''Calambur'' (russian: Каламбур, ''

Pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...

'') is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

that was first aired on October 12, 1996 on Russian TV channel ORT (now

Channel One Russia Channel One ( rus, Первый канал, r=Pervyy kanal, p=ˈpʲervɨj kɐˈnal, t=First Channel) is a Russian state-controlled television channel. It is the first television channel to broadcast in the Russian Federation. Its headquarters ...

). It combines

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

humor and

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

elements to create what its creators describe as "video comics". In early 2001, with the unanimous decision of the cast and producer, ''Calambur'' was ended.

Production

In 1992 the

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

trio Magazine «Foo» (russian: Магазин «Фу») consisted of Sergey Gladkov, Tatyana Ivanova and Vadim Nabokov, and the comic troupe Sweet Life (russian: Сладкая жизнь), with actors Yuri Stytskovsky and Aleksey Agopyan, joined popular

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

comic troupe

Maski Maski is a town and an archaeological site in the Raichur district of the state of Karnataka, India.Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p282 It lies on the bank of the Maski river which is a tributary of the Tungabhadra. Maski derives its name from Mahasan ...

(russian: Маски). Their debut on TV was characterized by episodic and several main roles in '' Maski Show'', a series of silent comedy movies that put slapstick and

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...

into

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

-style storytelling. Later, five actors created their own group, Full House (russian: Фул Хаус). The name was motivated by the actors' specialization — three clowns and two comics, like in the

poker hand In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called ''hands'', according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high ...

, and a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...

, which they roughly translate on Russian as "house full of fools".«КАЛАМБУР» , журнал видеокомиксов — Интересные факты
/ref> The idea of "video comics" was created by Gladkov and Nabokov. The first two sketch movies of Magazine «Foo» characters were made in 1992 and 1993 as ''Snow Show'' (one of them was later used in the first

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

episode of ''Calambur''). On the production of the TV show ''Anshlag'' they met comic actors

Ilya Oleynikov Ilya Lvovich Oleynikov (born Ilya Lvovich Klyaver; 10 July 1947 – 11 November 2012) was a Russian comic actor and television personality, TEFI winner (1996, 2001), People's Artist of Russia (2001).

and

Yuri Stoyanov Yuri Nikolaevich Stoyanov (russian: Ю́рий Никола́евич Стоя́нов, ; born July 10, 1957 in Odesa) is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor, musician. People's Artist of the Russian Federation (2001). Most famous comedian ...

and decided to complete their "clown comics" with dialogue, but the actors could not arrange about location of production (

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

). Later this idea was realized after creating of ''Full House''. The production of the first 12 episodes of ''Full House'' show started in April 1996 in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.ORT. It was accepted with a request to change the name and the ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

''-inspired appearance of the host character (Yuri Stytskovsky); yet he is still seen in the opening title sequence of the final version. The show was renamed to ''Calambur'', with the changing of several lines in the closing theme song, and sketches with host and

makeup artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions incl ...

(Aleksey Agopyan) were reshot. For making a contract with the channel, Irina Kozyr invited producer Yuri Volodarsky, who closely worked with ''Maski''. Starting from the second season, production was relocated to Odessa, at the

Odessa Film Studio Odesa Film Studio ( uk, Одеська кіностудія художніх фільмів) is the Ukrainian, formerly Soviet film studio in Odesa, one of the first in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. It is partially owned by a government ...

. In 2000 by the decision of general producer Yuri Volodarsky, ''Calambur'' moved to

RTR RTR may refer to: Media * Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (previously Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha), a Swiss broadcasting company * ''Reformed Theological Review'', an Australian Protestant theological journal * Return to Ravnica, a ''Magic the ...

