Team “Cinemyashki”
Comedy training starts early for KVNshiki–competitors in Club of the Merry and Clever (Klub Veselykh i Nakhodshivykh, or KVN) competitions. Sixteen teams of students from seven to seventeen years old gathered to perform skits to a packed theater for the Baikal School League’s season opener. Some of the skits highlighted the students’ youth, as in the sketch, “Kindergarten talk: a translation for adults.” Many revolved around school or relationships with parents, and a few touched on nascent pre-teen romance. The students proved themselves to be not only able actors, but gifted comedians. Jokes take nuance and timing. They pulled this off ably, earning as many laughs as televised professionals.
Baikal School League
Clip from KVN team “Farsh” (subtitled): “A Very Hardworking Lifeguard”