Viktor (Anatolyevich) Shenderovich (born 15 Aug 1958) — a Russian national (or anti-national, depending on the point of view) satirical writer, theatre figure, and showman. He resides in Moscow. Having been entirely banished from national television, he travels extensively around the world. He is a columnist for various independent newspapers and magazines. Since 2008 he has stepped back from regular journalistic work as a television and radio analyst and has turned to writing drama in longer forms. Over the past two years he has written 5 novellas and 3 plays, one of which has been staged at O. Tabakov's theatre studio.
The Nature of the Phenomenon
Shenderovich steadily and, as a rule, lucidly — in fine literary Russian — debunks the The Cargo Cult along with all its derivatives, from the concept of the vertical of power to its very foundation: the domestic petroleum glamour.
For this, during the "noughties," the writer fell out of favor with every regional authority figure (except those in Nizhny Novgorod). Social functionaries conspicuously fail to attend his lectures, and the more far-sighted among them arrange for the venues hosting Shenderovich's concerts and public lectures to be closed for preventive renovation.
Biography
Born on 15 August 1958 in Moscow.
In 1980 he graduated from the Moscow State Institute of Culture with a specialization in "director of amateur theatrical companies," and in 1988 completed an internship at the Shchukin Theatre School with a specialization in "teacher of stage movement."
For seven years he taught stage movement at GITIS.
He has worked in television since 1992 (as a screenwriter of documentary films). Since 1995 he has been a scriptwriter for the programme "Kukly" (Puppets) on the NTV television company.
Since 1997 he has been artistic director and host of the political programme "Itogo" (Total), and of many other television and radio projects.
Awards and Titles
Since 1992 he has been a member of the Union of Writers of Russia. Laureate of numerous literary prizes in the field of humor. Laureate of the television prize "TEFI-96" in the category "Event of the Year." Laureate of the "Golden Ostap" prize (1996).
Useful Activities
Samples of His Work. Aphorisms
Well, Romans — isn't a loaf of bread already a spectacle?
There are many gods, but there's only one of us.
The end of the world has the most sponsors.
There are times when the arbitrariness of fate is something you can only dream of.
Some come in cassocks — but with horns...
Oxen have no idea what is permitted to Jupiter...
He was so gloomy that even thoughts stopped visiting him.
In wartime, nothing is prized so highly as flat feet...
In the gap between two eras, several generations can fall through.
In the mirror carp was reflected the smug mug of the fisherman.
In every sanatorium you'll find two or three retired Batys.
In the unequal contest between a hammer and a television set...
The garden's full of elderberry, but hunger is no aunt.
In Russia, the cup of patience is measured in glasses.
What is the strength of mosquitoes? Their overwhelming numbers!
Your agony does not suit me from an aesthetic point of view!
There is room for elegance everywhere. Even anxiety can be airy.
The wind of change should not whistle in your ears.
The war veteran dreamed of getting some tongue at the shop and carrying it back to his own lines.
The eternal assortment: the stale bread of truth — and the poppy-seed bun of lies...
Power of the people? Clarify — over whom?
Soldiers are supposed to fall into step, but they often aim considerably higher.
He headed a Brownian movement...
The air of freedom is sometimes used to inflate things.
Near the man struck by a sack of dust, forty people choked to death.
Here is my hand — you've twisted it!
Just wait till the master comes — the master will show you... (from Nekrasov's drafts)
Everything can be survived. Even death.
We're all paupers anyway — so let's at least go begging around the world!
All the fur coats in the world can fit into a single moth.
Suck the sound back into the fanfares!
Those expelled from the driver's cab make a dash for the emergency brake.
A genealogical miracle: the son of a lawyer and of Kuzka's mother.
The general sprinkled his head with p - e - o - p - l - e.
A gynecological observation: the efforts of prophets are fruitless, because history develops in a spiral...
The main thing is to feed the ideologists! The rest will manage.
Those who speak of unity sometimes have a mass grave in mind.
"Lord, save me!" cried the atheist. "And have you seen this?" replied the Lord.
The state is as simple as a bicycle: those who steer are on top, and the chains are at the bottom...
