Yulia Akhmedova: “Recently, stand-up has become a kind of mainstream and the future lies with it. Do you think that humor should form

The humor industry in Russia is where local comedians and screenwriters set modern standards and are at the forefront of positive changes. For many, it is stand-up comedy, which has been actively developing in our country in recent years, that becomes the entry point into the world of humor. While aspiring comedians are honing their jokes on television, a whole series of stand-up shows are going on with great success on television and a star pool of comedians has already formed. We talked to one of them - Yulia Akhmedova, a resident and the only female participant in the “Stand Up” program on TNT - about what it’s like to be a comedian in Russia, whether her jokes help women and how men react to them.

How did you find out about stand-up?

The first person who told me about the genre of stand-up was Ruslan Bely, he advised me to watch the concerts of Eddie Murphy and George Carlin. Since this all started.

Who are your favorite stand-up comedians?

I don’t have idols as such. There are those who you like, whom you might want to imitate. For example, recently I really like Louis C.K., such a famous American comedian, winner of the Emmy Award for the script of his stand-ups.

What do you think about the state of humor in Russia?

To be honest, I think there is no need to evaluate the state of humor in our country. This is not a national economy. Let's leave that to the historians. Perhaps someday, in five hundred years, someone will write a study on the topic: “The level of development of humor in Russia at the dawn of the 21st century.” In general, humor always reflects reality. And they laugh at different jokes at different times. Therefore, the state of humor is the state of the country as a whole.

Why is Russian humor often treated with disdain?

I noticed that in our country, in general, there is a very disdainful attitude towards everything Russian, be it humor, cinema, music, football or power. So maybe the problem is not in Russian humor or not only in it?

Do you feel like you are part of a positive change in Russian humor?

I never thought about it. And it seems to me that any comedian jokes because he likes it, and not in order to contribute to the history of humor. I do what I like and try to do it as well as possible.

Is it difficult to be a stand-up comedian in Russia?

Depending on what you compare it to, I do what I love and also get paid for it. Sounds good, you'll agree. I have a friend who works as a doctor in one of the Voronezh clinics and earns 15 thousand a month for this, it’s really hard for her.

You make fun of men a lot, how do your colleagues react to this?

My colleagues are people who have a good sense of humor and self-irony. Some jokes about men are what help me write, so that no offense or disagreement arises between us.

There is a feeling that in Russia now the main jokes are about women, and in the most humiliating way - why is that?

Maybe I'm watching the wrong programs, but I don't find anything demeaning in my colleagues' jokes. Or, like most of us, I think: “I’m not like that!”

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

In a sense, yes. It's not that I actively fight for women's rights in this world... But I do believe that we live in a sexist society, and I would like to see that change.

How did you come to the conclusion that the most honest and funny stand-up is based on personal experience?

In terms of humor, I’m not a “theorist,” that is, I don’t have theories or schemes on how to write jokes. I just write about what worries me at a given moment in time.

Do you think humor should educate?

It's a difficult question. I believe that every comedian must answer the question of why he goes on stage and what he wants to convey to the viewer. But at the same time, we should not forget that humorous programs primarily serve an entertainment function; the viewer should temporarily forget about their problems and relax.

You joke about going to a psychoanalyst, do you think your audience has become easier to relate to this topic?

I came to the conclusion that in our country, going to a psychologist is perceived as some kind of whim. We are used to going to the doctor as a last resort, when something “falls off.” Therefore, going to a psychologist when nothing hurts at all, and even paying money for it, is insanity. Therefore, the fact that I visit a psychologist is perceived by others as “she’s crazy.”

Do you feel like your jokes support women?

I don’t think anyone takes what I say seriously; these are still humorous monologues. Although sometimes women come up to me and say: “Thank you for at least protecting us.”

What do you think are the most harmful stereotypes about women?

I wouldn’t say that there are any specific stereotypes, it’s just that men don’t take us seriously, they would somehow learn to respect us at least a little bit.

