Jesse Appell

Jewish Community and Comedy and China

Sunday May 3rd, 9pm

Bio: Jesse Appell is an intercultural comedian whose bilingual Chinese/English comedy focuses on using humor to bridge cultures. Based in Beijing, Jesse writes, performs, and produces comedy works for his over 2 million fans around the world. Jesse started doing Chinese comedy as a Fulbright Scholar in 2012 by apprenticing to Master

comedian Ding Guangquan to learn traditional Xiangsheng “Crosstalk” comedy. Over the years, he has emerged as a leading comedian in the Chinese standup comedy and improv scenes, appearing on major Chinese shows such as the Chinese version of Last Comic Standing (欢乐喜剧人), and the comedy shows Roast Battle (吐槽大会) and Post-80s Talk Show (80后脱口秀)

As an improv and communications trainer, Jesse regularly leads custom workshops for clients such as the World Economic Forum, Volkswagen, Microsoft, and China Telecom. Jesse also trained the actors for China’s “Saturday Night Live” in improvisation and sketch comedy. Jesse’s performances, writing, and commentary on Chinese comedy, media, and culture have been seen and heard on TEDxBeijing, PBS Newshour, BBC World News, and NPR’s Here and

Now, as well as Chinese media such as Shanghai TV, Beijing TV, CGTN, and CRI. He was listed as one of the “People of the Year” in 2012 and 2019 by the Global Times.