【正文】 t will be said, because it is classic humor, and any audience values it even more because of its familiarity.[8] Chinese amp。quot。crosstalkamp。quot。 is a special type of slapstick in which two Chinese edians humorously discuss topics such as bureaucrats, family problems, or other personal topics. Crosstalk can be heardanywhere from small village stages to the largest Beijing theatres, and to radio and television. It is clearly a traditional form of humor well understood by Chinese people.[9] A PLAY ON WORDS is not so obvious as slapstick, but it is funny because of misused or misunderstood language. My favorite example is the story of three elderly gentlemen traveling by train in England. As the train slowed for a stop the first man asked, amp。quot。Is this Wembley[N]?amp。quot。 amp。quot。No,amp。quot。 said the second, amp。quot。It’s Thursday.amp。quot。 amp。quot。So am I,amp。quot。 said the third man. amp。quot。Let’s stop for a beer.amp。quot。 We know that older people often do not hear things clearly, so the misunderstanding of both Wednesday (for Wembley) and thirsty (for Thursday) makes a nice setup for the punch line delivered by the third man.[10] The famous Chinese cartoonist and humorist Ding Cong is a master of word play. In one of his funny cartoons, a teacher says, amp。quot。How e[N] you pletely copied somebody else’s homework?amp。quot。 The young student replies, amp。quot。I didn’t pletely copy it. My name on the page is different.amp。quot。 In another classic Ding Cong cartoon, an irritated father asks, amp。quot。Tell me, what’s one plus two?amp。quot。 The son says, amp。quot。I don’t know.amp。quot。 The impatient father then says, amp。quot。For example, you, your mother, and I altogether are how many, you idiot?amp。quot。 The son proudly answers, amp。quot。Three idiots.amp。quot。 Whether these stories are cartoons or jokes, told by a slapstickedian or a crosstalking team, they appeal to people everywhere as funny stories because they have a note[N] [N] of reality to them, and the unexpected punch line is quite funny.[11] PUNS are even more subtle forms of word play. They use the technique of similar sounding words or alternative meanings of the same word. Puns are thought by some critics to be the lowest form of humor, but I disagree with require more subtle and sophisticated language skills than most humor forms, but even the very young can use them in their simpler forms. For example, the amp。quot。riddleamp。quot。 or trick question often uses a pun in the setup, the story line, or, more often, the punch line. Puns are the first type of humor I learned, and at about 5 years of age I remember hearing the following riddle. One person asks, amp。quot。What is black and white and red all over?amp。quot。 The other person usually cannot answer the riddle, so says, amp。quot。I give up. What is the answer?amp。quot。 The riddler replies, amp。quot。A newspaper.amp。quot。This is the obvious answer if one knows that amp。quot。redamp。quot。 is pronounced the same as amp。quot。readamp。quot。 in English, but the meanings are clearly different.[12] DOUBLE ENTENDRES (Frenchfor double meanings) are special variations of puns inwhich words or phrases have double the two meanings are verydifferent, and one is quite proper while the second isoften, but not always, vulgar. I like the somewhatmild story of a school teacher and a principal of ahigh school who are concerned because some boysand girls have been seen kissing on the schoolplayground. The teacher says to the students, amp。quot。T