01/10/2019 12/11/2019

Yulia Akhmedova is a comedian, a regular participant and creative producer of Stand Up on TNT, captain of the KVN team “25th” of the Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Questionnaire

Name: Yulia Akhmedova
Date of birth: November 28, 1982
Age: 36 years old
Height: 178 cm
Place of birth: Kant (Kyrgyzstan)
Relationship status: Single

Yulia Akhmedova: childhood and youth

Yulia Akhmedova was born in the city of Kant, Kyrgyz USSR, on November 28, 1982 into an international family. Her mother is Ukrainian, her father is Azerbaijani. Julia has a younger sister, Alexandra. On the Internet you can find a photo of Yulia Akhmedova, where the whole family is depicted on the card, headed by her father, a military pilot.
Julia grows up in a strict family, goes in for skiing and ballroom dancing. There is information that she dreamed of becoming a milkmaid in order to live in harmony with nature. Subsequently, Julia will become a vegetarian.
In 1999, Yulia left for Voronezh, where she entered the Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Construction Technology. Immediately after graduation, Akhmedova moved to Moscow.

KVN, Comedy Woman, Stand Up

At the university, Yulia comes to KVN. From 2003 to 2012, she was the captain of the “25th” team, a finalist in the Premier League. Akhmedova twice won the title of KVN girl of the year.

In 2008, Yulia became a screenwriter for the sitcom “Univer”. Since 2012 she has been the creative producer of Comedy Woman on TNT. Many probably remember Yulia Akhmedova’s appearance on a TV show as a psychologist in a duet with Ekaterina Varnava.
Since the very foundation of the Stand Up show, Yulia has been its only female participant; she is also the producer of the project.

The characters that Julia describes are real. As the comedian herself admits, there is never a goal to offend someone, the goal is sometimes to joke more carefully. At the same time, Akhmedova is sure that there are no taboo topics for a stand-up artist.
In her stand-ups, Yulia Akhmedova often raises issues of relationships between men and women, as well as the rights of both sexes, the topic of loneliness, and depression.

About popularity

In an interview with siapress.ru, Yulia admitted that she does not feel popular and does not consider herself a media personality. At the same time, answering the question: are there any disadvantages to the profession of a stand-up comedian, Yulia said the following:
— Since in my monologues I raise rather frank topics, many people who meet me on the street are sure that they can behave familiarly and discuss my personal life. They don’t share my real image with the stage one and are surprised if I don’t want to answer questions from the series: “Do you really not have a man? Why do you talk about this on stage, but now you don’t?” This stresses me out.

Personal life

Fans are wondering why the beautiful, tall, slender, cheerful, smart, with a great sense of humor Yulia Akhmedova is not married. Others answer them: getting married is not a bad thing, perhaps she has not yet met her person. At the same time, for Yulia, family and children are one of the main values. But for now we can only joke about these topics.

Akhmedova herself created an image for herself in the Stand Up show - a woman of 30+ who did not have time to get married. It was in this role that she gained her popularity. The girl is not upset by the fact that the passport does not have a stamp on the corresponding page. Moreover, the artist’s work schedule is so busy that you wonder: is there time for a personal life?
Akhmedova was credited with a relationship with her colleague Ruslan Bely. However, Julia responded to this by saying that young people are only friends. In addition, she does not consider it possible for herself to have a relationship with a man younger than her.

Yulia Akhmedova today

Julia is a successful comedian. She takes part in several popular television projects. Akhmedova works in the stand-up genre, continuing to share with viewers her frank reflections on exciting topics. The girl also works as a mentor in the Open Microphone program.
Julia tours with solo concerts throughout Russia. She recently tried herself as an actress. Akhmedova played one of the main roles in the comedy “KVNshchiki”. The film tells about the filming of a popular program and about the behind the scenes of the program.

A participant in the Stand Up program on the TNT channel, Yulia Akhmedova, admitted that she only wants to do what she does well - make people laugh.

Yes, but it's all complete nonsense.

