Pun (TV Magazine)

Participants in the comic trio “Shop Fu” and the duet “Sweet Life” met on the set of the comedy television series “ Mask Show ” ^[3] . They decided to join forces, calling themselves “Full House”. They quietly started touring for the most part in Ukraine, as most of them were from Odessa ^{[3] [4]} . Following the example of the comedy troupe “Masked Show”, they decided to make a humorous program of the same name. In 1996, the first 12 episodes of the Full House video comic book magazine were shot on the basis of the Privat-TV television company in Kharkov . The program was produced “without a customer”, that is, without the recommendation and wishes of any television channel. The first plot was filmed on April 8, 1996 in the Central Park of Culture and Rest. Gorky ^[5] .

After some time, the executive producer of Full House Irina Kozyr turned to her friend, producer Eduard Verkhoturov, with a proposal to become the general producer of the program. He accepted this offer and after several months of work, with the author, director and presenter Yuri Stytskovsky, 5 pilot (already ready by July 1996 ^[5] ) of 12 programs were partially re-edited and re-installed, and then sold to ORT under the name “Pun” ^[6] .

After season 1, the program began to appear in Odessa, and Yuri Volodarsky also became its producer.

From October 12, 1996 to April 13, 2000, “Pun” went on the “ORT”. Over 4 years, 90 issues were published there. In the summer of 2000, a decision was made on the television channel to radically update the line of humorous programs, and the pun left ORT along with Gentleman Show and Mask Show ^[3] .

At the initiative of Yuri Volodarsky, the program began to appear on RTR . The contract with the channel was concluded for a year ^[3] and from December 11, 2000 about 30-40 issues were released there.

In 2001, by the decision of the cast and producer, the shooting of "Pun" was suspended, and soon the project was closed ^[7] .

Subsequently, the pun was repeated on several other Russian television channels in an abridged version. In 2006, under the guise of new episodes, on the DTV channel, sections of old episodes of “The Punishment” mounted in 2004 were shown with interspersed sketches from another production project of Volodarsky and Stytskovsky “Small stories of a big city”, filmed in 2002 ^{[8] [9 ] ]} .

Our aperitif (1996-2000)

A short initial sketch of the program, designed to warm up the humorous "appetite" of the audience. In 1998, the heading began to appear under the title “ You wrote - we played ”, and the plots in it were shot based on letters sent by viewers.

Sensation at all costs

Part of the heading " You wrote - we played ." 4 stories telling about a professor-inventor and his unlucky test friend.

Characters and their performers:

• Professor - Alexey Agopyan
• Max - Yuri Stytskovsky

Who's there?

Stories in the house, on the landing.

Black in White

Stories about doctors. Medical "black" humor.

Miners

Stories occurring in the mine.

Characters and their performers:

• Shakhtar Vasilich - Vadim Nabokov
• Shakhtyor Petrovich - Alexey Agopyan

Under the sound of "Pi" (1996)

A talk show parody. In each issue, one keyword is masked by the sound “pi”, which makes the replicas of the host and guest invited very ambiguous. At the end, the facilitator reports what was actually being discussed.

Bar "Pun" (1996-1999, 2000)

The action here takes place in a bar called "Pun." The plots are made like a comic: all the phrases pronounced by the characters “pop up” in the form of a bubble from their mouth. It is worth noting that the voices reach the audience in a processed form; as a result of processing, the voice becomes like a shrill mumble or a mumble, but to understand what the characters are talking about, subtitles are used.

The main action takes place near the bar, where the regular alcoholic sits and constantly drinks the alcohol that the bartender pours to him. An alcoholic greets everyone with the help of his hat, which he takes off and puts on; all his jokes are about alcohol.

Sometimes Madame (a woman of easy virtue) appears instead of the Regular. In addition to craving for a drink, she solicits other characters, but they ignore her harassment in every possible way, because of which she usually calls them boors, and the Bartender answers her: “ Thank you! ". The waitress also works in the bar, the only drawback of which is the mania to chat with someone on the phone until the Bartender appears, interrupting her conversation in various ways and sends her to the visitor with the standard phrase “ Go to work!” ".

A regular visitor to the bar is also the Regular Loser. Its appearance is always destructive for the bar: it necessarily suffers the fall of a flower pot on its head, knocks over a hanger at the door and trips over the waitress's foot (sometimes it breaks tables and chairs). The bartender sometimes likes to make fun of him. Usually the Loser has extremely little money and he orders himself a glass of water, but sometimes he has more money, and then he orders some dish with a disgusting taste, after which he tries to make a mess of what the Chef appears, kneading a meat grinder in his hands as a tool (sometimes the bartender uses the cook as a bouncer). In several issues, the girlfriend of the Loser appears, also a loser.

Another regular visitor to the bar is Rocker, a pot-bellied and bearded man with remarkable physical strength. He drinks vodka by the buckets, arranges a pogrom in the bar with the help of a baseball bat and fists.

