Alexander Maslyakov is 80, and the Club of the cheerful and sharp-witted is 60: how they will make it into history

The legendary television comic game "Club of the cheerful and sharp-witted", or simply KVN, turned 60 years old. The club will celebrate this date on November 23 in Moscow, in Crocus City Hall, where the most popular teams will gather.

“We calculated that KVN turns 60 this season, and it seems to me that this is a lot for a television project. Yes, there was a break of 14 years, but that’s not the point, because we didn’t return to something new anyway. And in KVN, even these 14 years continued to play without TV. During these years they often called me, I came and watched. And when we returned the game in 1986, we did not return to emptiness, but to familiar shapes”, -recalls Alexander Maslyakov , President of the KVN International Union, who himself will celebrate his 80th birthday on November 24.

Recall that in October, Putin awarded Maslyakov with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 1st degree.

“Can KVN be called Russia's soft power? Without a doubt, ”media manager Alexander Malkevich writes in his channel and deciphers:

“KVN is played in almost all the former Soviet republics, played in the USA, Great Britain, Israel and other countries of the“ far abroad ”. For six decades, millions of people have passed through KVN. This is a colossal networking, a synergy of opportunities. KVN is traditionally played in Russian, and the main games are held in exemplary, one might say, "showcase" cities of Russia - Moscow and Sochi..."

Not so long ago, a group of media persons and KVN participants signed and sent an appeal to UNESCO with a request to include this TV program in the register of the world audiovisual heritage, TASS reported.

The authors of the initiative note that this humorous TV show "carries the guidelines for the humanization and democratization of relationships in society, opens up the opportunity to openly discuss in a humorous form the current events of the world agenda and everyday routine familiar to every person..."

However, all the former participants in this game are so optimistic about its present and future prospects. One of the most popular and witty Russian TV presenters, who also once left KVN, Tatyana Lazareva, said this in her publication about this anniversary:

“Everyone here is celebrating the anniversary of KVN, and soon the anniversary of Alexander Vasilyevich Maslyakov. And I, probably, should also speak out, as a person whose life path this game predetermined.

I am incredibly grateful to KVN in my life. This is a magical time, friends for life, a great experience - this is what allowed me to become a TV presenter and enjoy this profession for a while. For many of those who later appeared on television, it was a kind of university, such a workers' school, an ideal teaching based on their own practical examples. I am madly in love with Maslyakov, the way I remember him and how he still remains in my memory. He was an understanding rector and protection at this university. I will always wish him health, joy and wisdom. That is how I remember him - funny and wise. He was really also very hot-tempered, but this goes away with age, I know from myself.

Of course, KVN, of course, has become different - not only externally, but, above all, in essence, because on television it is no longer customary to joke as freely as it was in our time. And how can you joke in half? .. And a huge number of competing humorous shows on TV and on the Internet gives people the opportunity to show themselves in humor much brighter, and viewers to find a form and jokes for every taste. The most important thing is that you should not be careful in jokes; humor should be impudent and bold. And at one time, KVN had a chance to turn into something more perky, funny, relevant and remain the same bright event as it was, and what is now the Ukrainian "League of Laughter", or the program "Game", which was suddenly closed on TNT, and we can all guess why.

But it is very scary to destroy a great empire with your own hands. Probably, it's even impossible, it's not for us to judge ... I just watched the children's KVN on Channel 1 and was horrified. These are small and dusty fragments of that great empire, which I fortunately found. And it was a blessed period of life...

In general, perhaps I have no right to express my opinion about today's KVN, because I haven't watched it for a very long time.

And you?"

By the way, "Novye Izvestia" has already reported that the TNT channel tried to film its version of the Club of the cheerful and sharp-witted (KVN) called "Game", however, nothing came of it. After the first broadcast of this show, a case was initiated against him under Art. 6.21 of the Administrative Code ("Promotion of non-traditional sexual relations among minors"). The reason for this was the kiss of two men.

Again, it was not possible to loosen the braces. Filming for The Game was suspended, allegedly due to covid. But experts believe that the real reason for the suspension was Maslyakov's discontent, since outwardly the new show looks like KVN, but the jokes are not at all similar...