Who is the owner of the comedy club? Success story of Comedy Club. The loudest TV programs "Comedy Club Production"

Humorous talent can be highly monetized. The owners of the famous Comedy Club project managed to make the company an industry leader and were able to earn 20-50 million rubles. net profit annually. Income is provided by various areas of activity and a large staff of talented content producers. Currently, the owner of the project is PJSC Gazprom.

The thirst for “bread and circuses” has always been inherent in people. But is it possible to build a profitable business on spectacles in modern Russia? It turned out it was possible. An example of this is the well-known Comedy Club project, which has displaced such long-standing and popular projects as “KVN”, “Full House”, “Funny Panorama”, “Crooked Mirror”, etc. from television screens and from the consciousness of Russian viewers.

The former owner of the Comedy Club - KVNshchik, and now the head of the subholding of entertainment channels of Gazprom Media Holding JSC - Arthur Janibekyan managed to make his project the most expensive in the history of Russian media and even get into the Forbes rating.

Business on humor is reality

The Comedy Club project may celebrate its 20th anniversary in the near future. The idea of ​​creating a humorous show appeared in 2001, and in 2003, members of the popular KVN team “New Armenians” filmed its debut episode. At the origins of the show were the famous KVN player Garik Martirosyan and less known to the general audience Arthur Janibekyan, who took the helm of the new project. 2004-2005 became the period when Comedy Club began to make its way to the media Olympus. The show attracted the attention of the STS channel first, and then the TNT channel, cooperation with which continues from 2005 to the present day.

Comedy Club as a business turned out to be a successful project, and already in 2006 the production company Comedy Club Production LLC was created, which secured the rights to produce the already popular show.

How does Comedy make money?

The production company, also headed by Arthur Janibekyan, began to actively conquer the Russian media market.

In 2015, Artur Janibekyan entered the top five top Russian media executives in the annual TOP 1000 Russian Managers rating.

In addition to the humorous show, the following directions were developed:

• own TV channel “Comedy TV” (later rebranded as TNT4);
• organization of humor festivals in Sochi;
• writing scripts for cartoons;
• producing full-length films;
• own television projects (“Interns”, “Univer”, etc.);
• holding corporate events;
• advertising contracts of residents.

The company has created a full-time creative team of authors who generate content for all projects of the center.

This is interesting: Prices for holding corporate events by famous Comedy participants (Garik Martirosyan, Timur Batrutdinov) in 2018 ranged from 20,000 - 35,000 €.

Legal side of the issue

The formal founder of Comedy Club Production LLC is the foreign company Comedy Club Production Holdings (Cyprus) Ltd. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, its share of participation in the Russian production center is 100%. The main activity of Comedy Club Production LLC is the production of film and video films and television programs.

In January 2012, Gazprom-Media Holding (a subsidiary) acquired a 75% stake in Comedy Club Production for $250 million (10.3 billion rubles), which became a record deal in the history of Russian media.

Since December 2017, through a series of transactions, Gazprom-Media Holding acquired a consolidated stake in the parent Cypriot company, thus becoming the full owner of Comedy Club Production LLC. Arthur Janibekyan continued to head his former company, while simultaneously taking over the management of the entire media holding, which also includes partner channels TNT, TV-Z, “Friday!” and etc.

How much money does the Comedy Club bring to its owners?

According to official sources, you can make good money from humor in Russia.

In 2013, the company's revenue, according to the Kommersant newspaper, exceeded $90 million. More recent data also shows that a humor business can be made quite profitable.

According to Rosstat, currently the net profit of the production center, headed by successful businessman Arthur Janibekyan, is about 18-50 million rubles. per year, showing positive growth dynamics.

According to the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, the amount of official income received by the company in 2017 amounted to about 3 billion rubles.

A significant share in the structure of income is occupied by box office receipts from the screening of films.

The company has shown consistently high profitability for several years.

At the time of the transaction, the media holding valued 74.99% of Comedy Club Production Holdings (Cyprus) Ltd at almost 10.3 billion rubles, and the entire company, respectively, at 13.7 billion rubles. ($436 million at the Central Bank exchange rate on the day of the transaction). Almost 7.5 billion rubles. were transferred immediately, the remaining 2.8 billion rubles. were paid over the next three years when the management of Comedy Club Production achieved target indicators.

The deal was a record for the domestic market of content producers. Other production companies were valued at tens of millions of dollars when purchased. For example, in 2005, Access Industries paid, according to expert estimates, $25 million for 50% of the Amedia studio (the series “Don’t Be Born Beautiful”, “Poor Nastya”, etc.). In 2014, the TNT channel acquired GoodstoryMedia. (“Real boys”, “Fizruk”), promising to pay its founders $50 million within five years.

In February 2015, Comedy Club Production updated its rating. As RBC, during the resale within the structures of Gazprom-Media, 74.99% of the parent Comedy Club Production Holdings (Cyprus) Ltd was already valued at 12.5 billion rubles, and the entire company - at almost 16.8 billion rubles. In dollar terms, the business fell in price due to the devaluation of the ruble - in 2015, the entire Comedy Club Production was worth $268 million.