The state choked on a military bone.
The border of slavery cannot be crossed illegally.
Let a bat come to power, and the sun will be outlawed!
The children of the stooped grow up with hunched backs.
A shortage of carrots I can imagine. A shortage of sticks — I cannot.
Should Darwin be held responsible for the bestialization of the masses?
A fool with a messianic streak.
A fool who doesn't moralize. What a clever one!
Jews, take your starting positions!
His finest hour turned out to be the curfew.
The sled dog dropped dead from pride.
If humanity had known its future, it would not have laughed so freely when parting with its past.
If you beat someone over the head with a tuning fork, it will be the head that hums.
If a circus bear raises its paw, that doesn't necessarily mean it's voting "yes."
To live next to your own bust — you'd have to be not a two-time Hero but a three-time cretin!
At the negotiating table, several third countries were served for dessert...
A riddle. What is it: when a woman walks in, it rises? The answer: a gentleman, you dirty-minded lot!
The smell of our foot-wrappings puts the West off its appetite for war.
A note from the hedgehog: "Gone into myself."
What does a butterfly need a five-year plan for?
Why fight me? I'll lie down on the floor and count to ten myself!
The land cooperative "Black Hundred."
The banners are bloodstained — but the people are as meek as silk!
The Golden Horde? Excuse me, the color of the horde is of no interest to me.
Even among the dead there are lively ones!
From conversations inside a pot: "We dumplings had better stick together!"
Let he who has ears plug them!
Sometimes, after receiving a slap in the face, you're also asked to sign for it.
Foreigners also love a fast ride!
I wonder — whose dreams are coming true here?
Judas did not hang himself. He changed his surname and went professional.
The personnel officer died upon reading the word "republican" in the "party affiliation" field.
It seems the wheel of history was not designed for our roads.
It seems our past has a great future.
How tactless of the ashes of Claes to knock at the heart!
What vileness! Wrap up five of them.
What sea, are you serious? I get seasick on dry land!
What kind of person do you have to be to hypnotize a boa constrictor?
The centaur's virtue is that he can himself justify the necessity of a stable.
The key question of mathematics: does it really matter?
The oaths "may I never know freedom" and "may I be a bitch" can be taken fearlessly by anyone in this country.
When the state turned to face the individual, the individual screamed in terror.
If you chase a dog long enough, you become a border guard.
When truth is defended for too long, faith precipitates out.
When bastards come to power, everyone starts living a dog's life.
When he promised a good life, everyone went cold in advance.
When a country dreams of freedom, the border guards' barrier goes up.
When should a rat abandon ship if it is the captain?
Whenever I hear the word "the people," my hand reaches for the validol.
A commission of Pilates issued a certificate of partial rehabilitation for Christ.
The commission for ratifying Newton's laws for the fourth quarter of the current year.
The escort guard is forced to retrace the prisoner's route.
The cavalry guardsman neighed in solidarity.
The compère smiled himself to pieces: his face split.
The cow studied the "Meat Production Plan" display board with interest.
A Darwinist's nightmare: a locust capable of a qualitative leap...
Nothing is more eloquent than a gag.
History's tilt — away from the imperative mood.
Night blindness on the eve of being made into soup is already a political myopia.
Lefty shod the flea. Now it not only bites, but also clicks its heels, the little wretch.
It is easier to wait for the end of the world than for the end of the darkness.
The Leninist stage of philosophical development ended with the stage-by-stage deportation of philosophers.
The poet's lyre knew no wavering!
The lyrical drama "Judas's First Kiss."
A lift that breaks down twice a day and Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky are both profoundly national phenomena!
The slogan: "The congress's resolutions — not in a million years!"
A puddle can be situated above sea level.
Love of the Motherland can be unrequited.
"Never mind evolution," muttered the mastodon, trampling the Neanderthals.
It is not enough to come to power — you have to leave it alive.
It is not enough to breach a gap — you must not perish under the rubble.
Little Skuratov and Neurasthenic Razin.
Mao measured humanity with a squinting glance.
The march "Farewell of a Slavic Woman to a Foreigner."
