Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov
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Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov (Russian: Михаил Задорнов, Latvian: Mihails Zadornovs), (b. July 21, 1948 in Riga, Latvia), known as Mikhail Zadornov is a Russian stand-up comedian and writer. Zadornov is particularly famous for his satirical comparisons of Russians and nationals of other countries, especially Americans and Germans. He has rescinded his visa to the United States as a protest to the American athletes' flag-waving behavior at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics [1]. Zadornov was born in an artistic family, his father Nikolai Zadornov was a notable writer from Riga. Mikhail Zadornov graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute, however, in the early 1980s he started a career as a humorist instead of an engineer.
He has also been known to make fun of any CIS (former Soviet) country seeking a friendly relationship with the west, but seems to have no hard feelings against them.
While criticizing heavily American culture and its influence on the life in modern Russia, Zadornov commended Dan Brown for getting the public interested in Israel, the Vatican, Leonardo da Vinci and art history. (That praise aside, Zadornov assessed the literary value of Brown's books as "сочинения ученика очень средней школы", which translates into something like "compositions of a student at a very mediocre middle-school"; pun intended as средний means both "middle (grade)" and "mediocre".)
[edit] Quotes
- If you have something against democracy, while democracy is in your land,—you’re finished (TV concert, 1999)
- “I do not criticize America—I criticize our [Russian] way to copy the American way of life—especially its worst side” (TV concert, 2003)
- "I travel to Ukraine about three times a year now, and every time I come, I ask the guy at the train station 'What's new?' to which he always answers 'elections'. I want to buy a parrot that lives about 300 years, and officially adopt him so at least one of my family members sees the end of the Ukrainian elections."
- "Oh the Estonians have joined NATO, I'm so scared. Will we ever have time to run for our lives if the Estonians attack us?"
- "I've said enough about Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, and oh yeah, I also talked about Ukraine.. Now let's talk about their government... the Americans"
- "The diary of Yuri Luzhkov: 8:00 AM: Make the clouds over Moscow go away. \\ 10:00 AM: Get the clouds back to make the gay-parade go away.
- "In America's sports up till nowadays black people are the best runners, and white - the best shooters."
- "How come so that you [americans] know English language so well?"
- "When a king silences the jester, the role of the jester is passed to the king"
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Personal web site (Russian).