TV channel for one season. This was mostly motivated by financial advantage since

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

on this channel was cheaper. After canceling production, RTR broadcast a "fake" seventh season, consisting of sketches from previous seasons and several unused ones.«КАЛАМБУР» , журнал видеокомиксов — Сборники (2001-2004 года)
/ref> In 2004 a global edit of all episodes was made, which "created" originally nonexistent 13 and 30 episodes, divided last New Year special episode on two parts and added three more episodes with previously unused sketches. All animated sequences and intros for the show were produced by Odessa Animation Studio, which also worked with other Ukrainian comedy shows of the time, such as above mentioned ''Maski Show'' and '' Gentleman Show''.

End

In early in 2001, after the broadcast of its sixth season, with the unanimous decision of the cast and producer, production of show was stopped and ''Calambur'' was soon ended. Yuri Stytskovsky continued making his own movies and TV projects (mostly sitcoms), while Sergey Gladkov, Tatyana Ivanova and Vadim Nabokov continued their theatrical activity as a ''Calambur'' (or '' Fool's Village'') comic group, with actor Oleg Kolchin as Medved, and sometimes affiliating with ''Maski''. Aleksey Agopyan has since participated in various Ukrainian and Russian movies and TV series (mostly in episodic roles), including Stytskovsky's projects, and several theatrical performance, sometimes with the mentioned comic groups and in the duet Odekolon with former ''Maski'' actor

Vladimir Komarov Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov ( rus, Влади́мир Миха́йлович Комаро́в, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kəmɐˈrof; 16 March 1927 – 24 April 1967) was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. ...

. In 2003 Gladkov, Nabokov and Agopyan planned to make a ''Fool's Village''

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

about Muzhik and Moryachok being at the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

with a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

, but it didn't rise for unknown reasons. At the Odessa Animation Studio they later produced the animated shorts series ''S.O.S.'', where fools were also on a

desert island A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...

. Plans on making new ''Calambur'' episodes were later mentioned in 2008 and 2011 but this didn't occur, presumably due to disagreements in the cast.

Sketches

The Host and the Helper

The full name of the show was ''Magazine of video comics «Calambur»'' (russian: Журнал видео комиксов «Каламбур»). The series was presented as a

comic magazine Comic magazine may refer to: * Comics anthology * ''Comic Magazine'', a 1986 Japanese film * Comic Magazines, the parent company of Quality Comics * Franco-Belgian comics magazines * Japanese manga magazines * A periodical containing comic strips, ...

and composed of different "

rubric A rubric is a word or section of text that is traditionally written or printed in red ink for emphasis. The word derives from the la, rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th cent ...

s". Rubrics are usually introduced to "readers" by the Host (Yuri Stytskovsky), who turns pages and conflicts with the unmindful Helper (Aleksey Agopyan). In the third and fourth seasons this gag was replaced with just Host alone, who introduced sketches via a giant illustrated magazine and sometimes appeared in various suits, talking with puns about his "new TV series in the making", or interacting with an audience of

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

d cardboard people. In the fifth season page turn gags weren't used, and in the sixth season the comic-book style of the show was completely removed, with quarrels of Host and Helper complemented by fake live transmissions with the audience via

telephone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

and troubles with the broadcast control desk.

Bar "Calambur"

Bar "Calambur" (russian: Бар «Каламбур») — set in a simple bar at the city. All characters talk with sped-up high-pitched voices (actually voiced by one actor) and

speech bubbles Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a charac ...

appearing on screen. *The Bartender (Aleksey Agopyan) — presumably the main worker of the bar, most of the time imperturbable, sometimes jokes on visitors. *The Waitress (Tatyana Ivanova) — a blonde lady who endlessly talks on the telephone near the entrance, making the Bartender angry or clients wait too long. *The Cook (Yuri Stytskovsky) — a large man with doubtful talents in cookery, but saying that would be an act of foolishness. He's also used by Bartender and Waitress as a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or m ...