Characters and their performers:

• Bartender / girlfriend of the Loser - Alexey Agopyan
• Regular Alcoholic / Madame - Vadim Nabokov
• Waitress - Tatyana Ivanova
• Regular Loser / owner of the bar "Pun" - Sergey Gladkov
• Rocker / Cook - Yuri Stytskovsky

Steep Dive (1996-1997, 1999, 2001)

Passenger aircraft " Broiler-747 " crashes over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean for 325 series. The crew of the ship bravely struggles to save the lives of passengers.

Characters:

• Cheerless and courageous Commander - Yuri Stytskovsky
• Inventive and resourceful co-pilot Drinkins - Alexey Agopyan
• Pretty and unflappable stewardess - Tatyana Ivanova
• Cool-headed and charming radio operator Morse - Vadim Nabokov
• The incomparable Miss Murple as Miss Burple / air traffic controller - Sergey Gladkov

In this series, the cliches of American disaster films were parodied. The characters make their remarks in English with a one-voice-over-voice translation (in one of the episodes, the Commander even spoke in Russian, when Drinks claimed that since this is an American series, there will certainly be a happy ending ).

The action of each issue usually happens as follows: The commander is constantly trying to scare Drinkins with his jokes from the category of "we all die" and laughs at the camera with the audience. In between jokes, they show an animated airplane crash (in pilot episodes, video frames with real planes were shown in this place, and in the animation the falling Broiler-747 looked different) ^[10] and then other crew members entered the cockpit. The stewardess, entering the cabin, always says: “ We have problems in the passenger compartment ”, after which she complains about the behavior of Miss Burple (the heroine whom everyone talks about, but who appears (except for credits) only in the 28th episode instead of the Commander ) or that passengers suspect that the plane is falling and receives mocking “advice” from the Commander, after which he again laughs at the camera with the audience.

A Morse radio operator suffering from stuttering and a nervous tick often comes to broadcast another radio message “from the ground” or to call the Commander on the phone, and sometimes for the reason that he cannot deal with miserable problems. The appearance of the Stewardess and radio operator Commander usually accompanies a perplexed question to Drinkins: “ Who is this? "( Eng. Who is it? ), To which Drinks first (in the early episodes) answers correctly, and then begins to invent (he is tired of answering the same thing) and the Commander addresses the Stewardess as Drinkins called her (" Miss Already stupid ”,“ Grandfather Fir ”, etc.). In the 1st and 2nd seasons, each episode ends with the Commander asking Drinks how many episodes “to the end” are left, and joking in the spirit of “ Then I still have time ... (remember childhood, change skin color, feel Japanese, change sexual orientation, plant a tree, build a house, plant eggs, shoot a flight engineer’s horse, etc.) . ”

It should be noted that it is forbidden for air pilots to have a beard, since it can interfere with putting on an oxygen mask, while the Commander has a rather thick beard and mustache.

Voiceover

Iron Caput (1998)

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a top-secret tank was created in the military laboratories of the First Reichsmacht (most likely, Germany is meant), which had military power and superweapon that was far ahead of its time. In order to test the tank and at the same time not to destroy Europe ahead of time, it was abandoned in Central Africa to enslave the "rebellious Zusuls" (most likely, a reference to the real Zulus ). After a while, for safety reasons, everyone who knew about the existence of this project was destroyed, and they forgot about the tank. Nevertheless, his fearless crew consisting of the commander - Major Baron von Schwalzkopf XII, gunner - Hans Schmulke and ordinary soldiers - Drankel (from the word "kick", that is, "get drunk") and Zhrankel (from the word "eat") were not forgotten about their great mission and were ready to the end to fulfill their duty. In the annals of history, this secret project has remained under the name Iron Caput.

Characters speak German with a one-voice voiceover.

Most of the episodes take place inside the tank (with the exception of the series "Negotiations with the Zusuls" and "Combat Gas of the Stupid Action", in which the characters went outside). Usually they begin with the fact that the major orders Shmulka to stop the tank. Then he gives him a bunch of other instructions (to lower the periscope, which always hits the major on the head; see what the zoosuls do; call Drankel and Zhrankel), calling him a "boob" or "cretin," to which Schmulke invariably replies: Herr Major. " Calling Drankel and Zhrankel, the commander first asks them stupid questions (how many hands a soldier has, where is which finger), while calling in the same way as Shmulke. He also demonstrates in almost every episode the “new secret weapon of the First Reichschmacht”, but in most scenes the “wise” instructions of the major and the diligence of his subordinates lead to an explosion inside the tank, as a result of which the shreds always remain from the uniform of the major. The agile Shmulke immediately appears with spare jodhpurs for the commander (in the series “The merciless sword of the Debilungs against the Hordes of stupid savages” the same thing happened with Shmulke himself, and in the series “Mina disguised as a beer”, Drankel and Zhrankel suffered the same fate).

Zusuls, in turn, defend themselves from the enemy by throwing rotten fruit or shells into the tank, as well as using war elephants. They celebrate each successful attack with the clapping of their hands, receiving a salvo from the tank in response.