Without Alexander Karmanov

In 2015, it also became known that the beneficiary of the remaining 25.01% of Comedy Club Production was Alexander Karmanov, CEO of the Eurasian Pipeline Consortium and founder of the Solaris Promo Production studio. This company, like Comedy Club Production, is a key content supplier for TNT - since 2015, it has been producing the daily reality show “Dom-2” for the channel.

Alexander Karmanov ceased to be the owner of the blocking stake in Comedy Club Production only in November of this year, when 25.01% transferred to TCT Production Ltd.

Alexander Karmanov refused to comment, explaining that he had “no relation” to TCT Production Ltd for a long time.

Karmanov has been involved in the Comedy Club Production business for more than ten years, according to documents from Comedy Club Production Pte Ltd, the former parent structure of the manufacturer. In April 2007, Karmanov was appointed its director.

Gazprom-Media went to Start

The transfer of the Cypriot TCT Production Ltd to the control of Parnas-Media made Gazprom-Media also a co-owner of the Start online cinema. It is developed by the founders of the production studio Yellow, Black and White. Previously, she was a key content supplier for the STS channel (series “Kitchen”, “Hotel Elion”, etc.), but since the summer of this year, the producers of Yellow, Black and White have been working on the launch of a new TV channel “Super”, owned by Gazprom-Media "

In November 2017, TCT Production Ltd received 26% in Start Media LLC, founded by the producers of Yellow, Black and White. A representative of Yellow, Black and White did not respond to RBC's request.​

People from KVN began their independent voyage in 2003. Within two years they deserved airtime on the channel. Popularity overtook the comedians instantly.

From the comedy show, the guys quickly created a production center. The largest deal of that time is considered to be a TNT channel fee of 10.2 billion rubles or 250 000 000 $ for 2/3 of the show's shares.

Since then, Gazprom Media Holding owns not only the most popular comedy program in the country, but also a real business conveyor belt with the loud name Comedy Club Production.

The business conveyor produces the majority of television broadcasts and series on the TNT channel. Additionally, he produces full-length films, and his employees participate in radio broadcasts. So, Comedy now is:

• "TNT-Comedy";
• Comedy Radio;
• humor festivals and cooperation with foreign hotels;
• "Comedy Club Production" has a regional network of clubs of the flagship brand "Comedy Club";
• production of television projects;
• concert activities of residents.

When it comes to monetization, the Comedy Club business pipeline has no equal on the Russian market.

What does the income of Comedy Club residents consist of?

At the moment, in order to understand what the income of the comedy participants consists of, it is necessary to talk about the scale of their activities.

The company's portfolio includes film and television projects totaling more than fifty! Popular Comedy artists have long been stars of their own projects or producers of individual show programs, directors and traveling showmen. All this brings high income. Additional pleasant income comes from advertising contracts, which advertising agencies inundate artists with.

Let's talk about numbers.

Comedy Club Production acquired in 2010 74% shares company that owned the software at the time "Interns" and "Univer". In the same year, the total turnover of Comedy Club Production reached the amount 136 000 000 $.

Revenue in two parts "The best movie" in total amounted to 41 496 695 $. And showing the third part in 3D brought almost more 10 000 000 $ .

“Our Russia. Eggs of Destiny" also coped with the financial task, successfully replenishing Comedy’s piggy bank 22 212 223 $.

The loudest TV programs “Comedy Club Production”:

• "Comedy Club"
• "Laughter without rules"
• "Our Russia"
• "Comedy Battle"
• "Univer. New dorm"
• "Sashatanya"
• "Stand Up"
• "Interns"
• “Bearded man. To understand and to forgive"
• "Once Upon a Time in Russia"
• "Where is the logic?"
• "Don't sleep!"
• "Dancing"

Earnings of the most popular residents

Semyon Slepakov

Forbes has already included him in its list of highly paid stars. According to a reputable magazine, the artist and producer’s earnings for the year were $3.5 million

Garik Martirosyan

Performs at the Comedy Club, co-producer and artistic director of the project. He is also one of the founders of this successful project, additionally produces a show on the TNT channel and works as a presenter in some programs.

Pavel Volya

In addition to solo performances on stage, the comedian oversees the Festival project - traveling humor festivals abroad. The project is part of the SSR, and Pavel is a partner, i.e. a shareholder of Comedy. In 2012 he earned $2.4 million., and by 2014 had already approached the figure in 3 000 000 $.

Now Pavel’s additional income comes from his own record label, Nopassport. And also a significant share of the artist’s earnings comes from the filming of an advertisement for “Khrusteam” crackers.

Sergey Svetlakov

In 2014, he was in the same Forbes with an announced annual salary of $3.2 million He created his capital thanks to his participation in the Comedy Club Production projects, the filming of his own film “Ambulance “Moscow - Russia”, fees from VIMPELCOM for advertising contracts with Beeline and Sogaz (which are equal 1 500 000 $ ).

