Yakov Smirnoff came to the United States from Russia in the 70s and, landing in Los Angeles, literally lived at The Comedy Store in Hollywood where he began to develop his stand-up act. Rocketing to fame in the 80s Yakov was everywhere - The Tonight Show, in movies, his own sitcom and in commercials. But with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the cooling of the Cold War, Yakov's Russian-in-America act and persona began to lose its relevance and impact.

In the process of reinventing himself a faltering marriage drove him to learn more - about love, laughter and how those things go hand-in-hand. Yakov's journey includes revitalization in, of all places, Branson, Missouri, getting a degree from an Ivy League school, becoming a professor  and now regularly going up at his old "home" The Comedy Store and bringing a new act and new perspective to appreciative audiences.

To hear more about his early years a great companion piece to this podcast would be Marc Maron's WTF conversation with Yakov, which you can get here as a subscriber, or listen on YouTube here.

Yakov will be appearing at The Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on August 16th, as well as heading back to his 2000 seat theater in Branson in late September through early December, and will be shooting a PBS special, "Happily Ever Laughter" to air in early 2016.

Get more info about Yakov and his performing schedule at Yakov.com and you can follow him on Twitter @yakov_smirnoff

Enjoy! -LM

Yakov was everywhere in the mid-80s...even in a Miller Lite commercial...

Yakov Smirnoff came to the United States from Russia in the 70s and, landing in Los Angeles, literally lived at The Comedy Store in Hollywood where he began to develop his stand-up act. Rocketing to fame in the 80s Yakov was everywhere - The Tonight Show, in movies, his own sitcom and in commercials. But with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the cooling of the Cold War, Yakov's Russian-in-America act and persona began to lose its relevance and impact. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 


In the process of reinventing himself a faltering marriage drove him to learn more - about love, laughter and how those things go hand-in-hand. Yakov's journey includes revitalization in, of all places, Branson, Missouri, getting a degree from an Ivy League school, becoming a professor&nbsp; and now regularly going up at his old "home" The Comedy Store and bringing a new act and new perspective to appreciative audiences. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 


To hear more about his early years a great companion piece to this podcast would be Marc Maron's WTF conversation with Yakov, which you can get <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_451_-_yakov_smirnoff">here</a> as a subscriber, or listen on YouTube <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzj7uNSQXuI">here</a>.Yakov will be appearing at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ticketmaster.com/tony-orlando-beverly-hills-california-08-16-2015/event/0B004EC5A3E5214D?brand=saban">The Saban Theatre</a> in Beverly Hills on August 16th, as well as heading back to his 2000 seat theater in Branson in late September through early December, and will be shooting a PBS special, "Happily Ever Laughter" to air in early 2016.Get more info about Yakov and his performing schedule at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.yakov.com/">Yakov.com</a> and you can follow him on Twitter <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/yakov_smirnoff">@yakov_smirnoff</a>Enjoy! -LMYakov was everywhere in the mid-80s...even in a Miller Lite commercial...

Long-time broadcaster, sometime writer, wannabe director, occasional actor, more-than-occasional voice actor, part-time banjo tuner and former tuna canner Larry Morgan has managed to spend his entire career in radio and other media somehow not pissing people off. So after years of being told to "not talk so much" and "keep it short" he decide to Talk More and Go Longer with some of those people. Having a natural curiosity for others who are creative and how they got to where they are (obviously fueled by professional jealousy) and honing in on the events, people, films, TV shows and books that drove them to create - presented in a snarky, monkey-like way - is what this podcast is all about. Live - laugh - learn - throw a little feces with us and be an honorary Monkey as we bring the snark and go on this historic, ground-breaking audio journey. (Really, it's not that big a deal, but it should be fun.) -Larry Morgan

Established creative types from all forms of media - film, TV, radio, writing, internet, etc. - bring the snark every week.

SnarkMonkey

Long-time broadcaster, sometime writer, wannabe director, occasional actor, 
more-than-occasional voice actor, part-time banjo tuner and former tuna 
canner Larry Morgan has managed to spend his entire career in radio and other 
media somehow not pissing people off. So after years of being told to "not 
talk so much" and "keep it short" he decide to Talk More and Go Longer with 
some of those people. Having a natural curiosity for others who are creative 
and how they got to where they are (obviously fueled by professional 
jealousy) and honing in on the events, people, films, TV shows and books that 
drove them to create - presented in a snarky, monkey-like way - is what this 
podcast is all about. Live - laugh - learn - throw a little feces with us and 
be an honorary Monkey as we bring the snark and go on this historic, 
ground-breaking audio journey. (Really, it's not that big a deal, but it 
should be fun.) -Larry Morgan

Yakov Smirnoff comes in the MonkeyCage to talk about how he reinvented and refocused his act - and his life - after the end of The Cold War...

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