KVN

KVN
GenreGame-show franchise
Created bySergey Muratov, Albert Axelrod, Mikhail Yakovlev
Country of originSoviet Union, Russian Federation
Production
Running time60–180 minutes (depending on the version)
Production companiesHome Edition programs for the youth of the Central Television of the USSR (1961-1990)
AMiK (1990-present)
Release
Original release8 November 1961 (1961-11-08) –
present

KVN (Russian: КВН, an abbreviation of Клуб весёлых и находчивых, Klub Vesyólykh i Nakhódchivykh or Ka-Ve-En, "Club of the Funny and Inventive") is a Russian and formerly Soviet Union comedy television show and international competition in which teams—usually composed of college students—compete by giving humorous answers and show prepared sketches. The show originated in the Soviet Union and is based on the earlier program An Evening of Funny Questions (Russian: Вечер весёлых вопросов, romanizedVecher vesyolykh voprosov). The program was first aired on the First Soviet Channel on November 8, 1961.[full citation needed]

In 1972, Soviet censors who found the students' impromptu jokes offensive and anti-Soviet, banned KVN. The show was revived in 1986 during the perestroika era, with Alexander Maslyakov as its host. It is one of the longest-running programs on Russian television; its anniversary on 8 November is celebrated by KVN players every year since its inception and was widely celebrated for the first time in 2001.

During the perestroika era (c. 1985-1991), KVN spread to Russian expatriate communities. In 1992, an Israeli team played against the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) team. The game became a success, and more international gamesl followed: the CIS team visited Israel, Germany and the United States. In 1994, the first KVN World Festival was held in Israel; it featured four teams representing the United States, Israel, the CIS and Germany.

Leagues and competitions

Groups of KVN teams were organized into several leagues, in which they annually competed for the League Champion title. To organize the movement, the KVN Union created a structure of regional and multi-regional arrangements of Leagues. The Major League and the Premier League are regularly broadcast on Russian television station Channel One. Other leagues were broadcast on local channels.[when?] The winner of the Major League (Vysshaya Liga Russian: Высшая Лига) is declared the Champion of the Club. There are other KVN competitions outside the leagues: the KVN Festival (KiViN) is held in Sochi each January and attracts hundreds of teams from around the world: this is where teams are arranged into leagues for the season; the Musical Festival, which is called "Singing KiViN" (Golosyaschiy KiViN, Russian: Голосящий КиВиН), was held every July in Jūrmala, Latvia; and has been held in Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, since 2005. At the festival, teams compete to win prestigious prizes; the Summer Cup or Supercup is usually played in August every year, usually in Sochi, and only Major League champions are allowed to compete (with some exceptions: in 2003, when a team of famous KVN players competed, and in 2007, 2008 and 2010, when finalists were invited). A game called the Specproject (pronounced "Spetsproyekt") is held every November to celebrate KVN's anniversary. Many places, both inside and outside the CIS, have leagues independent from the KVN Union and hold their own competitions.[citation needed]

Format

Alexander Maslyakov hosts the Major League on April 1, 2013

KVN is a task-based team competition that is played in front of a live audience and a panel of judges. Typically, each team is asked to complete four or five themed assignments, such as:

  • Mandatory
    • Greeting (Privetstviye, Russian: Приветствие): witty introduction of the team, humorous greeting to the jury and spectators.
    • Warm-up (Razminka, Russian: Разминка) is usually the second contest; a rapid exchange of funny questions and improvised answers, sometimes played against the audience, jury and the host.
    • Musical Competition (Muzykalnyy Konkurs, Russian: Музыкальный конкурс): the competing teams perform musical sketches, sing, play musical instruments and dance. Sometimes an alternative, shorter version called One Song-Contest (Konkurs Odnoy Pesni, Russian: Конкурс одной песни) is played; players must use one melody throughout the competition.
  • Optional
    • STEM ("students' variety miniature theater") (Russian: СТЭМ): three performers from a team are allowed to be on stage simultaneously.
    • Captains' contest (Kapitanskiy Konkurs, Russian: Капитанский конкурс): individual competition between the team captains.
    • Homework (Domashneye Zadaniye, Russian: Домашнее задание): comedy sketches on a given topic; sometimes Musical Homework is played when there is no Musical Competition.
    • BRIZ (Bureau of Rationalization and Invention) (Russian: БРИЗ): teams present an invention, a brief historical survey, movies, photo-albums or any type of new idea. It is also called a literature contest because it mainly consists of textual jokes.
    • News Contest (Konkurs Novostey, Russian: Конкурс новостей): similar to the BRIZ but focuses on strange and funny news items.
    • Biathlon (Russian: Биатлон): a representative of each team "shoots" one or more jokes at the audience. The jury decides who leaves the "shooting range" until only two contestants remain and the jury chooses one winner who gets one point. In case of a draw the finalists receive 0.9 points each.
    • Freestyle (Russian: Фристайл): a more-modern and freer version of the Greeting, in which the teams have no genre restrictions.
    • Cinema Contest (Kinokonkurs, Russian: Киноконкурс) involves contestants making a movie, a music video, a clip consisting of different video and audio pieces, or dubbing a well-known movie.

A panel of celebrity judges evaluates performances on wit, humor, production values and audience reaction, and declares a winner by awarding points to the teams. In the Premier League, the jury usually consists of famous KVN players.[citation needed]

Popularity

Vladimir Putin attends the taping of the 50th anniversary episode of the KVN comedy show and congratulates KVN members, November 13, 2011

According to the official website of KVN Union, the game has[full citation needed] over five million live viewers annually; more than 40,000 participants organized into more than 3,000 regularly competing teams from more than 100 cities.

For more than 20 years, television broadcasts of KVN games received the highest[quantify] ratings in Russia. The game is so popular politicians use it as an opportunity to gain extra points: Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev attended games played before elections. The game of KVN helps in interstate relationships; the CIS–Israel game broadcast on September 19, 1992, helped improve relationships between the two countries—mostly on Russia's side. KVN became part of the culture and became a game of choice in Russian-speaking communities worldwide.[citation needed]

In 2006, the president of the club Alexander Maslyakov received one of the highest awards from Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, for hosting the game for so many decades, at the end of the game dedicated to KVN's 45th anniversary.[citation needed]

International reach

Since perestroika opened Soviet borders for emigrants, KVN has reached Israel, Germany, Australia, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and the United States. Many countries created their own teams, leagues and competitions. In 1992, the Israel team played against the CIS team. The game was a success and more international games followed; the CIS team visited Israel, Germany and the United States. In 1994, the first KVN World Festival was held in Israel with four teams from the United States, Israel, the CIS and Germany. This event attracted a new generation of players. Currently,[when?] the American league includes more than 30 teams from universities, including Harvard, Berkeley and New York University (NYU), the first League Champion. KVN Israel comprises two leagues with about 30 teams. The UK also has a prominent KVN community, with teams from a number of universities.

Notable KVN players

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (2019–present), captain of Kvartal 95, Kryvyi Rih (1998–2003, Major League).

This page was last updated at 2023-03-15 11:11 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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