Yakov Smirnoff

Yakov Smirnoff (born January 24, 1951) is, according to his own description, a Russian-born American comedian.

"In Soviet Russia"

Yakov Smirnoff's legacy is the "In Soviet Russia" jokes, which frequently appear in many online communities, in particular Slashdot (see Slashdot trolling phenomena and Slashdot subculture). The general form of the Soviet Russia joke is that the subject and objects of a statement are reversed, and "In Soviet Russia" or something equivalent, is added. A modern example:

Related Topics:
Slashdot - Slashdot trolling phenomena - Slashdot subculture

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:How do you feel about tabbed browsing?

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:In Soviet Russia, web browsers keep tabs on you!

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Or an apolitical joke:

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:In America, you can catch a cold.

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:In Soviet Russia, cold catches you!

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All of Smirnoff's original "In Soviet Russia" jokes made use of wordplay that carried Orwellian undertones. For example, in the jokes "In America, you watch television. In Soviet Russia, television watches you!" or "In America, you check out books at the library. In Soviet Russia, library checks you out!" both punchlines refer to systems of omnipresent surveillance characteristic of police states. The first joke alludes to video screens that both reproduce images and monitor the citizenry, as in 1984. The second joke refers to the use of libraries as another official means to monitor or keep tabs on the thoughts of the citizenry and especially its dissidents, which is uncharacteristic of free societies.

Related Topics:
Orwellian - Surveillance - Police states - 1984

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As another example, in the joke "In California, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, the Party can always find you!", the second use of the noun "party" denotes the Communist Party. The punchline makes light of the grim Soviet reality that all citizens at all times were subject to the apparatus of the state.

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In modern popular culture, "In Soviet Russia" jokes often lack any Orwellian undertone, and merely make use of a grammatical transposition to achieve some absurd, but apolitical, result.

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It is also worth noting that at the peak of Smirnoff's celebrity in the mid-1980s, he did not say "Soviet Russia" — he said "Russia," as the Soviet Union had been around since 1917, was still extant, and showed no signs of imminent collapse. Smirnoff added the "Soviet" qualifier after the fall of the USSR, long after his fame had faded, to specify that he was referring to the communist regime and not the present state.

Related Topics:
1980s - 1917

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Occurrence of "In Soviet Russia" jokes on television

In a Family Guy episode, Peter Griffin plays around with his car's navigation system, and turns it to "Yakov Smirnoff Mode". The navigation system says, "In Soviet Russia, car drives you!". Later in that episode, it says, "Turn right at fork in road. In Soviet Russia, road forks you!" (The comment made by Peter Griffin: "Boy, is that getting old.")

Related Topics:
Family Guy - Peter Griffin

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In an episode of King of the Hill titled The Bluegrass Is Always Greener in which they go to Branson for a bluegrass festival, Bobby sells a Soviet Russia joke to Yakov. The joke is: In America you put "In God we trust" on your money, in Russia, we have no money! (Compare with Will Rogers' comment, "In Russia, they ain't got no income tax. But they ain't got no income!")

Related Topics:
King of the Hill - Bobby - Will Rogers

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In the eighth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Crow T. Robot invited Yakov Smirnoff to lecture on the film Jack Frost, a Russo-Finnish co-production. Predictably, Smirnoff's "lecture" degenerated into a sequence of unrelated "In Soviet Russia" jokes: "In your country, you watch movie The Rock. In our country, we break rock in gulag." (Smirnoff was actually played by a member of the MST3K production team.)

Related Topics:
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Crow T. Robot - The Rock

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In the Futurama episode "That's Lobstertainment!", Doctor Zoidberg does stand-up on Amateur Night at the Apollo. He makes the joke: "Earth. What a planet. On Earth, you enjoy eating a tasty clam. On my planet, clams enjoy eating a tasty you."

Related Topics:
Futurama - Doctor Zoidberg

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An instance of this joke format appears on The Simpsons television show in the episode "The Old Man and the Key".

Related Topics:
The Simpsons - The Old Man and the Key

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