Yevgeny Chebatkov discusses dream roles, wife, and stand-up fame

This summer in Moscow, filming began for the fantasy series «Secret City» based on the novel cycle by writer Vadim Panov. One of the key roles in the project is played by comedian Yevgeny Chebatkov. His character is as far from his own personality and habits as possible, but that«s what makes it more interesting, the humorist admits. What other roles does he dream of, how stand-up helped him settle into cinema, what»s in his rider, and why he doesn«t joke about his wife on stage, Yevgeny told in an interview with an IrCity journalist.

“The barrier to entry in stand-up is extremely low”

— Yevgeny, the first thing I»ve been curious about for a long time: what«s it like to be a comedian in Russia now? How hard is it, considering the specifics of our time? Can you joke your way to having to leave…

— I think it»s like it«s always been to be a comedian in Russia. I wouldn»t say the times are particularly special. If your goal in your performance is to lift the audience«s mood, to make it better, then you shouldn»t have any problems or obstacles.

— And why, in your opinion, has stand-up been so popular for many years? Trends change so quickly, today people like one thing, tomorrow everyone forgets about it and switches to something else. But stand-up is top, and there are more and more comedians. What«s that related to?

— I agree, stand-up is still at the peak of popularity. I think the genre, due to its democratic nature, allows anyone to try themselves in this field. There are no particular restrictions: no gender, no age, none. Plus, the barrier to entry is extremely low. And because of that, we probably have such a huge variety of comedians, and with it—a variety of topics. That»s what attracts people to stand-up.

Besides, the world has changed. Before, there were variety humorists who were shown on central TV channels. Everyone knew them, and it was as if there were no others.

Now everyone has a smartphone in their pocket, and in it—their own media, their own media bubble. So it seems like «there are too many comedians.» In reality, everyone just has their own audience.

— Every public person has their own rider. What interesting things are in yours? What couldn«t you do without on tour?

— If we»re talking about a domestic rider, not a technical one, then I have things I like, things that can lift my mood. For example, oranges, I really love them.

But the problem with a rider is that when you go on tour, you think: «Oh, I»ll be happy with this in every city,« and then… For instance, I used to have kvass, and I was genuinely happy: »Cool, kvass.« And then we went through the tour, and since then I hate it.

— You overdid it?

— Of course. When you have kvass in every city, you»re happy with it for the first five days, and then that«s it. And you can»t change it to something else because the organizer has already bothered to buy it.

— And as we remember from your stand-up, you don«t like to inconvenience people.

— Yes, I feel terribly awkward about that. So later I just didn»t open the packages so they could take the kvass back, and that«s it.

“I had the feeling that I was about to be exposed”

— You»re mainly known as a stand-up comedian and voice actor. But recently you«ve started acting in movies. What attracted you to this profession, and how did you get into it?

— Well, my wife is an actress, and she»s fanatical about acting. She doesn«t just work in the theater, she serves, and with her gentle strength, she instilled in me a reverent attitude toward art. Vera always told me that on stage I do a lot of things that have something actorly about them. And that»s how it all started.

I was invited to do a movie once, then another, and gradually it became part of my life. Now I have an acting agent and everything that goes with it. I«ve always loved cinema, so it attracts me.

— And now, are you more of an actor or a stand-up comedian?

— A comedian. One hundred percent.

— Tell us about your participation in the project «Secret City» for the TNT TV channel. How did you get involved? What is your character like?

— I wouldn«t say I was familiar with the original material, I haven»t read the novel cycle, but when I was sent an invitation for auditions, I agreed because the scale of the project was clear. I got curious. My roles changed a few times, but that«s generally a normal directorial approach. First, he sees you as one character, then another.

For me, the main thing, and I always strive for this in cinema, is not to play a comedian. Because it»s a strange ambition—to want to play yourself. I want something else, some creative challenge.

What I was offered in the «Secret City» project, even though they were different roles, were always some thugs. I can«t find another word. Then the character Lebed appeared. It»s a small role, even though they say there are no small roles, but I liked it. Plus, there«s a bright, cool company and great artists I got to work with.

— Lebed—what is he like, what»s his strength? Maybe there are some parallels with you, is he similar to you in some way? Or does he do things you would never do in your life?

— I don«t think he»s very similar to me, I didn«t notice anything kindred in him. He»s a bit of a slacker, a joker, he has a strong spirit of adventure because Lebed is a mercenary who performs tasks for money.

— Did you immediately blend into the acting family? There«s such an amazing star cast there: Milosh Bikovich, Yulia Peresild, Igor Vernik, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Alexei Guskov, Andrei Merzlikin, and others.

— I personally interacted with Masha Andreeva and Milosh Bikovich. They are my partners. They are super, very cool artists. From the first second, we established contact, although I certainly had the feeling that they were about to expose me.

— Meaning, catch you in the fact that you«re not a professional actor after all?

— Well, yes, that I don»t have a diploma. Those internal doubts are always there. But after «Major Grom,» they almost disappeared, I started feeling much more confident. And there was no goal to prove anything to anyone, I needed to solve the creative task set by the director. You always have to remember that you«re following his vision, you have to implement it and just immerse yourself in the process. I think in this particular project, I managed to do everything as it should be.

