相聲(comic dialogue)起源于北京，流行于全國各地。一般認為于清咸豐、同治年間形成。它是一種歷史悠久、流傳較廣、有深厚群眾基礎的曲藝表演形式。表演形式有單口、對口、群口三種。單口相聲(monologue talk)由一個演員表演，講述笑話；對口相聲由兩個演員一問一答；群口相聲由三個以上演員表演。傳統曲目以諷刺舊社會各種丑惡現象和通過詼諧的敘述反映各種生活現象為主，解放后除繼續發揚諷刺傳統外，也有歌頌(sing the praises of)新人新事的作品。
　　Comic dialogue originated in Beijing, and is popular in all parts of China. It's generally believed that comic dialogue emerged as a new culture during the time of Xianfeng and Tongzhi Emperors of Qing Dynasty. It's a type of art and opera performance with long history, being widely popular and loved by broad masses of people. There are 3 types of performance, namely monologue talk, cross talk, multi-show talk. Monologue talk is performed by one person, talking on jokes; cross talk is performed by two people interacting with each other; multi-show talk is performed by three or more people. Traditional themes focus on satirizing social evils in history or humorously illustrating various phenomena in society. After liberation of China, in addition to the tradition of satire style, some art performance sings the praises of new deeds at new times.