"We managed to joke." Another KVN

According to the New Year’s survey , the majority of Russians are convinced that you should not joke about the characteristics of the health of other people, as well as the church, national characteristics and traditions of different peoples, over the history of Russia, the USSR and the Russian Empire. At the same time, jokes in Russia is becoming more unsafe. Last year, for example, the Ministry of Internal Affairs recognized the “lifelong” stay of the comedian Idrak Mirzalizade in Russia. The stand-up comedian Ruslan Bely announced the ban on his speeches in Russia and connected this with the release of his concerts “I” and “Why did I grow a mustache”, where there are political jokes. In these speeches, Bely also jokes about Vladimir Putin, speaker of the Federation Council Valentin Matvienko, mentions Alexei Navalny and rallies.

Against this background, many with nostalgia recall the late Soviet times of “publicity”, when it seemed that from now on it would always be possible to joke and laugh without looking at political censorship.

In the late 1980s, the Theater Marathon was especially popular among the Leningrad Theateraries. In shape, they resembled KVN, but in fact it was the competition of "cabbage" teams of various theaters, which had a huge success in the public. Jokes, including the leaders of the then still Soviet state, were ridiculous and sharp. Little reminiscent of the current, as it were, the "front -end" jokes of the Maslyakovsky KVN. Many numbers prepared for the Theater Marathon became legendary. And they will give additional material to historians and sociologists to study the signs of that time.

The captain of the theater team of Leningrad was artist Boris Smolkin. He shares his memories with Radio Liberty.

- Marathon invented “Marathon” Sergey Slonimsky (not to be confused with the outstanding Leningrad composer), then an entrepreneurial young man, he worked in the Youth Palace, I don’t even remember whom. And where he is now, I do not know. At first, it was just some timid attempts to do something. “Bolvanka” was taken from KVN - homework, captains competition ... But there were also professional, acting tasks. And there was a lot of improvisation. An important difference from television KVN was that professional artists, people who were accustomed to the stage entered the stage. And the jury was quite representative. I remember there were sports TV presenter Gennady Orlov, artist Igor Dmitriev. Alexander Abdulov, Alexander Shirvindt came to judge games with the participation of Moscow teams.

Unlike the teams of the Maslyakovsky KVN, who collaborate with professional authors, the participants of the Marathon themselves came up with numbers, reprisals, songs. By and large, these were theatrical cabbages that anyone could see. Kaputniki, by the way, are able to play far from all artists. The selection was in such a "natural" way.

- What theaters participated in Marathon?

- The teams were at the Pushkin Theater, now Alexandrinsky, at the Comedy Theater, which was not yet the theater named after Akimov, at the Lenin Komsomol Theater, now it is the Baltic House. There were teams even at musical and opera theaters, I remember the team of the Small Opera Theater, now Mikhailovsky. But they somehow quickly surrendered, so only the actors of drama theaters remained, who became strong professionals of the Theater Marathon.

“But Muscovites also came to play Leningrad?”

- Yes, Muscovites came. The Shalom Theater came, he had a deceased Marina Golub captain. But not only Muscovites. A team of the Ivan Franco Theater came from Kyiv, the Gorky Minsk Drama Theater also sent his team.

And then we formed the national team of Leningrad, in which Andrei Urgant, Andrei Maksimkov, Andrey Krasko, Arkady Koval played. And I played too. We were all from different theaters, it’s even difficult for me to say what united us. Probably mutual sympathy, talent, the desire to perform in the cabbage ...

- You are called the captain of this team on the Internet. How did you become them?

- Then I went to work at the Pushkin Theater, being already an experienced participant in the cabbage. In addition, I played in the "cabbage" theater "The Fourth Wall" founded by Vadim Zhuk. And they called me to the team of the Pushkin Theater and made me a captain. And when the team of Leningrad was created, I was chosen by its captain. Why, I find it difficult to answer exactly. Probably because he won all the competitions of the captains in which he participated (laughs). I remember the name of the national team - "Very 89".

- Two teams participated in the games?

- No, at first there were a lot of them. But then there were usually two teams. There was some constant format. We gathered large halls - the houses of culture, even the large concert hall "Oktyabrsky". And when all this movement was "resolved", we made the program with which we performed. Also very successful. And also on large sites.

-It all began in the late 1980s, in Soviet times, even if publicity and perestroika have already come ...

- Oh yes! And it was a very fertile ground for creating our rooms. There was a feeling as if all the doors and windows were opened at once.

- You were easily allowed to joke over Gorbachev? Above the CPSU? KGB?

- And we did not ask! I don’t remember censorship at this time at all. It was a wave of freedom. I would even say a wave of crazy freedom. We managed to joke ... Yes, what topics we did not have time to joke! And about the previous government, and about the current one. Nobody stopped us and no one checked us.