Mikhail Galustyan

The actor and producer created the films “That Carlson,” “Ticket to Vegas” and “Nannies.” Forbes calculated in 2012 that Galustyan’s income for a year of work was $1.9 million After that, three more films were released: “8 New Dates”, “Left One” and “A Gift with Character”.

Timur Batrutdinov

The artist's known annual income was 700 000 $. After the comedian’s participation in the “Bachelor” project (which had a positive impact on the actor’s earnings), there is no publicly available information about his income.

Private earnings of Comedy Club residents at events and parties (prices in USD):

• « Zaitsev sisters" receive from $10-15 thousand;
• Nezlobin and Batrudinov work according to $20 thousand
• “Duet named after Chekhov” and Garik Kharlamov from $25 thousand personal exit
• Pavel Volya, Demis Karibidis and Alexander Revva individual outputs of these stars cost from $ 30 000
• Semyon Slepakov, Svetlokov, Galustyan and Martirosyan each from $35-40 thousand

Updated Comedy format and new searches for income.

The capitalization of entertainment content on TV, which is a record for the Russian market, is very successful. This is due to the fact that the participants and creators of the show constantly experimented with programs and launched new projects. Now the guys are trying to adapt to the changing market and plan to change the format from 40-minute broadcasts to short-term comedy videos. And they shift their attention from TV to the Internet.

This policy was voiced to Forbes magazine by one of the founders of the SSR, Janibekyan, head of the Gazprom-Media Entertainment Television subholding (since 2015) and general director of the TNT channel (since 2016). The format for comedians is new and, accordingly, there are new tasks. Namely, put portions of humor in videos lasting three minutes! I wonder how this will affect the income of the company and its residents.

Earnings of other Comedy participants

• The cost of Vadim Galygin's performance is approximately 1,180,000 rub.
• Trio: Lyusek Sorokin, Andrey Averin and Marina Kravets receive together for holding events 1,760,000 rub.
• Ruslan Bely is a visiting member of the Comedy Club and successfully hosts his show Stand Up. It will be worth inviting him to an event or wedding 700,000 rub.
• Charismatic Andrey Skorokhod attends special events for 450,000 rub.
• The YSB group is asking for 500,000 rubles for the event, and Alexey Smernov 250,000 rub.

It is worth noting another division of the business conveyor - Comedy Vumen.

The girls have confidently occupied their niche and regularly supply their humorous content to the TV channel. Their income is hidden, but fees for speaking at events Natalia Andreevna and Katerina Varnava from 1,000,000 rubles. each of the girls.

COMEDY CAFE in Moscow

On the one hand, this is the bright design of the Comedy Club to create an atmosphere in the chain’s establishments, on the other hand, the high professionalism of the BCA Holding company for the quick and high-quality launch and operation of franchisees’ enterprises. There are several options for establishments from a simple catering cafe to a restaurant. For this pleasure, 3% of the establishment’s cash turnover is transferred to the comedy piggy bank in the form of a royalty.

The expected financial success of this project depends not only on high-quality cuisine and a cost-effective menu, but also on the recognition of a highly rated brand.

The Comedy industry has existed for more than 10 years. The more popular members become, the faster their income grows. Well, this, in turn, motivates artists to create new show programs, which undoubtedly pleases the audience. Humor, in our time, is an expensive hobby and a highly paid profession.

The richest comedians of the Comedy Club:

The television comedy show Comedy Club first appeared in 2003. The founders were the members of the famous KVN team “New Armenians”. The idea of ​​creating a Russian Comedy Club came to the founders after meeting a similar program in the USA.

Comedy Club success story - Comedy Club. Enough time has passed since the performances of folk artists on stage, like Petrosyan and Zadornov, as well as the amateur performances of KVN.

A kind of logical result, or maybe just a transitional link, was the emergence of a new trend - “Comedy Club”. In 2003, when Russia was already quite fed up with Western entertainment attractions, this product appeared.

Former Kaveen players presented the capital with Western-style entertainment, which the people simply pounced on, due to their own boredom with the stage. Gradually, this enterprise grew into a business with a turnover of ten million.

Historical information

It was the people from the “New Armenians” team who were the main ideologists of the creation of the “SS”. Brilliant performances on the KVN stage in the mid-nineties did not end there. Artashes Sargsyan, Artak Gasparyan, Arthur Janibekyan and Garik Martirosyan got together, thought and came up with a new comedic move.

Martirosyan has already left the project, but the remaining three clearly assigned their roles. Janibekyan became the main producer. He does not appear on stage with performances, but is responsible for all matters related to the financial side of the issue. The organizer of the tour and host of the show is Sargsyan. Garik Martirosyan is responsible for the repertoire. A tour of American lands in 2000 gave friends the idea of ​​​​introducing something similar on Russian soil.

