It's Just A Joke, Comrade - 100 Years Of Russian Satire

Also Described As

The Russian Revolution unleashed a brand of humour that continues to this day. In this two-part series, comedian and Russophile Viv Groskop explores a century of revolutionary comedy and asks how it continues to shape the national psyche.

The series will rediscover comedy of the Revolution: Bolshevik satire, early Communist cartoons and jokes about Lenin, as writers, satirists and comedians recall the jokes and cartoons shared by their parents and grandparents.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

Comedian and Russophile Viv Groskop explores a century of revolutionary comedy.

Duration

30 minutes

Genre

Arts
Factual
Culture And The Media

Station

Radio 4

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	20171003	20180115 (R4)	Viv will investigate the birth of the 'anekdot' and trace the development of dark humour through the purges. She will look at how dissident humour in the late 1950s influenced comedy in London and New York, and meet contemporary comedians to gain an understanding of the shape and sound of the comedy circuit in Russia today.
02 LAST	20171010	20180122 (R4)

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	20171003	20180115 (R4)	Viv will investigate the birth of the 'anekdot' and trace the development of dark humour through the purges. She will look at how dissident humour in the late 1950s influenced comedy in London and New York, and meet contemporary comedians to gain an understanding of the shape and sound of the comedy circuit in Russia today.
02 LAST	20171010	20180122 (R4)