. *The Frequenter (or Drunkard) (Vadim Nabokov) — a regular guest of the bar, wears a hat and typically sits at bar desk in a sketch's beginning. Most of his dialogues with other characters are well-known drink-themed jokes or anecdotes. *The Loser (Sergey Gladkov) — a clumsy man with glasses who always lacks money. Most of the time he orders a glass of boiled water, and as for meals he gets the worst dishes from the bar's kitchen and tries to raise jack over that. Sometimes he comes to the bar already drunk. *Madam (Vadim Nabokov) — a chesty lady with heavy makeup and red wig, she works as a prostitute, sometimes waiting for clients outside of the bar. She always tries to get compliments from bar workers or visitors or seduce them, but everyone is only joking on her, after which she only says "Cad" (russian: "Хам") to them. *The Rocker (Yuri Stytskovsky) — a fearsome biker looking man with a

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

tattoo on right hand. He always finds a reason to beat up someone in the bar and orders a bucket of vodka. * Episodic characters: **Loser's girlfriend (Aleksey Agopyan) — clumsy and unlucky just as her boyfriend, she gets drunk after a single glass of soda. She appeared in three episodes. **Bar's owner (Sergey Gladkov) — appeared in one episode after Rocker started a brawl in the bar. **Madam's friend (Sergey Gladkov) — almost identical to the lady mentioned above, with the exception of hair color, appeared in one episode.

The Nose Dive

The Nose Dive (russian: Крутое пике) is a parody on American

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...

s with all characters talking

broken English Broken English is a name for a non-standard, non-traditionally spoken or alternatively-written version of the English language. These forms of English are sometimes considered as a pidgin if they have derived in a context where more than one ...

with VHS-esque one-voice translation and occasionally breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

. Every episode is accompanied by CGI footage of a falling airplane (in first episodes were used fragments of

Airbus A340 The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel with ...

demo footage) and starts with a relatively long introduction with a nervous

air traffic controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...

(Sergey Gladkov) in the background: "Airliner

Broiler A broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaughte ...

747" (an allusion on

TWA Flight 800 Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. K ...

, when a Boeing 747 crashing into the Atlantic Ocean) during 325 episodes. The crew of airliner valiantly fighting to save the lives of passengers. Starring..." *Resilient and courageous Commander (Yuri Stytskovsky) — always making fun of the rest of aircrew or passengers over their coming death and weak hopes and right away laughs at his own jokes on camera. He also pretends to have

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

(or actually has it) and always asks who just entered the cockpit or sometimes does any other thing except piloting the plane or trying to save the situation. *Inventive and resourceful second pilot Drinkins (Aleksey Agopyan) — the main victim of Commander's tricks, he is nervous, sentimental and cowardly, trying to do something with their disaster. In the first episodes he also tried to calm down with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and knitting. *Cute and imperturbable Stewardess (Tatyana Ivanova) — most of the time she enters the cockpit to complain over "problems in the passenger class", after which she gets an advice from Commander. She sometimes sympathizes with almost crying Drinkins or plays along with Commander's jokes. *Dispassionate and charming radioman Morse (Vadim Nabokov) — doesn't fit his own description: he has a facial tic and a stutter. He enters the cockpit mostly to pass a phone call, radiogram, newspaper, message from a flight mechanic or the air traffic control tower of Los Angeles, or the current state of the plane. He is the second victim of Commander's jokes after Drinkins. *And Incomparable Miss Murple as Miss Burple (Sergey Gladkov) — a large lady in a red dress with a big hat and heavy makeup, she is the main source of "problems in the passenger class", but is actually seen only in the introduction and in the end of 28 episode.

