Rowswell often performs stand-up comedy shows at Beijing's Bookworm bookstore. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Two years ago, he looked back at his life and asked himself: "What's my legacy?"

In 2013, when he had already been on Chinese television for 25 years and wanted to do something new, he noticed that young audiences in Beijing and Shanghai were beginning to enjoy modern Chinese stand-up comedy.

His Irish-American comedian friend Des Bishop invited him to perform at one such show at Renmin University in Beijing.

"I hadn't done comedy (for long) and my voice was shaking," he recalls.

Later that year, he started performing at small venues with Chinese stand-up comedians Xi Jiangyue, Tony Chou and Jeff Shi, who are also expected to be guest performers at his upcoming show.

"This is not something you do inside a TV studio. You have to talk to live audiences rather than talking to cameras. You have real reaction," Rowswell says.

"Of all the things I have done in my career, this is by far the most difficult. It's much easier to host a big event when a prime minister visits. It's hard to do an original composition, hold the attention of audiences for an hour and make them laugh," he adds.