Watch This Ukrainian Comedian Do An Incredible Set In A Bomb Shelter
"Sorry if it’s not funny. I was in a hurry to avoid death.”
Comedian Anton Tymoshenko did a hilarious 15-minute set in a Ukrainian bomb shelter last month, and all of that sentence is true.
As reported by Vulture, stand-up comedy has been flourishing in Ukraine since Russia invaded the neighbouring country in late February, with comedians trying to lift community spirits and raise money for Ukrainian relief efforts.
Many comedians are also doing in-person shows in unorthodox settings like bomb shelters, including Tymoshekno, who uploaded his full set to YouTube last week. “This is my first stand-up in English, sorry for mistakes,” the YouTube caption reads. “I wrote it in a week, so sorry if it’s not funny. I was in a hurry to avoid death.”
That caption very much sets the tone for the set to come, where Anton’s jokes give a uniquely unsettling jolt to the system. “This is our Comedy Cellar,” he says early on, referencing the famous comedy venue in NYC. “It’s really easy to find an audience for stand-up. You just come and people are here. And they can’t go out because of air sirens.”
He riffs a little on US talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, and even weighs in on Will Smith’s Oscars slap, before talking about how anyone who wants to live ‘in the present’ should just visit Ukraine, where you can die at any moment.
Watch Anton’s full set below.