曲艺，就是中国人常说的说唱艺术。这类艺术形式是民间口头文学和歌唱艺术融合在一起形成的。据不完全统计，现在仍在民间表演的曲艺形式大约有400多种。其中，在全中国都比较流行的是相声和评书，其他如山东快书、天津快板、苏州评弹等都属于地方曲艺形式。

Folk art forms, conventionally called the art forms of talking and singing, resulted from the integration of oral literature with the art of singing. According to incomplete statistics, about 400 folk art forms are still performed among the people, of which cross talks and story-telling enjoy wider circulation in China, and Shandong clapper talks and Tianjin clapper talks, Suzhou ballad singing and others are prevalent in their own localities.

　　相声是各种晚会中常见的节目形式。相声演员运用说、学、逗、唱等艺术手段，达到引人发笑的目的。相声有单口、对口和群口三种。其中对口相声的表演最多。在对口相声中，一般有个像是主角，另一个像是配角，像主角的叫逗哏，像配角的叫捧哏。传统相声的著名演员有侯宝林、马三立、马季等。

Cross talks are a conventional item of repertoire at various evening parties. Through artistic means of speaking, imitating, joking and singing, the performers try to make the audience laugh. Cross talks consist of monologue, comic dialogue and group talk, of which the comic dialogue is more common. In the comic dialogue, one performer seems to play the leading part and the other the supporting part. The former cracks jokes and the latter acts as a fool to help make the audience laugh. The most famous performers of cross talks were Hou Baolin, Ma Sanli and Ma Ji etc.

　　评书，也叫说书，是一种口头讲说的表演形式。评书一般都用普通话，讲的都是长篇故事。评书演员在一张桌子后面，站着或坐着，手里拿着折扇或一块用来提醒观众的醒木，娓娓道来，引人入胜。在电视没有普及的年代，通过广播听评书连载是中国人的娱乐生活之一。有名的评书演员有袁阔成、单田芳、刘兰芳等。

Storytelling is a performing art form of oral presentation. Usually conducted in standard speech, storytelling revolves around a long tale. Sitting or standing behind a desk, and holding in his hand a folding fan or a gavel, the performer tells a story in an intriguing way to amuse listeners. In the years before the popularization of television, telling a story by installments through broadcasting was one of the ways to entertain people. Such performers as Yuan Kuocheng, Shan Tianfang and Liu Lanfang enjoy great popularity.