Chapter 238: Drink Well (Monthly Tickets for Extra Updates!)
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"On the hour?"
To be honest, Xu Kai, who doesn't like drinking, doesn't like to hear this.
But Xu Kai knew very clearly that he had to drink the wine today no matter what.
First of all, of course, he needed Zhao Laogen's help, so it was impossible for him to do anything that would ruin Zhao Laogen's mood.
Furthermore, Zhao Laogen, an old artist with a very high status in the circle, invited Xu Kai to his home to drink with him because he respected Xu Kai. Otherwise, Xu Kai might not even meet Zhao Laogen, let alone sit at the same table and drink with him.
So Xu Kai smiled and said, "Okay, let's do it."
"How much can you drink?" Zhao Laogen asked as he poured wine for Xu Kai.
Xu Kai remembered a classic joke, so he stretched out his left hand and put away his middle finger.
"What do you mean, you can only drink four taels?" Zhao Laogen asked.
"It's drinking without a middle finger." Xu Kai said with a smile, and then asked Zhao Laogen: "How about you? How much can you drink?"
Xu Kai thought Zhao Laogen would raise a finger and say, "I can keep drinking."
But the result was that Zhao Laogen said: "I won a car by drinking many years ago..."
Here's the thing.
Once, Zhao Laogen went to a place in Qilu for a performance, and the organizer treated him to a dinner.
During the meal, the boss of the organizer said that no one had ever been able to get him drunk in all these years.
Zhao Laogen said that no matter where he went over the years, no one could give him a good drink.
The two of them then started drinking.
While drinking, the boss of the organizer said that he had a new car, and said to Zhao Laogen, if you get drunk, the performance will be a charity performance, and if I get drunk, I will give you this new car that has not yet been registered.
Zhao Laogen agreed.
As a result, Zhao Laogen and the organizer's CEO drank seven bottles of liquor in total. After that, the organizer's CEO went to the hospital, while Zhao Laogen went to perform.
Finally, Zhao Laogen drove away. Of course, he did not ask for the performance fee.
The two chatted and drank.
In a short while, the two of them drank five bottles of white wine.
Seeing that Xu Kai was really good at drinking and didn't hold back at all, and that Xu Kai's performance had satisfied Zhao Laogen since he came here, Zhao Laogen took the initiative to ask Xu Kai: "Brother, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Xu Kai immediately took advantage of the situation and said, "Brother, I want to start a "Happy Comedian" show."
"Now, singing shows are flooding the TV screens. They are too monotonous. I think the vitality of singing reality shows has reached its peak, so I want to make a comedy show that survives in the cracks."
"Specifically, I want to create a comedy platform for Chinese comedians, not just skits, but also crosstalk, body language, and various other forms."
"Of course, the main part is still skits. After all, in China, audiences still think skits are comedies."
"In addition, for various reasons, the Spring Festival Gala has imposed too many restrictions on the audience, so I plan to do things that cannot be done on this stage, and subvert the Spring Festival Gala comedy."
"And if I want to accomplish this, I definitely need your support, big brother."
After listening to this, Zhao Laogen said without comment: "You have also seen Lao Zhang's previous experience, and you still dare to touch comedy?"
"I am different from him. He doesn't understand that films with strong artistic value have high thresholds and good reputations, but the public doesn't buy them; films with strong entertainment value have low thresholds and low reputations, but the public buys them. There is also an even more terrible situation, which is that you want to please the public but can't let go of your artist's airs. You want to take care of both sides, but you can't take care of both sides. Director Zhang belongs to this last situation."
After drinking a glass of wine with Zhao Laogen, Xu Kai continued, "I know that highbrow comedy is not popular with the general public. To be successful, comedy must increase the entertainment value of the film and reduce the artistic value of the film, in order to find the greatest common divisor of the viewing interests of audiences of all ages."
Although Zhao Laogen didn't understand what the "greatest common divisor" was, he understood that Xu Kai really understood comedy better than Zhang Mou, and it was indeed easier for him to succeed in comedy than Zhang Mou.
Zhao Laogen raised a glass and asked, "So, your participation in Happy Comedians is fake, but your preparation for a comedy movie is real?"
Xu Kai shook his head: "It's all true. The two complement each other and are indispensable."
Although Xu Kai did not elaborate, Zhao Laogen understood that Xu Kai was planning to first build the "Happy Comedian" platform, then use the "Happy Comedian" platform to find the comedians he wanted, and then take these comedians to make comedy movies.
"Since you know comedy so well, why did you make "Shiliyangchang" first instead of making a comedy movie first?" asked Zhao Laogen.
"Alas, it's hard to put it into words."
After taking a sip of wine, Xu Kaicai continued, "I have spent ten years in prison. It was a waste of ten years."
"Not only that, because I have been in prison for ten years, I don't have any foundation or accumulation. I have no money, no talent, no connections, no resources, no channels. It can be said that I have nothing."
"That means I have to use whatever I have and do whatever it takes to get through this difficult situation."
At this point, Xu Kai said to Zhao Laogen apologetically, "I am using your wine to apologize to you today. This time, I was too ruthless."
After saying that, Xu Kailian drank three cups.
Zhao Laogen saw this, drank a glass with him, and then said: "You guys were a bit ruthless, you almost beat us old guys to death, but this is also a normal business practice, there is nothing to apologize for."
Xu Kaifang put down his glass and said, "I heard that you have a good relationship with Director Zhang, brother?"
"That's right." Zhao Laogen admitted.
"Then when there's a chance, brother, please help me be a peacemaker. I'll set up a table of apology wine for Director Zhang, and the three of us can drink some."
Xu Kai added: "In fact, I really admire Director Zhang and I didn't want to do such a shady thing to him. It was really the reality that forced me to that point."
Then, Xu Kai didn't know whether he was trying to find an excuse for himself or if he really felt something, he drank a cup by himself, and then said: "After all, it's still because my realm is not high enough, otherwise, I wouldn't take fame and fortune so seriously."
Zhao Laogen was inspired and said, "Who can be so indifferent to fame and fortune? Besides, you are so young, it's too early to talk about realm."
The more Xu Kai and Zhao Laogen talked, the more they got along, and the more they drank.
Before they knew it, the two of them had drunk nine bottles of white wine.
Xu Kai wanted to go and get some more wine.
Zhao Laogen stopped Xu Kai and said, "Nine is a good number. Don't pursue perfection."
Of course, this is just Zhao Laogen's excuse.
The truth is, Zhao Laogen was drunk.
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(End of this chapter)
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