Stand up на Оболоні

Serhiy Stepanysko

City – Kyiv (Ukraine)

Language – Ukrainian

Genre – stand-up, improvisation

Becoming a comedian

Serhiy Stepanysko is a popular Ukrainian stand-up comedian, a resident of the Underground Stand Up club, a participant in successful humorous projects, a master of Ukrainian philology by education. The guy’s first acquaintance with comedy happened like this: his mother, a teacher, took Serhiy to a humor evening held at a Zolochiv college. The event resembled a KVN in content: several teams fought for victory in various competitions on stage. Cheerful music, songs, jokes, a warm audience – even then Serhiy liked the general mood of the evening.

Having decided to try his hand at the entertainment genre, Serhiy Stepanysko began to actively participate in creative groups at the school where he studied. In the 11th grade, he played in the KVN and, upon entering the university, did not abandon creativity and even became the captain of the student team. During that period, he met comedian Anton Tymoshenko and other representatives of Ukrainian humor, who by that time already had their own style and recognition in wide circles. The friends created their own team, which in 2017 was selected for the TV festival "League of Laughter".

Independent creative path

Realizing that the potential of team performances had exhausted itself, Serhiy decided to develop as a solo artist. The artist has been doing stand-up independently since 2018. At that time, the start of a career in humor was more promising, because the number of competitors was small. However, no one canceled the importance of charisma and talent in achieving popularity. Therefore, Serhiy began to actively develop his own style and expand the army of fans of his work.

The experience of his colleagues in the creative department suggested to the comedian that performances within certain formats and as part of humorous groups are more promising in conquering a wider audience. This prompted Serhiy to join the Ukrainian Stand Up Agency project. The community members focused on promoting Ukrainian-language stand-up, which greatly impressed Serhiy Stepanyska, who sought to reduce the amount of Russian-language content on the Internet and on TV, while reviving the audience's interest in Ukrainian culture and humor.

Collaboration with other comedian groups was not the only tool for developing a humorous career. Sergey tried himself in popular TV shows, one of which was "Make a Comedian Laugh". The modern stand-up star lost in the first minute. There were several more attempts, but they were aimed more at satisfying Sergey's vanity than at increasing the artist's popularity. And the money earned in the project during the full-scale invasion went to the needs of the military.

Among the important means on the path to success, Serhiy Stepanysko singles out activity in the Internet space. Creating and promoting content on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok works for a wider audience. After all, expecting recognition throughout the country after a concert for several dozen spectators, even with cool and relevant material, is naive. And the prospect of large-scale tours opens up to the artist thanks to persistent and methodical work.

The role of philological education in the career of a stand-up comedian

Serhiy Stepanysko has a master's degree in Ukrainian philology. The knowledge and experience gained, according to the comedian, have taught the artist to think and analyze large amounts of information. It is not surprising that philological topics occupy an important place in the comedian's material. Among other things, Serhiy Stepanysko jokes about:

• relations in the field of Ukrainian stand-up comedy;
• own formation in the comedy genre;
• anxiety and trips to a psychotherapist;
• social media rants and much more.

Topics that are taboo in humor for Sergey:

• about mobilization in a negative way;
• about the experience of the military – without their personal permission;
• about Russians – if it diminishes the feeling of threat from the enemy (in Serhiy's opinion, such jokes diminish the merits of our defenders);
• racism, sexism, cruelty.

Today, despite the large number of negative events that fill our lives, Serhiy Stepanysko continues to find inspiration for creating new jokes and programs. After all, humor remains one of the most effective antidepressants for people. And the comedian calls the biggest thrill for him the laughter of the military, who come to concerts and give confidence that all your actions are not in vain.