Admission into the Beijing Film Academy is often viewed as a sure-fire way of becoming a celebrity because of the many movie queens and kings it has minted. But can it produce a cross-talk (xiangsheng) star?

For the first time, the academy is recruiting students to major in cross-talking (basically, stand-up comedy) and comedy performance. In four years, those who graduate from this class will be the first cross-talkers ever to have bachelors' degrees in the subject.

The issue has become a hot topic because usually cross-talk performers are not well educated. For example, 37-year-old cross-talker Guo Degang didn't even complete junior high school, which is part of the nine-year compulsory education in China.