Ok, well, a person was born to lead - he can lead. I'm not sure I can make a three-hour event comfortable. I’m also such a perfectionist, I’ll worry that someone is bored, someone didn’t like it, and someone got drunk. And entertaining drunk people is a man's job.

So if you do it, it’s cool?

Yes. I am now, at the moment, a stand-up comedian and creative producer. If I’m invited to a corporate event, I’ll practice my stand-up for 20–30 minutes, but hosting the event...

There you also need to be prepared for different situations. I think the presenter should be a psychologist, adapt to different people, but this is not my thing at all, I don’t take on this, because I can ruin the holiday. I have seen such holidays and presenters who are better off not leading. Perhaps I could do it well, but the niche is filled.

What it is filled with is an open question. Have you tried DJing? Nowadays everyone DJs.

This is what irritates me. You have to understand music!

No need! You recorded the disc and you’re mixing it, like Malinovskaya or Buzova.

Well, there are such multitasking people who cope with everything. I am not like that. This goes to the leading corporate parties - I’m not a DJ, not an actress, not a reader, not a model, not a fashion model.

Blogger?

One magazine called me and offered to write a column. But I like to write, and it was interesting to me. I ask what kind of column it is. They tell me that they need to give advice in relationships. I say: “Is it okay that I haven’t had any relationships for 10 years?” - “You’ll come up with ideas.” “No,” I say, “then it’s not interesting.”

Let's return for the New Year! It turns out that if you don’t celebrate the holidays, that means you’re going to rest?

Actually, I'm going to. I have never worked on New Year’s Day and I don’t plan to work this year, and I don’t plan to at all. I only have vacation twice a year, in summer and winter, and for me, taking on some other corporate work in winter means not having a rest.

At a certain point, I realized that you can’t earn all the money; I don’t have any ambitions to earn money. I’d rather go and see some new country for myself. In general, I am for rest, I am looking forward to vacation. , and I'm going to take a ticket and fly away. I'd rather not earn this money, but I'll rest.

Where are you going?

I’ll probably go to America to study English. Our boys have families, some obligations, I don’t have them, I’ll at least have fun.

During your vacation, do you write something, collect some material for Stand Up on TNT? Or do you relax to the fullest, and then come and sit down at the keyboard?

As for stand-up, you have to be immersed in it all the time. My iPhone is always full of notes. I arrive and run to decipher the notes, otherwise I might not remember what I meant. Just after a vacation, the first monologue is easy to write.

When we go on vacation, we have the main wish for each other - I wish that something “bad” would happen, so that there would be something to joke about.

What's your worst vacation?

I studied skiing for six years at the institute, and when I was released from this section, I swore to myself that I would never have anything to do with snow in my life. And Ruslan Bely is a fan of alpine skiing. Last year, the guys somehow persuaded me, and I went with them to Sölden, Austria. In short, this vacation is hell. You get up at six in the morning, because the ski lift opens at seven, you spend the whole day there, and in the evening you crawl home. What kind of alcohol is there, you’ll die, and tomorrow you have to get up at six.

It was such a tough thing. And it was funny when Ruslan came to wake me up with the words: “Get up to rest! We will lose the snow!” I had a moment when I thought: I’ll pretend to be sick. And when there was a snowstorm and there was no need to go anywhere, it was the best day. In short, it was a vacation during which I was tired.

And I know girls who come to Sochi or Rio de Janeiro for only two weeks, and every day they have a mix: now we go for breakfast, then no rest, straight to swimming, to the beach, back and forth, let's go!

No, no, my wave is to lie down, that’s all. We had our first Stand Up shoot, we filmed for a very long time, and then I left for Palma de Mallorca. I slept for a week. I got up at about five in the evening, went to eat, and came back. And there was always a “Do not disturb” sign on the door of my room. A week later they called me in my room: is everything okay with you? You are alive? We've never seen you.

That's right, you need to sleep. Do you turn off your phone while on vacation? Or, on the contrary, material - Twitter, Instagram, selfie-selfie-selfie?

