang Junying came back from the national quyi performance. He also learned a cross talk story "cultural level" and was well received in Fujian's performance. At that time, I also performed the crosstalk "vitamin" with Guan Chumei, a professional quyi actor in Guangzhou, which was well received. After Huang Junying returned to Guangzhou, with the recommendation of his former partner, we began to talk about cross talk together and succeeded at one stroke. Since then, we have cooperated for more than 30 years.

In addition to the dialect characteristics, Cantonese crosstalk and Northern crosstalk have the same skills. They should skillfully master the four skills of "speaking, teasing, learning and singing".

Reporter: people say you and Huang Junying are "dream combination". What do you think?

Yang Da: it's not only a "dream combination", but also a perfect match. The tacit understanding between us is just like this. Huang Junying and I are like a family. I watched him get married and have a son. His wife knows me so well that she often calls me "diezida".

Reporter: from the 1970s to the 1990s, you and Huang Junying were the stars of "meeting at court and meeting at night" among the masses of all walks of life in Guangdong. The crosstalk between you two was constantly heard in tape recorders, TV sets and cinemas. You have a catchphrase in crosstalk that was once very popular.

Yang Da: (laughter) "how unreasonable"! At that time, a lot of people followed this mantra. In addition, in "breaking the rules" of crosstalk, "I like to eat chicken legs, but you like to eat chicken excrement..." Every time, it makes the audience laugh. Many people laugh with their stomachs as they learn these words. It can be said that the Chinese people have experienced the "ten-year catastrophe" of not being able to laugh, not daring to laugh, and not willing to laugh. After that, they especially need to laugh. We are "taking advantage of the situation".

For a long time, the Cantonese crosstalk between Huang Junying and me is only a part of the comprehensive evening party of Guangdong music and quyi troupe. Since the spring of 1982, we have been playing the banner of "Guangzhou crosstalk Troupe", independent of Quyi. The whole evening party is mainly based on crosstalk, so that the people who like crosstalk can enter the party and "have a good laugh". At that time, we were more popular. The performance was full of people from morning to night. After stepping down, some people handed me a towel to wipe my face, and some people came over with lunch boxes to let me have a meal. However, I couldn't eat a few mouthfuls of the meal. I said, "it's time to start."

Chinese PinYin : Yang Da