Janibekyan, being a professional economist, began studying the market and began recruiting for the team. As a result, almost the entire composition was formed from people from the KVN stage. Soon a Russian version of the “American comedy” appeared. After three years of preparatory work, they showed their best side. Yudashkin, Kirkorov and many other eminent representatives of show business were present at the Comedy Club party in Kasbar on September 12, 2003.

All this allowed the project to get off to a good start from the very beginning. Then the entire enterprise was relocated to the Maner cafe, where activities continued every Saturday for a year. The television program in its pilot version was filmed in this cafe in July 2004. was largely based on the activities of Janibekyan, who was able to create a strong business. The aura of elitism that the Comedy artists surrounded themselves with allowed them to sell seats in the Maner cafe for two to three thousand rubles per evening.

In addition, the success of the enterprise attracted companies and firms, which made it possible to receive significant income from various types of corporate parties. At present, it is difficult to argue who paid attention to whom for the first time - Troitsky to Janibekyan or vice versa. Troitsky is the general producer of the TNT channel. He himself says that he initially heard about the company thanks to a demo version of the speech sent to him.

Then I went to the concert itself. After the performance, Dmitry offered Janibekyan and his team a place on TNT. Every Russian knows what will happen next.

"Comedy Club" - business

Today the Comedy Club brand is very popular. This enterprise allows for annual turnover of up to ten million dollars. In addition, the general director, Arthur Janibekyan, plans to release several more projects in a similar direction under the common “SS” brand. All this is planned to be done over the next few years.

The group's head office is located in Moscow. There are various subsidiaries such as Comedy Club Fashion and Comedy Club Festivals. The main income, according to the director himself, comes from television (about 30 percent), about ten percent comes from, as well as touring events in the regions. Various products are also produced under the “SS” brand.

Various touring events, including international ones, are also organized under this brand. In 2006 it took place in Greece, then Sicily. The festival direction is handled by Pavel Volya, the official partner of the company. In addition, the main uniqueness of Janibekyan’s policy is the appointment of actors as partners of the company. Their earnings range from twenty-five to fifty thousand dollars, plus profit sharing. This, according to Janibekyan, is the basis for the strong unity of the company.

"Comedy Club Fashion" is a new project of the company. Galygin Vadim is responsible for it. The company is also expanding its sphere of influence into other areas. So in 2006, a clothing line was released under the “SS” label - hats, belts, trousers, T-shirts with the words “Сomedy Club” - all original and challengingly designed by designer Ivan Ayplatov. She was positively received by visitors to Moscow Fashion Week.

"Comedy" - industry

This entertainment project is purely commercial, as its general director claims - all this is aimed at creating an entertainment industry under the Comedy Club brand. Thanks to a clearly developed strategy, skillful marketing and unique presentation of the entire enterprise on the Russian stage, it was possible to overtake even KNV. According to experts, the annual turnover of the Merry and Resourceful Club accounts for only four to five million dollars.

Let's take a look at the numbers and facts

There are no better paid artists on the Russian stage than in the Comedy Club. Any customer can organize a team performance at his company or at a corporate party for a minimum of ten thousand dollars. In comparison, one performance of a major league KVN team will cost three to five thousand dollars.

Thanks to the fact that Comedy changed its small hall to a concert hall in 2006, the main state Russian channel became interested in them, where they triumphantly appeared soon after. This experiment did not last long; a return to TNT soon followed. Golen Palace is currently the main residence where all the filming of Comedy Club takes place.

AND Garik Yuryevich Martirosyan

"Comedy Club"(pronounced Comedy club) is a Russian humorous television show broadcast since April 23, 2005 on the TNT channel.

Story

“Comedy Club” was created in 2003 by the KVN team “New Armenians”, which included Artur Dzhanibekyan, Artak Gasparyan, Artur Tumasyan, Artashes Sarkisyan, Garik Martirosyan and many others. The idea of ​​the club appeared in 2001. Over time, new participants and winners from “Comedy Battle” began to appear; from 2005 to 2014, residents appeared from KVN.

On television, “Comedy Club” made its debut on the eve of 2004 on the MTV channel, but cooperation with the channel did not progress beyond the filming of the New Year’s party; in June 2004, with the assistance of STS producer Alexander Tsekalo, a pilot episode of the show was filmed for $22,000, however, The general director of the channel, Alexander Rodnyansky, considered that the show did not fit into the STS concept, which was subsequently perceived by the channel’s shareholders as Rodnyansky’s mistake. On April 23, 2005, “Comedy Club” first aired on the TNT channel. In 2007, the production company Comedy Club Production was created, which produces the program of the same name.

On April 15, 2007, TNT aired the hundredth episode of the program. Some special projects are published regularly - for example, from 2006 to 2007, episodes were released on Channel One, and since 2011, in the summer, humor festivals from Sochi “Week of High Humor” have been held. In 2014, special issues were published from Sochi, dedicated to the holding of the Russian stage of Formula 1 in this city, and in 2015, from Kazan, dedicated to the holding of the World Aquatics Championship in this city. In 2008, the Comedy TV channel was created, where various programs of the Comedy Club Production television company are broadcast. In 2008, the Toonbox animation studio released the animated series “The Real Adventures of Belka and Strelka” based on the script of the Comedy Club participants.

