Comedy Woman (title originally in English) is a Russian sketch/standup comedy show—sort of the female version of Comedy Club, in which women barely take part. The show started in 2008, and there are now nearly 200 episodes.
The show grew out of the comedy club/cabaret show Made in Woman. It was founded in 2006 by Natalya Yeprikyan (Наталья Еприкян), who saw the need for a humor cabaret-style show for women. Most of the original participants were former KVN participants. The comedians made the rounds of Moscow comedy clubs for several years. After that, the show was turned into a TV show, with the same title. After four episodes, the formatting and cast members were changed up, and the show began airing again as Comedy Woman. The show’s director, Dmitriy Yefimovich (Дмитрий Ефимович), asserted that it was “not Comedy Club, and still less Comedy Club for women” but something entirely different—more a stage/spectacle show, with more thoughtful jokes.
The most recent season consisted of both the show’s usual comedic programming and a casting for the new season, to shake things up. When the season ended, many of the former contestants were given a new show, called Love Is (title in English). Participants will include Yekaterina Varnava (Екатерина Варнава), Marina Fedunkiv (Марина Федункив), Tatyana Morozova (Татьяна Морозова), Maria Skornitskaya (Мария Скорницкая), and, bizarrely, singer Sergey Lazarev (Сергей Лазарев).
Most of the show’s participants have been women (with three or four men thrown in there). Many episodes also feature guests, often from Comedy Club. The show does not seem to be as iconic as Comedy Club (any guesses as to why?), but, in founder Natalya Yeprikyan’s words, “Comedy Woman today is likely the best humor show in our country. And it’s the best because it is a women’s show.”
Creator: Natalya Yeprikyan (Наталья Еприкян)
Host: Natalya Andreevna (Наталья Андреевнa)
Production company: Comedy Club Production
TV channel: TNT (ТНТ)
The show’s official site, on TNT.
The show’s official YouTube channel.