Iron Kaput

Iron Kaput (russian: Железный капут) was created as a replacement for ''The Nose Dive'', sharing similar touches (long intro,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

speech with dub translation and footage of transport between sketches), but remained only for one season. It starts with a compilation of military footage from the beginning of the 20th century and monotonous narration, like in a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

: "In the beginning of XX century in military laboratories of First Reichschmacht was created super secret

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

which had military power and weaponry ahead of its time. For testing tank and not destroying

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

before given time, it was sent in

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...

for taking over unruly Zusu (

allusion Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...

on Zulu). After some time, for security reasons, everyone who knew about this project were eliminated and the tank was forgotten. Yet its fearless crew have not forgotten about their great mission and was ready to accomplish their duty. In the annals of history this secret project was called "Iron Kaput"." Sketches take place inside of the tank and rarely near Zusu village. The tank itself is far from the definition of

Wunderwaffe ''Wunderwaffe'' () is German word meaning "wonder-weapon" and was a term assigned during World War II by Nazi Germany's propaganda ministry to some revolutionary "superweapons". Most of these weapons however remained prototypes, which either n ...

as it has a lot of flaws in its construction and injudicious weapons. It's presented as a

radio-controlled Radio control (often abbreviated to RC) is the use of control signals transmitted by radio to remotely control a device. Examples of simple radio control systems are garage door openers and keyless entry systems for vehicles, in which a smal ...

replica of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...

with

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

. * Major Baron von Schwalzkopf XII (Yuri Stytskovsky) — the commander of the tank, referred to as Herr Major by other tank crew members (there's a pun with first word, which sounds like a

euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...

of a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

vulgar slang word). Proud and not very smart, he calls everyone "dummkopf" ("blockhead") while his "wise" decisions end up with explosions inside of the tank, his torn up uniform and his shout "Ha-a-ans". * Hans Schmulke (Aleksey Agopyan) — gun-layer and the only technician of the tank. He doesn't differ with a greater mind but at least thinks about aftermaths. Aside of serving machines he likes to read, listen to music, dance, etc. Whenever an explosion in the tank is unavoidable, he runs away to bring commander a new pair of gallifet trousers after blast. * Drankel (from "drunk") (Sergey Gladkov) and Zhrankel (from " жрать", "fress") (Vadim Nabokov) — two fat

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

soldiers who actually fit under commander's swears. As their names suggest, one is always seen with a

beer stein A beer stein ( ), or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible. An 1894 article on beer mugs in the American ''Vogue'' magazine that describes ...

and other with a chain of

bockwurst Bockwurst is a German cuisine, German sausage traditionally made from ground veal and pork (tending more towards veal, unlike bratwurst). Bockwurst is flavored with salt, Black pepper#White pepper, white pepper and paprika. Other herbs, such as m ...

. Most of the time Herr Major checks their knowledge of military terms and laws or their physical endurance with fast push ups. * Zusu (Aleksey Agopyan, Vadim Nabokov) — two members of the Zusu tribe who laugh over mistakes and futile attempts of invaders and fire their "weaponry" at the tank while being in the trenches.

Fool's Village

Fool's Village (russian: Деревня дураков) is the most well-known and iconic sketch series which appear in every season. It has separate VHS releases and remains popular presently.«Каламбур» представляет: как «Деревня дураков» обрела вторую жизнь
/ref> It is the longest by run time. It is based on characters and early performances of ''Magazine «Foo»'' and is set as a silent slapstick comedy with

s (in later seasons they have high-pitched dialogue). The action takes place in a courtyard and inside of a house of the main characters, a married couple. *The Man (Мужик; Sergey Gladkov) — the husband, has a long mustache and red nose. Some time ago he was a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and even got the

cross of St. George The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of t ...

for an unknown act of bravery, but at the present time he has become a lazy drunkard. He likes

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and always tries to get samagon under the nose of his harsh wife. *The Woman (Баба; Tatyana Ivanova) — the housewife, always wearing a long green dress (in the first two seasons it is blue). Most of the time she represses Man' behaviors to getting drunk with aid of a

frying pan A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab han ...

and other

houseware Household goods are goods and products used within households. They are the tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator. Economic role Businesses that produce household goods are categorize ...

