Propaganda posters used to be all the rage back during the Cold War and World War 2. Stark images emblazoned with terse slogans. Come to think of it, propaganda posters were the original memes.
But what was once artful and pithy is now simple and banal. Catchy slogans like, “When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler!” have been superseded by, “I TXT U, Y U NO TXT BAK!?”
And good old Uncle Sam has been replaced by Good Guy Greg.
I get it. It’s a sign of the times. The general public has always taken kindly to simple messages. But as the dumb masses have become dumb asses, so must the messages change to suit the recipient. And so, we have memes.
But I think the older propaganda posters look cool. So I’ve decided to snatch an old Chinese propaganda poster to announce my upcoming slate of shows in mainland China. Thanks Mao!
You can catch me in the Middle Kingdom this April as follows:
CHENGDU
Tuesday, April 10, 8pm
The Bookworm
Yujie East Road 2-7#
Ren min South Road 28#
（玉洁东街2-7号，人民南路28号）
Telephone: (028) 85520177
HANGZHOU
Wednesday, April 11, 8:30pm
Shares
2-203 Gemini Mansion, 1785 Jianghan Rd.
Binjiang Hangzhou, China
Telephone: +(86)- 153 2588 4469
SHANGHAI
Friday, April 13, 9pm
Kung Fu Komedy
4/F 1 XIANGYANG BEI LU, NEAR JULU LU
LUWAN DISTRICT, SHANGHAI, CHINA
中国上海市卢湾区襄阳北路1号4楼，近巨鹿路
SHANGHAI
Saturday, April 14, 8pm & 10 pm
Kung Fu Komedy
4/F 1 XIANGYANG BEI LU, NEAR JULU LU
LUWAN DISTRICT, SHANGHAI, CHINA
中国上海市卢湾区襄阳北路1号4楼，近巨鹿路
BEIJING
Sunday, April 15, 8pm
The Bookworm
Building 4, Nan Sanlitun Road
Chaoyang District, Beijing
100027, P.R China
Telephone: (010) 6586 9507
And now, for the younger, meme-dependent crowd: Y U NO COME TO MY SHOWS!?