Comedy Club on TNT – most popular show on Russian TV. From 23 April 2005 the show in the genre of stand-up comedy has become the favorite humor program for Russian TV viewrs. From 23 April 2010 the program works in a completely new format. Comedy Club was created in 2005 by “New Armenians” KVN team. The idea came in 2001, when Artashes Sargsyan visited the United States and saw «Comedy Club». Russian Comedy Club is the phenomenon in the domestic humor, which has established itself since 2005. It is more likely for young people. Adults just do not understand jokes, having grown up in Soviet comedies and like to laugh at other type of humor. The residents themselves are all very talented.
Ratings of the program began to grow rapidly, and with them appeared money for new projects. Later, they set up their own production company «Comedy Club Production». Artists, referred to as “residents” take the stage, going down from the second floor on the escalator. Musical accompaniment plays live. The first issues of the new format lasted one and a half hours, including advertising. Working full-time creative team – the author’s department, which includes more than 50 authors. However, almost all the residents come up with their own monologues, miniatures, often improvising on stage.
Comedy Club on TNT – the current residents
Garik Martirosyan – host of the show, presenting his own comic monologues, miniatures, improvisation.
Pavel Volya – performing with his own humorous monologues, improvisation (usually in the course of communication with the audience of celebrities).
Timur Batrutdinov – performs usually in a duet with Garik Kharlamov, his other role – the candidate Egor Batrudov. Member of music groups ‘lips’, ‘Two Antons’.
Garik ‘Bulldog’ Kharlamov – appears in miniatures, often together with Timur Batrutdinov. Character – Edward Surovy.
Alexander Revva – Miniatures and monologues. Characters – ‘the most handsome man the Universe’, ‘Arthur Pirozhkov’, ‘Grandma’, ‘SuperStas’, ‘Don Digidon’, ‘Alex Nowatski’ and ‘Alexander Svistoplyasov’.
Gavr and Oleg Gordeev Vereshchagin – miniatures and dialogues between the ‘waiter’ (Gordeev) and ‘guard’ (Vereshchagin) and other miniatures
Dmitry Sorokin, Zurab Matua and Andrey Averin – musical sketches, musical experiments, the participants of the ‘Lips’.
Duet ‘Sisters Zaytsevy’ (Alex Likhnitsky, Roman Yunusov) – miniatures, monologues.
‘Chekhov Duet’ (Anton Lirnik and Andrey Molochny) – miniatures.
Alexander Nezlobin – own humorous monologue miniatures.
Victor Vasiliev – miniature monologues.
Dmitry Khrustalev – miniature. Previously performed in a duet with Victor Vasiliev.
Sergei Gorelikov – an expert on the right communication with the girls, ‘Foreplay’ and member of the ‘United Sexy Boys’ by the nickname ‘Turbo’.
Semen Slepakov – bard ‘foreman’.
Mikhail Galustyan – miniatures, usually with Timur Batrutdinov.
Demis Karibidis – miniatures, usually with Timur Batrutdinov and Garik Kharlamov.
Marina Kravets – miniatures, usually with Andrey Averin, Zurab Matua with Dmitry Sorokin, as well as with other members of Comedy Club.
Dmitry Grachev – appears in the form of Vladimir Putin.
Ruslan Bely – life monologues.
Vadim Galygin – Miniatures and monologues.
Sergei Svetlakov – acts as Mitrich. Rarely.
United Sexy Boyz (abbreviated – USB). The group, parodying almost all kinds of pop music. Group members – Nikita (Konstantin Malasaev), Gena (Dmitry Vyushkin), Stas (Andrey Shelkov), Turbo (Sergey Gorelikov), Dyusha Metelkin (Andrew Minin) – the leader of the group.
Critics of the show believe that it is too commercialized, and the performances of the residents tend to contain unacceptable in a civilized society toilet humor. Famous satirist Mikhail Zadornov said that they could not speak every week, no such talent to write witty and effervescent. And they went even to the vulgarity, the physiology. And they have ruined their talent. Repeatedly critical assessment of the show gave rock musician Michael Gorshenev, speaking about copying Western ideas: “We did not even bother to come up with something different, or at least a little change. This is a stupid topic, for which I personally feel ashamed when I look at these ripoffs with Western standards of the program. It is a shame for the culture”
In 2009, according to the Russian version of the magazine «Forbes», the annual income of «Comedy Club» amounted to $ 8.3 million.
