Dispersal from a wandering stand-up comedian. Filming

Bohdan Pysmenko

City – Kharkiv (Ukraine)

Language – Ukrainian

Genre – stand-up, improvisation

Creative path

Bohdan Pysmenko is an experienced Ukrainian comedian, a TikTok star who has been in the genre for over 8 years. Today, the artist gives solo concerts and has a considerable army of fans. At the beginning of his creative path, he understood an important point: to be a good comedian, you need to be able to reflect on the events happening around you. Otherwise, an attentive audience will feel the falsity and it will be more difficult to gather the audience next time. At the same time, according to Bohdan, you should always be critical of your performances. If you were lucky enough to make the audience laugh today, this does not give the comedian the title of god of comedy. But it becomes an impetus for development.

The artist describes his feeling as a realized comedian as follows: “my soul has calmed down a little.” At the same time, Bohdan believes that being funny is very important for success. The first six months of performances were exploratory for the stand-up comedian – he tried to find topics and develop his own style. He was filled with ideas for creativity from films, TV series, and musical works. During his formation in humor, Bohdan participated in various projects. Some of them still remain a stage for the comedian’s performances. The audience could see the stand-up comedian on the air of the following formats and groups:

• Kharkiv stand-up club Split Comedy;
• "Comedy Club";
• podcast "Sex and Contents";
• "Dispersals from the vagrant" and others.

Artist's style and development

Bohdan Pysmenko is called the new star of Ukrainian stand-up, and his unique and inimitable style is defined as “brazen intelligentsia”. Recognition and popularity, successful solo concerts and collaboration with other humor colleagues are modern realities for the master of comedy. Bohdan’s work appeals to stand-up fans thanks to simple and understandable topics. The comedian talks about:

• tattoos and inflation;
• love, relationships with women and intimate experiences;
• childhood and tasteless sauces;
• job search, various everyday situations, and more.

Social activity

Together with other representatives of Ukrainian humor, Bohdan Pysmenko takes an active part in charity performances, the funds from which are transferred to the needs of our military. It is also necessary to note the special, therapeutic effect of the humor of the talented author on Ukrainians. For many, meetings with the comedian are indispensable in replenishing morale and helping to recharge as much as possible in conditions of constant stress.

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.

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.

Український стендап комік, резидент клубу “Бродячий стендап”.