On April 8, 2010, a presentation of the updated “Comedy Club” took place with a new production director (Sergei Shirokov), music and design. On the new stage, musical instruments - a piano and a drum set - took a permanent place. In the center of the stage there is a blue sofa and two armchairs (this only happened in 2010-2014). The background is a large screen (in 2010-2011 there was a green background, in 2011-2014 it was already light red and from 2014 it was dark red) on which videos and sections “Good evening, Mars!”, “Foreplay with Sergei Gorelikov” were shown, “Welcome to Russia with Yunusov and Likhnitsky”, “Learning foreign languages ​​with Demis Karibov”, “Le Havre Uprage”, Advertisements about deputies with Yegor Batrudov and the series “Mitrich”. At the moment there [ Where?] only show “USB” clips and some video clips. From 2010 to 2014, artists called "residents" entered the stage by descending from the second floor on an escalator. Now they come out from the street, where people and stars meet them on stage. The musical accompaniment of the numbers, as well as beats and jingles, are played live.

In 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, the “TNT Star at the Comedy Club” award ceremony was held on New Year’s Day, where the best projects and actors of the TNT channel were awarded.

Preparing the transfer

"Residents"

Current

• Pavel “Snowball” Volya is the current host of the show, performances in the genre of Stand-Up, miniatures, improvisation (usually during communication with celebrities present in the hall). Since 2005.
• Garik “Bulldog” Kharlamov - since March 14, 2015, co-host of Pavel Volya in conversation with guest stars, performs in miniatures, most often together with Timur Batrutdinov and Garik Martirosyan. Characters: Eduard Surovy, Mayor of Ust-Olginsk, an insane participant in castings for festivals, music competitions and television shows. From 2005 to September 2009, returned to the program in March 2011.
• Timur “Chestnut” Batrutdinov - miniatures (often together with Garik Kharlamov). From January 16 to March 7, 2015, he was Volya’s co-host in a conversation with the stars. Characters: candidate for deputy Egor Batrudov, Valery Alevdinovich Babushkin. Since 2005.
• Garik Martirosyan - represents the “residents” of the Comedy Club. In 2010-2015 he was the host of the show. Since 2005.
• Alexander Revva - miniatures. Characters: Arthur Pirozhkov, Don Digidon, grandmother, Super Stas, magician-illusionist. From 2005 to 2013, returned to the program in 2015.
• Alexander Nezlobin - his own humorous monologue, sometimes miniatures. Also in 2010, he hosted the column “Good evening, Mars!” with Igor Meyerson. Since September 13, 2006.
• Dmitry "Lyusyok" Sorokin, Zurab Matua and Andrey Averin - musical sketches, musical experiments, former members of the group "Lips". Sorokin since 2005, Matua and Averin - since 2007.
• Ruslan Bely - performances in the Stand Up genre. Former participant of the “Slaughter League”. Since 2009.
• Marina Kravets - miniatures, usually with Andrei Averin, Zurab Matua and Dmitry Sorokin, as well as with other members of the Comedy Club. Since 2009.
• Sergey Gorelikov (“Serge Gorely”) - member of the group “United Sexy Boys” (under the pseudonym Turbo). From 2010 to 2015, he led the “Foreplay” section. Since May 14, 2010.
• Semyon Slepakov - bard-“foreman”. Since April 23, 2010.
• Mikhail Galustyan - miniatures. Appears mainly in special issues as a guest. Since 2010.
• Demis Karibidis and Andrey Skorokhod - miniatures. Also in 2013, Karibov led his own column “Foreign languages”. Karibov - since March 2011, Skorokhod - since 2013.
• Duet “20:14” (Roman Popov and Hovhannes Grigoryan) - miniatures. Winners of the Comedy Battle. Since December 2012.
• Sergey "Sergeich" Kutergin - performances in the Stand Up genre. Participant in Comedy Battle. Since 2013.
• Trio “Smirnov, Ivanov, Sobolev” (Ilya Sobolev, Anton “Banderas” Ivanov and Alexey “Smirnyaga” Smirnov) - miniatures. Former participants of the “Slaughter League”. Since November 2013.
• Duet "YES!" (Makhmud Huseynov and Magomed Murtazaliev) - miniatures. Winners of the Comedy Battle. Since December 2013.
• Ivan Pyshnenko and Dmitry Kozhoma - miniatures, usually with Marina Kravets, Andrey Skorokhod and Demis Karibidis. Since March 2014.
• Andrey Beburishvili - performances in the Stand Up genre. Winner of Comedy Battle. Since December 2014.
• Igor Chekhov and Mikhail Kukota (formerly the duet “Partisans”) - miniatures. Sometimes they appear with Andrei Molochny. Former participants of the “Slaughter League”. Winners of the Comedy Battle. Since December 2015.
• Evgeniy Sinyakov - stand up performances with a screen. Participant in Comedy Battle. Since December 2015.
• Trio “Genre Crisis” (Igor “Gar” Dmitriev, Vasily Zinin, Nikolay Tereshchenko) - miniatures. Participants of the Comedy Battle. Since December 2015.
• Trio "Tommy Lee Jones" (Arthur Dadashev, Islam Kantaev, Ibragim Baysagurov) - miniatures. Winners of the Comedy Battle. Since December 2015.