A mathematical idea: to change the degree of freedom at the root.
Mendeleev lived in an era when people still dreamed of periodic tables.
Measuring an inch by your own arshin is patriotic, but tiresome.
Can a married man afford a cause-and-effect relationship?
Can someone cast to the ends of the earth consider himself a resident of the Centre?
Moses led the Jews through occupied Palestinian territories for forty years.
Wet business, this — a sixth of the earth's landmass.
Not only can a city stand on a swamp — a whole state can hold itself up on one.
There is no place on the state's palette for the color of shame.
The number pi does not apply to perfectly round fools.
He responded to the blows of fate by hitting back.
Inscription made with the tsar's staff on the gates of Novgorod: "Vanya was here!"
Those who tie their own nooses later count themselves among workers in the field of hygiene.
Don't hit him — Grandmaster is not his last name!
Don't kick a man when he's down? God forbid — what if he gets up?
Can't see a way out? You're standing in it!
Not all that glitters is gold — but that which smells of dung is unquestionably dung!
Don't give him a fulcrum — he wants to overturn the world!
Don't let dwarfs treat growing pains.
He couldn't perform hara-kiri on himself — the belly fat got in the way.
Those who find no brothers in intelligence seek brothers in blood.
Don't pin your hopes on anything!
Don't spit even into a dried-up well — if only out of delicacy.
The executioner is not so frightening as the spectators are repulsive.
"Don't touch me and I won't stink!" cried the dung, making its way to power.
Don't tickle Atlas!
Some people manage to harvest a decent crop even from the Garden of Gethsemane.
Some Prometheuses peck out their own livers.
I hate all systems except the Solar System!
There is no drumstick that does not dream of becoming a conductor's baton.
Fear nothing — it has all happened before.
The rhinoceros has poor eyesight, but at his weight that's no longer his problem.
At night, in a dead end, don't ask about Kant's ethics — they may make a thing-in-itself out of you.
What terminology we have: pioneer camp, recreation zone...
Ask the crushed about the greatness of the epoch.
Let us provide the voices crying in the wilderness with deserts!
One young man was not recognized as an artist. He became a Führer. One should pay closer attention to talent.
He was a most worthy man, but the vicious era left its mark on his face (crossed out) mug.
Those intoxicated by power sober up with blood.
Caution: the army is restructuring!
Relative to a pendulum, the Universe keeps swinging back and forth.
Commemorative medal "Thirtieth Anniversary of the Pyrrhic Victory."
Political parties grow like stubble on a corpse.
Primeval censorship: Glavpaleolithic!
The pointing finger is useful for scratching the back of one's head.
When drifting with the current, it's pleasant to row for oneself.
Naked kings are excellent for studying the anatomy of power.
According to the latest data, the boy who spoke to the naked king was planted by the opposition.
You cannot read someone's fortune from their severed palms.
The firefighter was horrified to discover a spark of talent within himself.
Allow me, with complete directness, to smirk crookedly.
They caught the cannibal — and ate him!
While the cook was learning to run the state, the food ran out.
While some bear their cross, others become the nails of the season.
A politician scratches where the people itch.
Political chess: for years now it's been checkmate from every direction, yet the Party won't resign!
The political corpse decomposed in great comfort.
It's time to plant a cross on Golgotha!
A tailor's view of life: yes, it's a bit short — but if you let it out a little...
Portraits of the people's leaders turn out to be useful in the subsequent manhunt for bloody tyrants.
He looked the troika-bird in the teeth...
Why is the last scoundrel invariably in the front row?
The government, so as not to fall, tried to avoid resonance.
Presentation of the end of the world.
He despised the ocean for its lack of a false bottom.
At the words "surrogate father," he was reminded of Pavlik Morozov.
Ghosts exist. Some of them have even run the state.
One can come to power on all fours.
An example of inflation: fate is a turkey, and life is a kopeck!
Dreamed of Peter the First shaving the beards of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Conductors of light are always in insulation...
A request to those being annihilated: please do not disturb the public order!
A puppet's request: "Don't jerk me around over trifles!"