. At the same time she

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...

s her husband with his best friend. *The Silly Sailor (Морячок-дурачок; Vadim Nabokov) — as his name suggests, he is cheerful and silly. He always greets people with a shake of the big orange

pom-pom A pom-pom – also spelled pom-pon, pompom or pompon – is a decorative ball or tuft of fibrous material. The term may refer to large tufts used by Cheerleading, cheerleaders, or a small, tighter ball attached to the top of a hat, al ...

of his

sailor cap A sailor cap is a round, flat visorless hat worn by sailors in many of the world's navies. A tally (cap), tally, an inscribed black silk ribbon, is tied around the base which usually bears the name of a ship or a navy. Many navies (e.g. Germany) ...

. He is Man's best friend who shares his interests and hits on the head from Woman, but at the same time he is the housewife's lover. *The Bear, also referred to as ''Misha'' (Aleksey Agopyan) — a forest neighbor, simple-minded and almost harmless, and because of that he often gets beaten up for no visible reason. He sometimes helps mentioned above, sometimes steals

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

from

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

or picking berries near the house, and sometimes works as

postman A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...

. * The Bee — appears as a bizarre looking puppet and lives in a beehive in the courtyard. It is hostile most of the time, which makes it a some kind of guarding animal. Sometimes the beehive is also used as a

post box A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English) is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intend ...

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

. * Some episodic characters: **The Sailor Lady (Aleksey Agopyan) — Silly Sailor's wife, who presumably still serves in the

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. Whenever she spots her husband getting drunk or cheating on her, Sailor Lady beats him up with an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

or her fists. She appeared only in three episodes (the first time played by Tatyana Ivanova). **The She-Bear (Aleksey Agopyan) — Bears's wife, who wears a

headscarf A headscarf is a scarf covering most or all of the top of a person's, usually women's, hair and head, leaving the face uncovered. A headscarf is formed of a triangular cloth or a square cloth folded into a triangle, with which the head is cov ...

and

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

. Her weapons of choice are a log and bench. She appeared only in two episodes. **

Ded Moroz Ded Moroz (russian: Дед Мороз, ; Russian diminutive: russian: Дедушка Мороз, Dedushka Moroz, label=none; sk, Dedo Mráz; pl, Dziadek Mróz) or Morozko (russian: Морозко) is a legendary figure similar to Saint Nich ...

(''Aleksey Agopyan'') and

Snegurochka Snegurochka (diminutive) or Snegurka ( rus, Снегу́рочка (diminutive), Снегу́рка, p=sʲnʲɪˈgurətɕkə, snʲɪˈgurkə), or The Snow Maiden, is a character in Russian fairy tales. This character has no apparent roots in ...

(Tatyana Ivanova) — appear in episodes of the special

VHS tape. **

Leonid Yakubovich Leonid Arkadyevich Yakubovich People's Artist of Russia, PARchort A chort (Russian: чёрт, Belarusian and Ukrainian: чорт, Serbo-Croatian ''čort'' or ''črt'', Polish: ''czort'' and ''czart'', Czech and Slovak: ''čert'', Slovene: ''črt'') is an anthropomorphic malign spirit or demon in Slavic folk ...

s, appeared in one episode. **Relatives from other lands sending mail and gifts to main characters, they are identical but wear the corresponding national outfit, with the exception of

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...

ones: their behaviors are total opposites, with a house working husband, drunkard wife and her pal — a cheerful sailor lady.

Less popular and short-lived

*Our little Aperitif (russian: Наш аперитивчик) — random short sketches at the beginning of the show which should "create reader's humoristic appetite" for the next rubrics. It has a further recurring pair of robbers in a striped

prison uniform A prison uniform is the standardized clothes worn by prisoners. It usually includes visually distinct clothes worn to indicate the wearer is a prisoner, in clear distinction from civil clothing. A prison uniform serves the purpose to make prison ...