Groups

• "Lips"- a folk group singing funny songs, founded in 2007 by Timur Batrutdinov, Roman Yunusov, Le Havre, Garik Kharlamov, Andrei Averin, Dmitry Sorokin and other residents.
• "Five"- musical numbers. They performed at the Comedy Club in 2007.
• "Jukebox"- Performed at the Comedy Club in 2008, 2010 and 2015.
• "United Sexy Boyz"(abbreviated as “USB”) is a group that has been parodying pop music since 2010. The stage image is of a group “banned on all television and radio channels in Russia,” supposedly recording an album a week and filming videos for it. Also, since 2014, in addition to clips, they begin to parody famous things. The clips begin with Dyusha Metelkin’s phrase “USB is here. Everyone is here: Nikita, Stas, Gena, Turbo and Dyusha Metelkin.” Members of the group:
  • Nikita (Konstantin Malasaev) - begins each of his phrases with the words: “I am Nikita...”, followed by a joke, usually on the metro/homosexual theme.
  • Gena (Dmitry Vyushkin) is constantly silent.
  • Stas (Andrey Shelkov) - begins each of his phrases with the words: “Let me say, yeah...”.
  • Turbo (Sergey Gorelikov) - begins each of his phrases with the words: “Listen, presenter!”
  • Dyusha Metelkin (Andrey Minin) is the leader of the group. Exploits the style of clothing and behavior of foreign rap artists.
• "Nestroy Band". The main composition of the group includes: Alexander Nezlobin, Igor “Elvis” Meerson, Marina Kravets, Alexey Smirnov. Founded in 2010.

Former

• Tash Sarkisyan - former show host (April 23, 2005 - January 16, 2010); also in 2010 he was co-host of Garik Martirosyan.
• “Red Burda” - monologues (in the “Special Guest” section). From April 23, 2005 to May 27, 2007.
• Tair Mamedov - parodies of the Maximum Program, as well as other monologues and miniatures. From April 23, 2005 to May 27, 2007. At first he performed in a Beatles duet with Egor Alekseev
• Timur Rodriguez and Max Perlov - musical numbers and parodies. From April 23, 2005 to March 27, 2008.
• Vadim “Rambo” Galygin - miniatures and monologues. From April 23, 2005 to July 2007 and from March 2011 to 2014. Characters: “Sergei Ivanovich Kopay”, “Gopher Man”, “Vadim Semyagin (there were also other variants of the surname: Galov and Zalysov)”.
• Duet “The Zaitsev Sisters” (Alexey Likhnitsky, Roman Yunusov) - miniatures, monologues, 2013 section Welcome to Russia: instructions for foreigners. From 2005 to 2013. Images: "Romati" (Yunusov), "Roman and Tatiana".
• Egor Alekseev - miniatures. He performed in the Beatles duet with Tahir Mamedov. From 2005 to 2006.
• Evgeniy “Raccoon” Tyutelev - news, monologues. From 2005 to 2008.
• Duet “Non-Russian size” (Emin Fatullaev and Dmitry Tsyganov) - miniatures and monologues. From 2005 to 2006.
• Grigory Malygin and Dmitry Nikulin - crime chronicle. They performed from 2005 to 2006.
• Sergei Bessmertny (Sergei Mokhnachev) - monologues, musical sketches. He performed from 2006 to 2010.
• Gabriel “Le Havre” Gordeev - miniatures, monologues, hosted the “Le Havre Upgrade” column, together with Timur Batrutdinov he was a member of the group “Lips” and “Two Antons”. From October 20, 2006 to October 5, 2012.
• Igor "Elvis" Meyerson - quick dialogues, spoken monologues. He also performed in miniatures with Alexander Nezlobin in the duet “Butterflies” and as the host of the show “Good Evening, Mars!” From 2006 to 2010.
• Sex Pistols (Anton Bogdanov and Vladimir Selivanov) - miniatures. From 2006 to 2007.
• Duet “Good Evening” (Andrey “Burym” Burym and Sergey “Los” Stakhov) - miniatures. Performed from 2006 to 2008.
• Victor Vasiliev - miniatures, monologues. Even earlier he performed in the duet “Mitya and Vitya” with Dmitry Khrustalev. In 2011-2014 he performed alone with his own column of photoidiocies and in miniatures with other residents. He performed from 2007 to 2014.
• Dmitry Khrustalev - miniatures, monologues. Previously he performed in the duet “Mitya and Vitya” with Viktor Vasiliev. Host of the Comedy Woman show from 2008 to 2014. From June 23, 2007 to November 11, 2011.
• Oleg Vereshchagin - miniatures, monologues. Previously he performed in a duet with Le Havre (dialogues between the “waiter” (Gordeev) and the “security guard” (Vereshchagin)). Now a participant in the Comedy Woman show since 2014. From February 12, 2007 to May 2011.
• Lyubinda Arachagu - miniatures, humorous monologues, stories from the life of a foreigner who came to Russia. Moreover, Lubinda himself is a native of Zambia. From 2007 to 2009.
• “Uncle Zhora” (Vadim Michkovsky) - pantomines, miniatures. He performed in 2007.
• Gennady Zhirnov and Vyacheslav Zhuravlev - miniatures.
• Alexey Zagorsky - monologues.
• Fedorov and Kletskin - miniatures (only at the festival in Turkey).
• Dmitry Pokras and Stas Boroda - miniatures (only at the festival in Turkey).
• Pavlov Pavel and “A Major” Vakhitov - musical numbers and parodies (only at the festival in Paphos).
• Anton Borisov - monologues (only at the festival in Paphos).
• Maxim “Icebreaker” Bakhmatov - guest performance (only at the festival in Paphos).
• Nazar Zhitkevich - pantomimes.
• Slava “The Rock” Komissarenko and Dmitry “The Slut” Nevzorov - miniatures (only at the festival in Sicily).
• Duo named after Chekhov (Anton Lirnik and Andrey Molochny) - miniatures. from September 13, 2006 to 2007 they performed at the Ukrainian Comedy Club. In Russian from 2008 to 2015.
• Andrey Rozhkov - miniatures, usually with Alexander Revva in the image of the “nerd” Andrey Borisovich. from September 23, 2008 to 2010.
• Duet “Love” (Katya and Seryozha) - miniatures about the relationship between a man and a woman. from 2008 to 2011 (only in the Ukrainian Comedy Club).
• Vyacheslav Slutsky - a series of sound miniatures. He performed in 2009.
• Bolshoi, Babai and Lekha - miniatures. They performed in 2009.
• Duet "Neighbors" - miniatures. They performed in 2009.
• Dmitry Grachev - parodies of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He performed in miniatures with Sorokin, Matua, Averin, Martirosyan, Kharlamov and Batrudinov. From 2010 to 2015.
• Sergei Svetlakov - Mitrich, the hero of the series of the same name. He performed during the new Comedy Club period from 2010 to 2011.
• Alexander Sas - Performance in the “Stand Up” genre. Performed in May 2014.

