Yakov Smirnoff

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Yakov Smirnoff (born January 24, 1951) is, according to his own description, a Ukrainian-born American comedian and painter.

1 Biography
2 Comedy style
- 2.1 "America: What a country!"
- 2.2 Russian reversal ("In Soviet Russia . . .")
3 9/11 mural
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Smirnoff was born Yakov Naumovich Pokhis in a Jewish family in Odessa, Ukraine--then part of the Soviet Union. He was an art teacher in Odessa and continues to paint. He came to the U.S. in 1977 and became an American citizen on July 4, 1986.

He was a roommate of comedian Andrew Dice Clay and has appeared in several motion pictures, including Buckaroo Banzai. Among his numerous appearances on television, he was featured many times on the sitcom Night Court as Yakov Korolenko. At the peak of his success, he also had a starring role in a 1986-87 television sitcom titled "What a Country". In that show, he played a Russian cab driver studying for the U.S. citizenship test. Since 1992, he has been a fixture in Branson, Missouri.

He is almost completely unknown in the former Soviet Union, due to either the existence of censorship laws in the former USSR, or the fact that his standup routines are in English. The decline in his US popularity started after the collapse of the USSR, as nearly all of his signature material consisted of mocking the Soviet regime.

Although he has largely vanished from the comedy scene and lost his status as a superstar, references to him and his jokes still occur from time to time in popular culture, notably in many popular television series and he played himself in a King of the Hill episode entitled "The Bluegrass is Always Greener" which aired in 2002.[1]

In May 2006, Smirnoff received a master's degree in positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.[2] Yakov has taught classes at Drury University along with Missouri State University in this topic.

[edit] Comedy style

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The largest part of the humor of Yakov Smirnoff falls into two wide categories:

[edit] "America: What a country!"

Misunderstanding of American life and custom through the eyes of a new immigrant.
- For instance, reading employment announcements of "Part-Time Woman Wanted": "What a country! Even transvestites can get work."
- Upon being offered work as a barman on a "graveyard shift," he remarks “A bar in a cemetery! What a country! Last call? During Happy Hour the place must be dead." ^[1]
- At the grocery store: "Powdered milk, powdered eggs, baby powder . . . what a country!"
- "The first time I went to a restaurant, they asked me 'How many in your party?' and I said "Six hundred million."

Bizarre comparisons between the U.S. and Russia.
- "We have no gay people in Russia—there are homosexuals but they are not allowed to be gay about it. The punishment is seven years locked in prison with other men and there is a three-year waiting list for that."

He once told Johnny Carson, "You have such nice things in the U.S.—like warning shots!" ^[2]

Two Yakov Smirnoff jokes from the early 1980s:

"In the Soviet Union, we have no prostitution. Russian women have trouble giving it away."
"Russian women: At 20, they look 40. At 40, they look 60. At 60—don't look."

Another joke is "Dissident Land," a play on Disneyland and an obvious off-shoot of Soviet prisons. Supposedly it's so fun there that no one ever leaves.

Another Yakov Smirnoff joke: "There are no Taco Bells in Russia. They didn't like the slogan, 'Run for the border.' "

The Ben Stiller Show did a skit on Yakov's lack of material after the fall of the Soviet Union. The skit features Stiller as Yakov sweating profusely during a show in which he gets no laughs due to the his inability to mock the Soviet Union since the fall.

[edit] Russian reversal ("In Soviet Russia . . .")

Main article: Russian reversal

Russian reversal is a type of joke which frequently appears in many online communities, particularly, on Slashdot, Digg and its spinoffs, Encyclopedia dramatica, and Uncyclopedia. The general form of the Soviet Russia joke is that the subject and objects of a statement are reversed, and “In Soviet Russia,” or something equivalent, is added. For example:

In the US, you can catch a cold.

In Soviet Russia, cold catches you!

In the US, you can always find a party.

In Soviet Russia, Party finds you!

Many times, the opening line is cut. For example:

In Soviet Russia, sock wears you!

[edit] 9/11 mural

Smirnoff is also a painter and has frequently featured the Statue of Liberty in his art since receiving his U.S. citizenship at Ellis Island.

On the night of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks he started a painting inspired by his feelings about the event, based on an image of the Statue of Liberty. Just prior to the first anniversary of the attacks, he paid $100,000 for his painting to be transformed into a large mural. Its dimensions were 200 feet by 135 feet (approximately 36.5 m by 41 m).

The mural, titled "America's Heart", is a pointillist-style piece, with one brushstroke for each victim of the attacks. Sixty volunteers from the Sheet Metal Workers Union erected the mural on a damaged skyscraper overlooking the ruins of the World Trade Center. The mural remained there until November 2003, when it was removed because of storm damage.