Rubbed his eyes and stopped seeing altogether.
A gas mask may become the face of an era.
The gingerbread has gone stale — but the whip is well soaked!
A bullet is a fool, and this is often reflected in the commanders-in-chief.
A bullet is a fool, a bayonet — an idiot!
The scale of our pride is determined by the scale of our misfortunes.
Revolutions are called Great depending on the number of casualties.
While requisitioning Oblomov's sofa, they shot Stoltz along the way.
The homeland for a Jew is the place where he was first called a kike.
The homeland can become a country of residence.
Russia is a zone of high-risk popular sovereignty.
Russian parliamentarism: Stenka against Stenka...
The fish had long rotted from the head, but would not allow itself to be grabbed by the gills.
It is hard to explain to a fish what "balyk" is.
With a musket I gaze upon our generation...
The levers of power should be dusted for fingerprints.
A letter fell from a banner. Many were killed.
The most terrifying thing is seven spans of wit in a brass forehead.
The quietest morning is after the St. Bartholomew's Night.
He made the dream a reality, and now he doesn't know how to get away from it.
So many people eager to discuss the cut of a straitjacket!
How many prejudices they have eradicated, and still no reason to be found.
A blind man came out of the metro, tapping the pavement with an emergency brake handle.
The stinking were cautiously called the strong in spirit.
Death is merely a special case of non-existence.
The assembly of beast-lizards voted not to recognize evolution.
One's own profile should not become small change.
The nightingale moonlighted as a battle-hardened sparrow.
The salt of the earth — into the wounds of the people!
The human factor kicked in, and the sheep chose themselves a goat.
Among those walking over corpses, looking where you step is considered bad form.
Old age is no joy, of course, but some deaths are a nationwide celebration.
The starter had once been a sniper, and the runners knew it...
The moment Emelya climbed down from the stove, it turned out his last name was Pugachev.
Is it worth gaining sight in this landscape?
A country that has spread itself out so wide provokes its violators...
Strange — how is it that Newton's laws still operate here?
The construction of himself was completed. Handed over for use.
Should it be called rape when an idea takes hold of the masses?
Died just like that, still convinced that "Cambridge" was a bourgeois insult.
Tattoo: "I will never forget my dear mother, the Party, and the government."
Those who bring about wars then, the bastards, go on to fight for peace!
The body — bury it; the doctrine — embalm it!
What is obvious to a fool is still an open question for the wise.
What has stuck between your teeth will yet get stuck in your throat!
What stands apart is harder to tear down.
Comrade Iceberg, somehow you're not entirely on the surface...
Some scare: the Loch Ness Monster... Now if the Party Central Committee surfaced there!
The current of hatred — from the difference in potentials!
The axe argued that everything is in God's hands...
Cod should not advertise its liver.
Hardest of all is to grovel before one born to crawl.
Moles have their own score to settle with the solar system.
The boa constrictor was drawn to the rabbits.
Russia cannot be understood with the mind, and with other parts — it's very painful!
Those who wash their hands are well fed.
The physics teacher drank himself to ruin trying to explain the right-hand rule.
The pharaoh squeezed out the slave drop by drop.
The flagpole would not stand, so there was nothing to stretch the banner on.
The weathervane was nailed down tight, and the wind blew resignedly in the indicated direction.
Certified idiots are entitled to boots as well.
Führers — why not just go straight to: get married and take poison?
Want to be a noun — then decline!
Want to see people on their knees — scatter some money.
Want to shelter from the rain? Rise above the clouds!
Caesar can take pride in slaves who take pride in the aqueduct!
A guard dog stays loyal only to its kennel.
The Church put God's providence on its head.
Frequent recantations by Galileos can stop the planet.
Man is the blacksmith of his own happiness and the carpenter of his own coffin.
Man — that sounds proud, but looks repulsive!
Man descended from the ape. But with God's help.
The suitcase wouldn't close until a hundred rubles were placed inside it.
The worm felt sick at the words "sport fisherman."
Vera Pavlovna's fourth dream — that's not for Freud...
What can be more wonderful than a woman? Her girlfriend.