Stage images

• Grandmother- the first image invented by Alexander Revva in 2004. Also known are Grandmother Batman, grandmother of a provincial actor, grandmother-witch doctor Alexandra Kuzminishna and Baba Yaga.
• Gopher Man- the image of Vadim Galygin, invented at the very beginning of his career at the Comedy Club, in 2005. A man who conducts his monologues, always emphasizing that “gopher, bitch, personality.” She speaks about literally everything with the word “bitch.” According to the presenter, this man died in 1996, then “was reborn into an overgrown gopher.”
• Sergey Ivanovich Kopay- the image of Vadim Galygin, invented in 2005. An archaeologist talking about what was found during excavations in the program “Excavation, Excavation, Excavation.”
• Zaitsev sisters- stage name of Roman Yunusov and Alexey Likhnitsky from 2005-2009.
• Roman and Tatiana- images of Roman Yunusov and Alexey Likhnitsky, invented in 2007. News presenter Tatyana (Likhnitsky) and special correspondent Roman.
• Eduard Bedrosovich Surovy- the image of Garik Kharlamov in “Comedy Club”, invented in 2008. Solo singer-songwriter performing on television with an acoustic guitar. He composes songs on the verge of absurdity.
• Romati(the name is a reference to Timati) is the former stage image of Roman Yunusov, invented in 2008. The worst singer on the national stage. Performs parodies of popular songs. Usually comes out in inadequate condition.
• Arthur Pirozhkov- the image of Alexander Revva in 2008, “supermacho”. Also Revva, they began to call his image in “show business” that way.
• Bard foreman(by analogy with the “sixties”) - the character of Semyon Slepakov, a performer of original songs, usually with satirical and humorous content. The character was created during the emergence of the new “Comedy Club” - from April 23, 2010.
• Mitrich- the hero of Sergei Svetlakov, a gray-haired, bearded, crazy old man suffering from alcoholism. He dies in every miniature, often in a rather stupid way. The character was created during the period of the emergence of the new “Comedy Club” - from April 23, 2010 to April 2011.
• Egor Grigorievich Batrudov- character of Timur Batrutdinov 2010-2014, candidate for deputy Egor Batrudov (E.B.) from the party “For Correct Russia” (ZPR). A collective parody of government officials who make only promises.
• Family of partygoers- image of Timur Batrutdinov and Le Havre 2010. The humor lies in the fact that the guys say their lines to improvised club music created by the group “Jukebox”.
• Glamorous scumbag- that’s what Pavel Volya was called from 2011 to 2014, he conducts monologues with improvisation, mocking the stars of show business.
• Oligarch Anton and his young wife Elena- a frequent line of miniatures of the Chekhov Duet, Anton Lirnik and Andrei Molochny since 2011. Each miniature is that the oligarch’s wife either needs something or has something in her head.
• Choir- another musical storyline of Dmitry Sorokin, Zurab Matua, Andrey Averin and Marina Kravets since 2011. The constantly touring choir consists of a soloist and a male choir, which is sharply dissatisfied with the authority of the soloist. Speaking mainly to foreign audiences, they allow themselves to bicker and argue on stage. Recently, in the summer of 2016, they filmed videos for their songs.
• Rap group- musical storyline of Dmitry Sorokin, Zurab Matua and Andrey Averin (sometimes joined by Marina Kravets) since 2011. A rap group that reads "thieves" rap, constantly changing names and cities and using only one accompaniment motive.
• Vadim Pavlovich Semyagin (Galov, Zalysov)- the image of Vadim Galygin, invented in 2011. The head of the Kostroma police department, who often gives interviews and hosts of various programs (where their role was played by Garik Martirosyan) regarding the cases and events that he investigated.