“Well, you, inventing your numbers, were afraid of something?” At least at the beginning?

- No! It is important to say that the cabbage, which were the basis of the Theater Marathon, were, as they say, for "internal use". And then they went outside, because tickets were sold on them. But our audience was our own, special. Which wanted to see these cabbage, our performances. These were the cream of society, a real intelligentsia. I think that 70 percent of this public now lives outside of Russia. Those who came, we considered ours. It seems to me that they were grateful that we made the cabbages that were closed until then for most of them. We had a program called "Years of Freedom."

- I am just one of those who are grateful to you ... I always dreamed of getting to the cabbage. On the legendary night gatherings in the actor’s house on Nevsky on the days of tour of Moscow theaters. And here you could buy a ticket and come to the hall ... By the way, the Kaputnikov Theater "The Fourth Wall" of Vadim Zhuk already existed then?

-The Fourth Wall has existed since the mid-1970s. We all, like the participants of the team "Very 89", were graduates of LGITMIC. The actors came, left. Then we are five left. Five of those who played until the very end of the existence of the theater. Plus an accompanist.

- But the “fourth wall” probably had to face censorship ...

-Yes, in the 1970s there was censorship. We allowed ourselves something, but we watched us, although we played for our own, at night. The authorities of the actor’s house were very afraid of problems, there was such an internal reinsurance. Coming to the performance, we saw the guys from the KGB who supervised us. I can’t say that censorship was too hard, but it was, of course. As for the Theater Marathon, we were lucky with time. I repeat, it was a time of crazy freedom. I will not pick up a more accurate definition ...

- And you clearly really liked this time ...

- Yes. Well, to be honest, it was some kind of earnings. We had producers, we were paid by fees. Years came when there were very few work. Many artists went to taxi drivers, trading. And they paid us. Let small, but money.

A small retreat. The time was really complicated. In Leningrad in the late 1980s, a card system was introduced for goods and products. One of the popular numbers of the Theater Marathon was a romance for Vadim Zhuk's poems:

You surrendered to me for a coupon for soap,

Like a girl, playing and frolic ...

And if it was on sale,

Wouldn't you surrender?

But the number performed by Arkady Koval (video below). It is called a "play for a piano with a piano." Not everyone probably remembers that almost the entire alcoholic market then occupied Royal alcohol, which was diluted with something, and they drank just like that. Another sign of that time.

- Did you add popularity to you in the Theater Marathon?

- Yes, of course, although television, with the rarest exception, did not remove us. Moreover, he added popularity not only in Russia. Many of our fans emigrated, and the rumor about us spread beyond the limits of the country.

- Why and how is the “theater marathon” ended? Did he exhaust himself?

“I can only tell you what I myself think about this.” I don’t want to say for others ... Firstly, at some point about everything, or almost everything that we laughed at, began to talk on television, in newspapers, theaters, in the cinema. There was such a period in the history of Russia, when there were practically no forbidden topics. Not far, but he was. Maybe the enthusiasm on which everything was built. After all, this was not our main work. We gathered, we came up with something at night, wrote-this required enthusiasm. Maybe we just got older. Someone found another niche. Andrei Maksimkov and Andrei Urgant separated, began to work together. Andrei Krasko began to actively act in films.

Oddly enough, this cabbage enthusiasm, the current theatrical youth has no enthusiasm ...

By the way, the KVN team began to participate in the "classic" KVN, in which the "Theater Marathon" was invited to come up with numbers. Participants in this national team Mikhail Shats, Mikhail Shchedrinsky then moved to Moscow. And after many years, my friends at that time called me for samples in the series "My Beautiful Nanny" for the role of the butler. Where I starred for several years in the 2000s.

- Does it bother you that you are usually associated with this role?

- They also recognize me by voice, if I open my mouth. After all, I voiced iodine in several series of "Star Wars" (laughs). Seriously, the role in the "beautiful nanny" brought me a lot of good.

-Having come to the Theater Marathon in the 1980s, you were already an experienced and famous artist. They worked in several Leningrad theaters, played many serious roles - Polonia, Tarelkin, Truffaldino, Floridore, Rasplyuev. Filmed in the cinema. Was there any outlet for you? The opportunity to distract from the main work?

- Yes, I was not deprived of roles, but I liked to participate in the cabbage. And I still like it. Since student times, I have been happy to dive into such "adventures". I write something, invent. When I played the Polonia you mentioned, then after the first act in which Polonia was killed, I went down to the dressing room, where the guys were already waiting for me. And we sat, invented ...

- But the bow at the end of the performance came out?

- To bow? Yes! ( Laughs .) "Hamlet" lasted 4 and a half hours. The first act was two and a half hours, so we always had two hours before the bow!