Comedy has always been a way for people to overcome the frustrations and worries of everyday life, and hsiang sheng (which could loosely be translated as "comic duets") constitutes one of the oldest forms of Chinese humor.
開懷大笑、暫把煩惱拋，讓生活有個緩衝，是人生的一大享受。因此，傳播笑料的表演始終受歡迎，目前綜藝節目「脫口秀」大行其道就是一例。相聲，似乎就是中國「說笑話」的鼻祖。