Zhou salutes his home city in his comic monologues, reiterating its unmatched contributions to the national GDP in the planned economy era, lauding its leadership in the fashion industry and bragging about its residents' worldly sophistication. As Li Tiangang, a philosophy professor with Fudan University, sees it: "Zhou Libo decodes the Shanghail culture, its pride and its woes. The city has lost its privileges over the years: its population is dwindling and it is no longer the nation's pace-setter for life style. As a native I felt gratitude when Zhou Libo reminded the audience that under a planned economy for every RMB 100 Shanghai people made, RMB 87 was handed to the state coffers, and only RMB 13 landed in a local pocket."

Shanghai became the center of gravity for Chinese culture and the economy during the first 70 years of the 20th century. With the commencement of opening-up and reform in the 1980s coastal cities in the south like Shenzhen and Guangzhou underwent an instant and vigorous boom thanks to favorable state policies, stealing Shanghai's thunder. And Shanghai culture steadily faded out of the spotlight too. For the new century the city plucked up and entrenched its position as China's financial center. Then it returned to the stage as host of a serious of global events, with the latest one being the World Expo. That old pride is finding its way back into the hearts of local residents. Prof. Li believes that Shanghai people are yearning for a cultural altitude that matches their economic importance.

However, Shanghainese in fact have long been accused of parochialism for their inherent sense of superiority. The compliments being paid to Shanghai from every quarter are perceived by some as a slight to people in other parts of the nation. And the local dialect in which Zhou Libo delivers his performance, some say, is employed as an effective tool for separating natives from outsiders. "Zhou Libo's fan base shows he speaks for the populist culture in Shanghai," said Shanghai writer Cheng Naishan. "He caters well to the tastes of the common classes in the city."

A Long and Devious Path to Success

Zhou Libo, now 43, showed comic talent as a teenager, and was recruited by the local farce troupe at 15, from among nearly 3,000 applicants. By the age of 23 he had been nicknamed the "Shanghai Imp." Fate always seems to have a way of teaching young prodigies like him the limits of social tolerance: Zhou was imprisoned for 205 days for injuring his girlfriend's father, who strongly opposed the relationship, in a bickering session that escalated into violence. He looks back on his days of confinement as an opportunity to do some soul-searching.

On his release Zhou Libo transformed himself from a funnyman into a businessman. In the 1990s China's nascent market economy rocked under forces that might push its surfers to the peak of success one minute, then dump them into the abyss the next. Over a decade Zhou lived through the extremes that included owning nine private cars simultaneously, and losing his entire fortune in legal disputes. For a period he had to go abroad to escape his troubles at home.

In 2006 Zhou Libo returned to the stage at the encouragement of some friends, and became instantly notorious for his witty quips about his personal experiences and his hometown. His show My Thirty Years had a run of 31 nights at full capacity. And the 45 performances of The Great Shanghai was completely sold out on the first day. Wu Xiaoming, president of the SMEG Performing Arts Center, pointed out this kind of phenomena had not greeted a local artist for a long time.

The steep ups and downs of his life have barely worn off the rough edges of this somewhat arrogant jester. He once told the media he could sustain the steam of a performance as long as he cared to, but in reality he has been pulling back from the national audiences since the beginning of this year. He recently withdrew from the TV talk show program Libo This Week, and is planning to reduce his live shows from 125 performances a year to below 50. Some critics say this maneuver is based on yet another sober re-evaluation – this time of his wit and staying power.