Ma Ji, 72, a roly-poly Chinese comedian best known for his mastery of puns and satirical dialogues with other performers, died Wednesday of a heart attack, state media reported.
Ma, whose given name was Ma Shuhuai, died at the Anzhen Hospital in Beijing, Chinese Central Television reported.
A biography on the official China Daily website said Ma was born in Beijing in 1934 and had worked in a textile factory before he started studying xiangsheng, or "crosstalk," in 1951.
Crosstalk is a traditional Chinese comic form involving one or two actors bantering on a fixed topic, usually at a quickening pace, that relies heavily on slang, puns and imitation.
He joined China's Central Broadcasting Recitation and Ballad Troupe in 1956 and later became a regular feature on CCTV's hugely popular Lunar New Year variety show, it said.