I am not on social networks except Instagram. I love to read, and when I read, my phone is somewhere in my room. I'm not afraid of getting lost. Especially when I'm on vacation, I understand that it's okay. When I go to bed, I turn off my phone. If someone really needs it, they will call you back.

Oh, this is difficult, we are all so dependent.

Actually, let it go. Everything is perishable.

The comedian told how she got on the show.

A popular comedian from Voronezh, Yulia Akhmedova, gave an interview to an equally popular video blogger in his program dedicated to TV presenter Sergei Suponev, who hosted the intellectual program for children “Finest Hour” from April 1993 until his tragic death in December 2001.

A former member of the KVN team said that she answered the question correctly in a letter, and she was invited to take part in a television show in 1997.

My parents didn’t live very richly at that time, but they bought me a new skirt at a second-hand store, and my dad and I went to Moscow by car,” said Yulia.

At that time, the artist’s family lived in Ulyanovsk, and as a gift the girl presented two symbols of this city - fish bought in Moscow and water in a jar, supposedly from the Volga.

Akhmedova was one of those who won "Finest Hour". As the winner, the group “Tea for Two” performed a song for her and gave her a video recorder.

After the program aired in September 1997, Akhmedova woke up famous and became the most popular girl in school.

Julia speaks warmly about the show and emphasizes that thanks to her participation in it, she realized that she wanted to connect her life with television. To this day, the girl keeps a telegram with an invitation, a cup, a diploma and a star, which is given out for correct answers.

With particular trepidation in her interview, the famous comedian remembered the presenter Sergei Suponev himself, who with his jokes relaxed the children who first appeared on television.

Two years after winning the famous program, Yulia moved to the capital of the Black Earth Region and entered the Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. In the period from 2003 to 2012, she was the captain of the KVN team “23rd”. Then she became the creative producer of the humorous show “Comedy Woman”. Since 2013, she has been the only representative of the fair sex on the “Stand Up” project.

Sasha Golubnicaya

Source: http://bloknot-voronezh.ru This material was published on the BezFormata website on January 11, 2019,
Below is the date when the material was published on the original source website!

Latest news from the Voronezh region on the topic:
Yulia Akhmedova gave an interview to Yuri Dudu about “Finest Hour”

Voronezh

The comedian told how she got on the show. Popular comedian from Voronezh Yulia Akhmedova gave an interview to an equally popular video blogger in his program dedicated to TV presenter Sergei Suponev,
18:00 08.08.2018 Bloknot-Voronezh.Ru

Yulia Akhmedova began writing scripts back in 2007, when her team “25th” played in the Premier League, and after KVN she became one of the creative producers of the popular Stand Up project on the TNT channel. And Yulia is also a mentor in the show “Open Microphone” (by the way, the finale of the second season is on TNT today at 21:30!). She told PEOPLETALK about her childhood, her favorite game, the StandUp Store bar and travel.

I got my sense of humor from my dad - he was always a humorist and the life of the party. But in childhood this did not manifest itself in any way: I was a downtrodden girl, a gray mouse. It was a difficult time back then, the turbulent 90s. It was hard for everyone, I remember my mother made me a blue jacket from my father’s officer’s uniform so that I would have something to wear to school.

In the 10th grade I went to the Kvinta theater school. We went to rehearsals, staged plays, and I even wanted to go to theater institute. But at the end of the 11th grade, our teacher said: “Yul, well, this is just not your thing.” ( Laughs.) And I suddenly changed my mind. As a result, I chose Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

After the “Student Spring” (festival of student talents. - Prim. edit.) my friends and I were accepted into the new KVN team “VGASU”, which became the champion of the “Major League” back in 1972. At first, naturally, we drew screens and went to get props. I remember reading the script of the VGASU team and thinking: “Damn, it’s full of jokes!” How can you sit down and come up with a joke?” But the editors worked with us and explained how this was done. And then the KVN School was opened in Voronezh, and we went there. One of the teachers at this school was the captain of the “Seventh Heaven” team. I remember being in his squad. ( Laughs.) He talked about how he plays in the Premier League, and only me and Stasik from our team listened to him. And one day Nina Stepanovna Petrosyants, the Voronezh “mother of KVN,” dropped into the school. She looked at us and said: “You are cool, play separately.” She believed in us, and we believed in ourselves. We became the “25th” team - we took this name because it was in the 25th auditorium at the institute that the Kaveen members gathered. Unfortunately, Nina Stepanovna did not see how we became a television team. But I think she would be very proud of us.