— the smart but unlucky Chef (Aleksey Agopyan) and his big but simple-minded partner Fool (Yuri Stytskovsky). Sometimes sketches star Muzhik and Moryachok, especially ones based on

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

s. *Under the sound of "P" (russian: Под звуком «Пи») — a

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

that was, as the host (Yuri Stytskovsky) says in the intro, copied after the American talk-show ''Without a Shadow of Doubt''. The host talks with guests of the show (other actors) about various things, but words characterizing the theme of the talk are replaced by censoring "P" sound, creating an illusion of an inappropriate nature of talk. In the end the host whispers what word was "under the sound of "P"." *You wrote, we played (russian: Вы написали — мы сыграли) — a replacement of the ''Aperitif'' rubric for the third and fourth seasons, featuring sketches written by viewers for a contest. Most of the sent stories were already well-known among people or were harmless, making the actors come up with half of the rubric's content by themselves. **Sensation by any price (russian: Сенсация любой ценой) — four sketches, written by one of the viewers, about professor (Aleksey Agopyan) and his unlucky partner Max (Yuri Stytskovsky). Max always becomes the victim of the professor's forgetfulness, after which he says "I'll kill you, professor!", but every time he's dragged into a new invention's test by promising, "This is gonna be a sensation." *X, or streets of Y (russian: X, или улицы Y) — another take on random sketches, but with changing titles, which are a parody on the name of the popular in 1999

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

TV series ''

Streets of Broken Lights ''Streets of Broken Lights'' (russian: Улицы разбитых фонарей, Ulitsy razbitykh fonarey) is a Russian criminal drama-detective TV series anthology about police work in Saint-Petersburg. The pilot episode, known as ''Menty'' ( ...

'' or just ''Menty'' ("cops" for

Militsiya ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, , mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə) was the name of the police forces in the Soviet Union (until 1991) and in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), as well as in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1992). The ...

). *Who's There? (russian: Кто там?) — sketches set near the entry door of an

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

, for example, the arriving of drunk pals to their hung over friend. The most recurring character of this rubric is stereotypical Odessian Alfred

Rabinovich Rabinovich or Rabinovitch (Рабино́вич, רבינוביץ), is a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish surname, Slavic for "son of the rabbi" or "son of Rabin". The Polish/Lithuanian equivalents are Rabinowitz or Rabinowicz. People People bearing the s ...

(Aleksey Agopyan). *Black in White (russian: Чёрное в белом) —

dark humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

sketches about

medic A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder. Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgradu ...

s and their patients, most of them based on well known

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

s. *Tales from the Infirmary (russian: Байки из лазарета) — presumably a prequel for ''Iron Kaput'', occurring in 1914 on the battlefields of

, with Herr Major becoming Herr Doktor and Drunken and Zhranken being sanitars. *Miners (russian: Шахтёры) — actually an untitled rubric with two

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

s, Vasilich (Vadim Nabokov) and Petrovich (Aleksey Agopyan), talking to each other while slowly moving a

minecart A minecart or mine cart (also known as a mine trolley or mine hutch) is a type of rolling stock found on a mine railway, used for moving ore and materials procured in the process of traditional mining. Minecarts are seldom used in modern operat ...

in the tunnel. *Men's Stories (russian: Мужские истории) — short sketches set in a pub, which are mostly known for intrusive

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

s of the current sponsor of the show. Most of the time it stars two pals, Vasily (Yuri Stytskovsky) and Aleksey (Aleksey Agopyan), drinking

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

. *From golden series of magazine «Calambur» (russian: Из золотой серии журнала «Каламбур») — this rubric was in the premier versions of the first 11 episodes of the fifth season and consisted of the "best" sketches from previous seasons (with the exception of ''Fool's Village''). The fifth and sixth seasons also have various short and several long sketches that aren't presented as part of any above mentioned rubrics but serving same purpose as ''Aperitif'' rubric.

References

External links

* (last updated: January 2003) * * * * * {{cite web, url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4770060/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt, title=''Calambur'' on IMDb, website=

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

, date=12 October 1996 Channel One Russia original programming Russia-1 original programming Ukrainian comedy television series 1996 Russian television series debuts 2001 Russian television series endings 1990s Russian television series 2000s Russian television series