What is the Hound of the Baskervilles? It is Mumu, who managed to swim to shore.
What is man from the monkey's point of view? An example of what labor can drive you to!
What kind of prestige is it if it has to be maintained?
To understand the rustle of leaves, one must forget the language of regulations...
To build yourself a pyramid, you need a foundation!
Felt like a savage among Miklouho-Maclay types.
Blinders concentrate the attention on the bright future.
Evolution spent millions of years straightening man upright, but never made him unbending.
Evolution began when the ape felt itself to be human.
Einstein with his head shaved can be considered Einstein only relatively.
Ah, to Canossa — but in a tank!
Jupiter, you've gone all bullish!
I know their fists like the back of my hand...
I know why ostriches bury their heads in the sand. They have instructions in there!
I myself thought I was Hare Krishna, but it turned out — Allahu Akbar!
Is the conscious necessity to go into slavery a form of freedom?
Activity in the Region
In addition to his usual activities, in Nizhny Novgorod V. Shenderovich is an honorary guest of the traditional festival of theatrical satirical revues "Vesyolaya Koza" and a spontaneous commentator on football championships.
Public and Political Influence
- Viktor Shenderovich is a fashionable author among the Russian elite, who wish to demonstrate the independence of their views. Thus, in London at one of V. Shenderovich's concerts, the wife of Surkov was spotted by him in the fifth row.
- In 2008–2009, Shenderovich was in litigation with State Duma deputy from the LDPR Sergey Abeltsev. Shenderovich called Abeltsev a "yehu" for inciting attacks on human rights defenders (the presidium had been pelted with chicken eggs by LDPR members). The court, located on Zoologicheskaya Street, found no criminal offense in Shenderovich's words and the case was dropped. Based on the materials of this trial, in 2009 Shenderovich published the book "The Case of the Yehu and Other Stories from Our Zoo. My Encounters with Justice."
The Commissioning of an Attack on V. Shenderovich
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I have received information about a threat of physical violence.
I was told that Deputy Abeltsev has commissioned an assault on me. I cannot, of course, reveal my source of information — given the criminal-political resources of my opponents, this person is in far greater danger than I am. The source will be disclosed only in court, if I am convinced that the state will seriously concern itself with his safety. Deputy Abeltsev had threatened me even during the trial — I have already quoted his passage about how in "the good old days" they would have "sorted out my head with a pipe in a stairwell." This was said in the presence of the judge, lawyers, and prosecutor — and it sounded like a direct threat, which I drew to the attention of the court and Prosecutor Sycheva at the time. At trial, Abeltsev stated that he had decided to pursue the legal route. On that route he suffered a complete fiasco — and I entirely do not rule out that the deputy may have reverted to the "good old" practice he described. The report of a planned assault, combined with Mr. Abeltsev's grim reputation and the repeated, never-solved cases of violence against his personal adversaries, compels me to take with complete seriousness the threat voiced in the courtroom of the Presnensky District Court. I do not rule out that this may be a more complex affair, that other people, agencies, and political combinations may stand behind this threat. But I wish to separate theories from facts. The facts, I repeat, are that Deputy Abeltsev in the courtroom painted a picture of physical violence against me, and after he lost that case twice, I received information about a planned attack. I am filing a complaint with law enforcement authorities requesting that measures be taken to protect me and to investigate this matter. I am prepared to undergo a lie detector test and would like Deputy Abeltsev to undergo the same. |
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Interesting Facts
- Viktor Shenderovich calls himself the Knight of the Unprintable Image. He placed this definition in the title of his personal website.
- Viktor Shenderovich is able to reproduce the vocal intonations and stage mannerisms of Evgeny Evstigneev, having presented a role to him during his studies at the Moscow Art Theatre School-Studio.
- He considers his most interesting achievement in theatrical work to be his contribution to the production "A Room in the Town of NN" as choreographer. The production received the professional award "Golden Mask."
- During Shenderovich's performance at the The Kremlin in the early 2000s, the power went out in the building of the Philharmonic.
Official Resources
- Viktor Shenderovich's LiveJournal (archive) (closed after Mumugate)