10 stand-up comedians

A real discovery for connoisseurs of stand-up

Arsen Puchkov is a trashy stand-up comedian from Zaporozhye, whose topics for jokes are very close and understandable to many. Today, Arsen lives in Kyiv and is actively expanding his audience. The public likes the light and simple style of the comedian's stories. This makes Arsen what is called "his" in any company. That is why for many, the stand-up of a witty humorist often becomes a pleasant discovery and even, they say, is addictive.

The topics for Arsen Puchkov's jokes are very diverse. His stories are about IT, barbershops, nervousness and anxiety, owners of iPhones, about parents and childhood, tattoos and greed. Arsen knows how and likes to laugh at himself and his problems, and this is winning.

Vova Linnik

Language – Ukrainian

Genre – stand-up, improvisation

Creative path

Vova Linnik is a Ukrainian stand-up comedian, a participant in the popular projects of “Voyage Stand-up”. The young artist already has extensive experience performing on stage. A successful debut stimulated the author to write new material, present it to fans of the comedy genre, improve and firmly establish himself in the domestic humor industry. In collaboration with the residents of the “Voyage Stand-up” collective, among whom are real stars of Ukrainian comedy, Linnik visited Dnipro, Poltava, Lviv, Ternopil, Vinnytsia and other cities. Gradually, Vova gained recognition and popularity among a large audience. And now the comedian’s performances are awaited by fans in different parts of the country.

Artist's style and development

Vova Linnik's humor captivates with its simplicity and at the same time accuracy. The comedian clearly and wittily talks about the painful and most interesting things from his life, and also presents the experiences of friends and acquaintances in his own way. The author's vivid observations are expressed in emotional monologues and spectacular improvisations with fans. Vova jokes on completely different topics, adding a strong word and revealing spicy details. From the stage, Linnik directly and frankly talks about:

• relationships and jealousy;
• household habits;
• shopping trips;
• the ability to give each other gifts;
• family, upbringing and much more.

Today, Vova Linnik continues to develop his own creativity in stand-up. Ahead are more than one tour and solo concerts. In the meantime, the performer of his own jokes can be seen on stage in such formats as “Fridays Stand-up”, “10 Stand-up Comedians”, “Set List” and others. These are projects where during short but effective performances, leaders and newcomers of stand-up give their all. And the audience gives their favorites a loud ovation.

Dan Che – style and charisma in action

Dan Che is a bright representative of Ukrainian stand-up, a resident of the Kyiv club "Brodyachy Stand Up", a participant of the Stand up for three format. The comedian's bright image and his taboo-free humor do their job flawlessly, drawing the attention of more and more stand-up fans to Dan's work.

What Dan Che is joking about

If we talk about the topics that the comedian touches on in his performances, then these are children and relationships in the family, sex, current problems of society and much more. Dan, for example, can delicately lay out all the advantages of the moment when you have "family" on you, or reflect with the audience on the harmfulness of filters on Instagram. Non-trivial topics and a generally restrained style of communication with the audience are components that create a unique image of a cool comedian.

Kyrylo Zalata

City – Kyiv (Ukraine)

Language – Ukrainian

Genre – stand-up, improvisation

Creative path

Kyrylo Zalata is a Ukrainian stand-up comedian, founder and ex-resident of the Stand-up Club Kotryi club, producer of Stand-up Salon and ahah.comedy, organizer of such humor festivals as STANDUP FAMILY FEST and STANDUP BEACH. By profession, Kyrylo is a geologist, and in fact – a punk (at least that’s what the artist writes about himself). And the star of domestic stand-up is also the owner of the Rector’s Cup of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, a football fan and a bright representative of progressive independent stand-up comedy in the city of Kyiv. Over the years, he has gained fans in the genre and helped other talented comedians conquer the stage and make their stand-up debut.

Artist's style and development

The audience calls the comedian unpredictable and brilliant. Kirill has already performed a huge number of times on the stages of small and large cities. He has toured abroad as part of a comedy troupe. Zalata also has other talents: a poet and a musician. And jokes about this sometimes appear in the comedian's performances. Fans are captivated by the original presentation of the material, Kirill's bright charisma and the impressive density of humor. Among the topics on which the comedian jokes:

• personal observations and children's entertainment;
• political events and dog training on Zoom;
• tattoos and motivational books;
• financial literacy, the path to becoming a romantic, and much more.

Social activity

In addition to his work in the stand-up genre, Kyrylo Zalata is also involved in organizing events. In particular, in collaboration with Serhiy Afonsky, he launched the “Alarming Microphone” project in Kyiv. Events within the format are held in the popular “Basement of Culture” in the capital. Such meetings bring together dozens of fans of modern Ukrainian comedy and help to “untie” the audience emotionally. Therefore, Kyiv residents and guests of the capital are happy to come to stand-up evenings, relax, and also donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (because without this now - no way).