• Alexey Novatsky- image of Alexander Revva 2012. A charlatan magician who is trying to prove that he is a real magician by passing off the most banal tricks with Sergei Buzlyaev as real magic.
• Don Digidon- image of Alexander Revva 2012. Character from the fictional film of the same name from 20th Century Fox. A very rich man who thinks he is a "Cool Dad".
• SuperStas- image of Alexander Revva 2012 and 2013. Fitness instructor who gives tips on losing weight and doing warm-ups. When he goes on stage, the announcer talks about his advice (Kharlamov). He looks like: with blue clothes and a white elastic band.
• Glebati (Gleb Kuznetsov)- image of Andrey Skorokhod 2013. The nickname is an obvious parody of Timati. In his own words, a super popular aspiring rapper from Detroitsk (Troitsk, Russian Detroit). He tried to make videos of obscene nature. It was about homeless people that I tried to film celebrities in my videos (well, Basque just agreed). And the representative of Russian music (Kharlamov) scolds him.
• Valery Alevtinovich Babushkin- image of Timur Batrutdinov 2013. A shy person with no life or sexual experience, who has worked in many places in his life, and managed to do ridiculous things everywhere. He rents a room from his grandmother.
• Mayor of Ust-Olginsk- image of Garik Kharlamov 2013. The criminal authority holding the post of mayor of Ust-Olginsk combines all sorts of vices of a stereotypical Russian official (bribery, lies, criminal connections, drug use, etc.).
• An insane participant in various musical events, and their host- images of Kharlamov and Martirosyan, invented in 2015.

The program also features “residents” from various projects in the “Comedy Club”, participants in the “Slaughter League”: Duet “Neighbors”, “Trio Smirnov, Ivanov, Sobolev”, participants and winners of “Comedy Battle” (at the moment): Evgeniy Sinyakov, Duet “YES!”, “Duet 20:14”, “Trio Crisis of the Genre”, Mikhail Kukota and Igor Chekhov (with the early duet “Partizans”), Andrei Bebrushvili, Sergei Kutergin and “Tommy Lee Jones Trio”. KVN players also appeared and performed: (Andrey Rozhkov, Dmitry Sokolov, Alexander Pushnoy, Stanislav Yarushin, Mikhail Bashkatov) and those players who are the main “residents” of the Comedy Club.

Criticism

Critics of the show believe that it is overly commercialized, and the performances of residents, as a rule, contain toilet humor that is unacceptable in a civilized society. On October 29, 2008, residents of the Comedy Club took part in Alexander Gordon’s television talk show “Gordon Quixote,” where, in particular, they were accused of vulgarity and the use of profanity. In September 2007, the famous satirist Mikhail Zadornov made a statement about the program: “They can’t perform every week: there are no such talents who can write witty and sparkling every week. And they didn’t even switch to vulgarity, to physiology. This is such rubbish! Moreover, the most offensive thing is that they are talented. And they wasted their talent.". Yakov Shustov in the Russian Journal questioned the talent of the participants: “Most club jokes about politics give the impression of being invented by members of the Nashi movement, expelled for mental retardation.” Rock musician Mikhail Gorshenev repeatedly gave a critical assessment of the show, noting the blatant copying of Western ideas: “We didn’t even bother to come up with something of our own or even change it a little. This is a stupid topic for which I personally am ashamed. When I watch these programs ripped off from Western standards, I feel such shame! It’s a shame for the culture!” . In one of his interviews, permanent member of the KVN jury Yuliy Gusman rated the subsidiary project “Our Russia” higher than the “Comedy Club” program itself.

On September 6, 2013, journalist Sergei Parkhomenko accused Comedy Club of aiding and abetting falsifications