Trouser suit, Moschino (Petrovsky Passage shopping center); top, Girlpower; pumps, Stuart Weitzman

I was 25 years old, I played in the Major League and at the same time worked in the 7art company - we wrote Univer and Comedy Woman. And since all the work was in Moscow, I also moved. This was 10 years ago. At first it was, of course, very difficult. Moscow is a big city with a fast pace and it is a bit deafening. For the first three months I lived with friends. And then I started renting an apartment, like everyone else. It was difficult for me, because I had no one here, I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t even have anyone to go to the movies with. Several times I had the desire to give up everything and return to Voronezh to my parents and friends.

At 27 I finished playing in KVN, and at 29 Ruslan and I started doing the Stand Up project. During these two years, while I was not on the screens, I received some offers for filming, but I always believed that there was no need to scatter and act in everything for the sake of money, but to wait for “my” project.

I worked as a creative producer for Stand Up for five years, but quit six months ago. Tired. Being a producer is an administrative job; you have to keep track of a lot of things and make decisions. That's not mine. It's too much responsibility. Now only my creativity depends on me.

Now I am a mentor for the Open Microphone show on TNT. This project is good because it first of all gives jobs and a chance for comedians to prove themselves, find their audience, and gain experience in television performances. I don't consider myself an experienced enough comedian to teach anyone, but the show has its own format and we follow it.

Sweater, coat, Uniqlo; trousers, Girlpower; Sneakers, Econika

Recently, Ruslan and Timur Karginov, I opened the StandUp Store club - you can come there and watch performances by comedians, television, and unknown young guys. Since we are comedians ourselves, we made the club for ourselves. We had many testing parties where we tested the material. And it was difficult to find a suitable site. We had a clear understanding in our heads of what we wanted. For example, there should be no coffee machine in the hall, because it is loud and distracting. We went to Los Angeles and New York and looked at how similar clubs worked there.

It's hard for me to work in front of a large audience. It is important for me to feel the audience, to see their faces, so that I can talk to someone in the hall. For me, the format of bars and micro-clubs is much more comfortable.

In our country, comedians cannot yet be called media personalities. In America, these are people who are on a par with any show business star, from hosting an Oscar to being a figure in Madame Tussauds. And we are niche. We are popular among a certain (and not the most numerous) circle of people who watch Stand Up.

In my monologues I tell the whole truth about myself. It is clear that I take some example from life and spin it, make jokes and aggravate it to the point of comicality. But at the core is my situation. I like self-irony. Stand-up is a project that allows you to say something to your audience, who is one on one with you.

Pantsuit, Escada; top, Girlpower; sneakers, Econika

My average day is no different from the day of an ordinary person. I wake up, I can go to the gym, then I go to the office and write monologues. In fact, this is a rather long and labor-intensive process. Basically, we write during the day, and in the evening we test new material in front of the audience; this format is called testing new material. If you are interested in seeing this, come to StandUp Store Moscow." class="images-share-box__icon-mail">

Like any person, I get tired at work. But this is not hard labor. My work is interesting, varied and gives me a lot of emotions. If you're tired, go on vacation. For example, I really love traveling. This is what gives me strength. I love surfing, so every morning on the first of January I go surfing - it’s already a tradition. I have a theory: there are so many cool places on earth that you will never visit that I just feel sorry for going to the same place twice. I really like the photos of the Maldives and I want to go there. But I clearly told myself: I will only go there with a man. This is a heavenly place where you need to be together. So you know where to look for me when I go on my honeymoon. Better yet, don't look. ( Laughs.)

Thank you smart place " Socket and coffee"for help in organizing the shooting!