Characters and their performers:

• Commander - Major Baron von Schwalzkopf XII - Yuri Stytskovsky
• Gunner - Hans Schmulke - Alexey Agopyan
• Private Drankel - Sergey Gladkov
• Private Zhrankel - Vadim Nabokov
• Zusuly - Alexey Agopyan and Vadim Nabokov

Voiceover

Village of Fools (1996-2001)

In this section, the action takes place in a village, in a house from one room or in the yard. Each episode tells of incidents from the life of this village.

The main characters are a married couple - Man and Baba. A man (judging by his uniform - a former Cossack) is constantly trying to steal moonshine from under Baba’s nose, but she notices all this and punishes him in the head with a frying pan or rolling pin. The Man has his own hobbies: shooting from a gun, hunting and fishing. To them often comes to visit a friend of the Man - Sailor fool; he is a seasoned sailor, also a drunkard, constantly meets with a man and drinks moonshine. Often helps a man.

Baba and Muzhik are a married couple, but at the same time Baba is attracted to the Sailor. The sailor is also married; his wife, appearing in some episodes, is similar in nature to Baba, but uses a huge anchor instead of a frying pan. The sailor also loves fishing, as does the Man. Muzhik and Baba have a beehive with a Bee and a well next to the house, which at the same time serves the Muzhik and Sailor as a fishing pond and a stash-stash for moonshine. A bee from a hive also talks, as it was in one of the series.

To all the main characters, you can add the talking Bear Misha, who constantly strives to steal honey from the owners, drag fish from the Sailor, or even drink moonshine from the Man. In the series “Deceivers” it is shown that he, like Muzhik and Sailor, also has a wife.

Characters and their performers:

• Man - Sergey Gladkov
• Baba - Tatyana Ivanova
• Sailor the Fool - Vadim Nabokov
• Bear - Alexey Agopyan

Minor Characters:

• Dream Girl (series “Pleasant Dream”) - Irina Kozyr
• Hunters (Cuckold series) - Alexey Agopyan, Vadim Nabokov, Yuri Stytskovsky
• Pike - Puppet Character
• Rat (series "Mouse" and "Death") - puppet character
• Death (series “Death”) - Yuri Stytskovsky
• Bee - Puppet Character
• Santa Claus (New Year's series) - Alexey Agopyan
• Leonid Yakubovich - host of the program “Field of Miracles”. Appears in the New Year series “Magic Wand” in the role of himself (cameo).
• Snegurochka (New Year's series "Staff of Santa Claus") - Irina Kozyr
• Squirrel (New Year's series “Squirrel Fur Coat” and the series “Health Magazine”) - puppet character
• Bear's Wife (The Deceivers and Alcoholism Treatment Series) - Alexey Agopyan
• The wife of the Fool Sailor (the series “The Deceivers”, “Over There, the Unfaithful” and the “Cheating”) - Alexey Agopyan, Tatyana Ivanova (31 series)
• Prince on a white horse (The Blue Prince on a White Horse series) - Sergey Gladkov
• Relatives of Muzhik and Baba (Ukrainian, Mexican, Japanese) - Sergey Gladkov, Tatyana Ivanova
• Wife of Ukrainian Sailor (series “Greetings from Ukraine”) - Alexey Agopyan
• Rocker from the section “Bar Puns” (series “Arm Wrestling”) - Yuri Stytskovsky
• The Beast (Monster series) - Vadim Nabokov
• English skipper (series "Letter to the Sailor") - Vadim Nabokov
• Devils from the well (Devil from the Well series) - Alexey Agopyan, Tatyana Ivanova

After the closing of the "Pun" in 2002-2003, Sergey Gladkov and Vadim Nabokov created 62 minute animated films with the participation of their characters who are trying to escape from an uninhabited island or the North Pole ^[3] .

Men's Stories (2001)

Stories occurring in the pub. The heroes are the men Vasily and Alexei (main characters), as well as Georgians, intellectuals, homeless people and waitresses (secondary characters).

Characters and their performers:

• Vasily / intellectual - Yuri Stytskovsky
• Alexey / homeless / georgian - Alexey Agopyan
• Waitress - Tatyana Ivanova

In the intervals between the plots, as well as at the beginning and at the end of the program, short sketches are played between the Host and the Assistant.

In the pilot episodes, instead of the Assistant, the Presenter had a make-up artist, and the action took place behind the scenes.

Roles are performed by:

• Presenter - Yuri Stytskovsky
• Make-up artist (pilot episodes), Assistant (1-2, 5-7 seasons) - Alexey Agopyan

• The official website of the television magazine (neopr.) .
• The official community of Vkontakte (neopr.) .
• Natalya Trubchaninova. Actors of the show "Pun": "In the West, our" Village of Fools "did not understand - they do not know what a morning hangover" (neopr.) . RIA "Voronezh" (December 25, 2013).
• Julia Litvin. Tatyana Ivanova and Vadim Nabokov: “It all started with a folding bed on Moldavanka!” (Unopened) . Passage (January 2009).
• Tatyana Ulisko. The "pun" step from the great to the ridiculous is small to the ridiculous (neopr.) . The seventh channel . Archived on September 27, 2007.
• Vladimir Denisenko. Pun Punches as Pure Art (Neopr.) Day (August 16, 2002).