A fan of an interesting life, who turns all his observations into jokes

Pavlo Pinchuk is a comedian originally from Dnipro, who today has already reached the level of soloists in the capital. Among the projects in which Pavlo took part are "Razgony" from "Vagabond Standup", Closed Mic, where experienced comedians present new and better material. Together with other comedians, Pavlo takes to the stage of comedy shows of an improvisational format, where bright artists joke without preparation on topics that are received from the audience simply during the concert.

Pavel's subtle humor is interesting because it fully reflects the comedian's attitude to non-trivial situations from seemingly everyday life. The comedian jokes about the absurdity of the modern world, about relationships, addictions and psychotherapists, about the impression he makes on girls and much more.

Ruslan Kolesnyk is the majestic and fair leader of the island of original comedy

Ruslan Kolesnyk is a talented Ukrainian stand-up comedian, a resident of the Brodyachii Stand Up club. For more than 5 years, Ruslan has been selflessly working in the field of modern Ukrainian comedy, seeding it with witty, sometimes unpredictable, but always brilliant and effective jokes. In return, he receives a lot of positive feedback from the public, who love to come to the author's stand-up shows and simply enjoy interesting adult humor and live communication with the comedian.

If you want to find out what the "restless legs syndrome" is or why it is sometimes so important to be able to hold a started walk-behind tractor - then come to Ruslan's stand-up!

Yevhen Leshchenko

City – Kharkiv (Ukraine)

Language – Ukrainian

Genre – stand-up, improvisation

Creative path

Yevgeny Leshchenko is a Ukrainian stand-up comedian, founder of the Comedy Club and Split Comedy Kharkiv, a resident of the Wandering Stand-up club. He felt the desire to work and develop in humor back in his school years. When the guy was asked what he wanted to become, the answer was: “A clown!” After entering university, the young man began to play in the KVN. However, he did not see any prospects in this: he wanted something else. Yevgeny began to watch translated classics of the humorous genre - videos of performances by American humor stars, comedians Eddie Murphy and George Carlin. It was then that he firmly decided to become a stand-up comedian.

Leshchenko's debut on stage in front of a live audience took place in 2017. The aspiring artist took part in "Open Microphone". It was scary, Yevhen lacked confidence. He created jokes for the performance literally in one day. However, the comedian's bright charisma worked, and the comedian gained invaluable experience. At that time, Yevhen worked as a bartender. Constant communication with people was liberating and gave him the understanding that future activities should be related to public activity. Over time, Yevhen's patience broke through. He quit and opened Split Comedy with other colleagues.

Artist's style and development

In a short time, Yevgeny became a real stand-up star and won wide popularity and recognition among fans of the comedy genre. Although at first, after moving to Kyiv, he did not dare to go on stage for a long time and simply watched the performances of other comedians. Gradually, offers to participate in concerts of the Kyiv "Underground Stand-Up", "Free Stand-Up" in Chernivtsi appear. The talented stand-up artist develops cooperation with other representatives of the humor industry and simultaneously gives solo concerts. The artist has visited many major cities of Ukraine, where he now has devoted fans of his work. A large tour with a solo program took place in 2021.

The audience of the comedian's fans is constantly expanding, attracting more and more Ukrainians of all ages to the ranks of connoisseurs of the author's humor. The audience is captivated by the subtle humor and emotional presentation of the material. Yevhen calls himself a "product of stand-up comedy" - a person who tries to be in stand-up in all its manifestations (working on stage and off it). The comedian entered the genre gradually. He started by getting acquainted with the Kharkiv hangout. And at first, the team did not perceive Yevhen very kindly. But the artist understood that stand-up is something he would prefer to do with full dedication. Therefore, he continued to actively develop in the genre. Among the topics that Yevhen Leshchenko jokes about:

• everyday life and everyday situations;
• relationships between women and men;
• personal adventures;
• the absurdity of the world around us and much more.

In general, the author is sure: there are no forbidden topics. There are unfunny jokes. The main thing is not to cross the boundaries of a person's personal space, then there will be no conflicts with oneself and with the audience. Yevhen also notes the great prospects of Ukrainian stand-up as such. In the early 2010s, the situation was quite uncertain, comedians were testing the audience, many were eliminated. The main center and platform for performances was YouTube. And this limited the opportunities for popularizing artists. However, today both the audience and the comedians themselves are more open to each other. Completely different humor comes in. This is how a kind of connection occurs: the audience chooses "their" among the comedians and carefully follows their activity on the network, comes to live concerts.

Social activity

Yevhen Leshchenko is one of those who at one time switched to Ukrainian and by his example pushed many others to do so. A native of Kharkiv, Yevhen recently moved to Kyiv, where he continued to work in his chosen field. During the full-scale invasion, comedians, like Ukrainian opinion leaders, are making every effort to strengthen our army. As part of their concerts, they hold charity auctions and collections for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Yevhen Leshchenko and other colleagues in the workshop do not allow Ukrainians to forget about the realities and call on them to actively donate and make any possible contribution to the Victory. At the same time, humor also plays an important role: it adds strength and replenishes the reserves of positivity, supporting every Ukrainian in a difficult time for everyone.