“Constant practice on stage is one of the best trainers”

— Did you have to specially learn something, take acting courses? Maybe your wife helped you, guided you?

— I go on stage every day and perform my stand-up monologues. The material is alive, it»s always changing, new assessments, points, meanings appear in it. You«re always creating some characters on stage.

I don»t want to devalue acting courses in any way, but I believe that constant practice on stage is one of the best possible trainers.

And my wife, of course, helps me find the core of the character, understand his tasks and motivation, but I try not to exploit her too much.

— Protecting her?

— Of course, she already spends whole days at work thinking about meanings and motivations, and then there«s me.

— Do you have any other film projects in the works or invitations?

— I»m currently in the process of being approved for four projects, waiting.

— You«ve already partially answered my next question when you talked about Lebed in »Secret City,« but I»ll ask anyway. What should and shouldn«t be in a film project you would agree to act in?

— Yes, I said I wouldn»t want to play comedians, it«s not interesting, and I don»t like cameos. Because at the beginning, when I just opened the door to cinema, everyone offered me to play a stand-up comedian. Or even worse—to play a stand-up comedian as screenwriters from KVN imagine them.

And as for what should be… It should be some kind of experiment for me, something unfamiliar to me in real life, not applicable.

— Do you have ambitions for some serious dramatic character? Maybe something from the classics.

— I don«t have a dream role visualized yet. But you know, right now with wonderful stand-up comedians Yegor Kuksa and Seva Lovkachev, we»re pitching one project, a comedic story. If it works out, it«ll be cool. We»re coming up with our own characters, writing them, performing them ourselves. We did something similar with Rasul Chabdarev, that project was called «In the Rhythm of Sausage.» Pure creative flow.

“I don«t want to be interesting because of scandals”

— Now let»s talk a bit about personal matters. You recently got married, but you rarely talk about your wife. Doesn«t she get jealous when you go on tour, on the road?

— I think as a creative person, she understands everything perfectly.

— And who»s the head of the family: you or her?

— Oh, no matter how I answer now, it will sound strange. Actually, it«s hard for me to talk about personal topics, I don»t really talk about it anywhere.

— Yes, I noticed that in your work, even in your stand-up monologues, there«s nothing or I haven»t come across anything about family or your wife. Although for a comedian, that«s a pretty simple and understandable way to gather material for a whole concert.

— I consciously avoid this topic. I myself don»t like to read or learn about others« personal lives, it makes me uncomfortable, unethical. And I don»t want to be interesting and curious to someone because of family scandals or personal life.

But to return to your question, I can say that my wife is from a military family, her father served. So in her head, her worldview, the man is the head of the family. And I feel comfortable being responsible. But at the same time, I understand that a man can be the head of the family in the full sense only next to a wise woman, otherwise it doesn«t work out.

— In one of your interviews, you said that when you first came to Russia, it, or rather the Russian border guards, didn»t welcome you very warmly, immediately labeled you as a Kazakh with all the known stereotypes. And now, are you more Kazakh or Russian?

— I«m a Russian Kazakhstani. That»s still with me, I just felt it very sharply back then. And recently, I started getting Russian driver«s licenses, since you can»t drive with Kazakh ones anymore, I go to the traffic police, put down my Kazakh license, and the woman looks at me surprised and says: «But you»re Russian!« With such indignation, with a reproach.

It always surprised me that in such a huge multinational and multi-confessional country, there should be an understanding that things can be different. You can be Russian but have a Kazakh passport. But no. Although now there»s much less of that.

— But you always have fodder for new stand-up monologues!

— That«s true.

“In Russia, the reserve of inner freedom is higher”

— Also, in your concert, you mentioned that Russian citizens have this trait—they always try to «assert» their rights everywhere, you were always surprised by that because in Kazakhstan, that doesn«t happen. In what other ways do our two states differ, and in what ways are we similar?

— You can look for many parallels and differences, but you should always remember that it»s solely about personal experience. I think Russians have a slightly different attitude toward life. Citizens of Kazakhstan have more flexibility, but sometimes it really hinders us. Where you need to be simple, clear, and unambiguous, we show a bit of Eastern cunning.

At the same time, when in Kazakhstan I see a Russian person from Russia, I recognize them by their first movement. I don«t know how to explain it. For example, one tattoo is enough, you see it and understand: »Well, that«s definitely not one of us.» Because in Russia, the reserve of some inner freedom is higher.

— And what about the Irkutsk audience? Are we different from residents of other cities?

— Very much so. In other cities, I just pick up the microphone, and people already applaud. In Irkutsk, the audience is much more reserved.

— There«s a stereotype that we»re all more strict and serious here because of the frosts.

— Possibly. With the Irkutsk audience, you have to work directly to get a good response. But that«s what makes it cooler when you hear a lively reaction from the hall, you understand that you succeeded. People live here who won»t laugh at some nonsense.

— You«re not in Irkutsk for the first time. How do you like it here?

— I feel like I»m in my hometown here. Unfortunately, I haven«t been to Lake Baikal yet, but I really want to take my wife and come here with her.