1. Relatively unknown in the West, from the late 1980s through the early 2000s Dashan was one of the most famous Western personalities in China's media industry, where he occupied a unique position as a foreign national who had become a domestic celebrity, largely through his repeated appearances on China Central Television during that period.
Since 2012 Dashan has largely turned away from mainstream media to focus on solo performances in live venues, helping to introduce stand-up comedy to China.
Dashan started learning Chinese in 1979 from a refugee that he worked alongside in a camera store on Bank Street.
The name "Dashan" was the name of his character in the skit, Xu Dashan.
In December 1989, Dashan became the first foreigner to be formally accepted into the strict xiangsheng hierarchy as a member of the "9th generation", a move that caused considerable controversy in Chinese performing arts circles at the time.
In early 2009 Dashan made a return to the CCTV New Year's Gala to perform a xiangsheng skit in which he appeared together with Ma Dong, son of the famous xiangsheng master Ma Ji.
Dashan made a fourth appearance on the CCTV New Year's Gala in 2011, in a skit introducing and performing with several foreign students studying Chinese at Confucius Institutes.
Dashan has occasionally delved into dramatic acting, often to portray other famous foreigners in Chinese history.
In 2006 and 2007, Dashan performed the lead role in Red Star Over China, a stage play based on the life and work of the American reporter Edgar Snow.
Dashan served as team attache to the Canadian Olympic Committee for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
In many instances, Dashan has transcended the role of celebrity performer to become a cultural ambassador between China and the West, both in an informal as well as official capacity.
Dashan served as Commissioner General for Canada at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.
In recent years Dashan has largely turned away from television to focus on solo performances in live venues and on social media.
Since 2012 Dashan has been "on a mission to introduce stand-up comedy to China", performing in small clubs and at universities across China.
In 2015, Dashan performed at the Flushing Comedy Club, a temporary Chinese comedy club in Flushing, Queens set up in a teahouse by Des Bishop.
The club alternated all-Mandarin and all-English comedy nights; Dashan performed during the first all-Mandarin night.
In 2017 Dashan was the only Mandarin performer at the 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the third-largest international comedy festival in the world and the largest cultural event in Australia.
Dashan considers his stand-up as a mix of Western stand-up and Chinese xiangsheng.
The tour features Dashan speaking in Mandarin about the gallery's Canadian art collection.
In 2024, Dashan returned to China to participate in the adaptation of Stephen King's The Shawshank Redemption directed by Zhang Guoli, playing the role of "Red", the narrator of the story.
Dashan is active as a spokesman for several charity organizations, primarily involved with cancer prevention as well as environmental protection.
Since the late 1990s, Dashan has split his time between China and Canada, where his family has a farm near Newmarket, Ontario and a cottage near Algonquin Provincial Park.