Actors of the show “IMPROVIZATION” on TNT: we were so fired up with the idea that we were upset

Improvisation is a TV show that is gaining momentum at supersonic speed.
Its light and fairly unobtrusive format attracts more and more fans every day. Today we want to talk not only about the improvisation show itself, but also about its participants and their biographies, and also talk about the thorny path to this project. We will reveal famous names, show photos, everything as it should be to get an idea about a person.

Content

• 1. History
• 2 Improvisers
• 3 Format
• 4 Improvisations 4.1 "Party"/"Blind Date"/"News"
• 4.2 "Interview"
• 4.3 "First Date"
• 4.4 “Change!”
• 4.5 "Scenes from a Hat"
• 4.6 "Prompter"
• 4.7 "Options"
• 4.8 "Genres"
• 4.9 "Detective" (formerly "Psychic")
• 4.10 "Bartender"
• 4.11 "Strange Restaurant"
• 4.12 "Understudy"
• 4.13 "Loud Talk"
• 4.14 "Voice acting"
• 4.15 "Items"
• 4.16 "Freeze Frame"
• 4.17 “Shockers” (extreme improvisation)
• 4.18 “Mousetraps” (extreme improvisation)
• 4.19 "Red Room"
• 4.20 "This is rap"
• 4.21 "Stuntmen"
• 4.22 "Two Phrases"
• 4.23 "The Right Question"
• 4.24 “Question to question”
• 4.25 "Distant Relative"
• 4.26 "Inner Voice"
• 4.27 "Minus one"
• 4.28 "Behind"

Story

The initiator of the creation of the show “Improvisation” was the producer of Comedy Club Production Vyacheslav Dusmukhametov. Dusmukhametov learned about the Voronezh project “Controversial Issue” and, together with Timur Batrutdinov, flew to Voronezh, where Batrutdinov took part in the show along with the actors, and Dusmukhametov saw what it looked like live[2]. After that, he invited part of the “Disputed Question” troupe to try their hand at the show, added actors from the St. Petersburg improvisation theater “Sra3u” to it, and with this team, work began on creating a new project[3].

The actors got used to each other for almost three years[4]. During this time, they learned to play more than thirty formats of improvisational games and held many training parties at different venues with different audiences[5].

During this time, three pilot episodes were filmed, which is a unique case in television. The first episode was released on February 5, 2016 on TNT[6]

Improvisation TV show on TNT. Anton Shastun, married or not

Biography of Shastun Anton - all the participants in the show are special and interesting, but I would like to start with Anton, because his popularity knows no bounds and he is simply an interesting person.

Anton Shastun. Improvisation - TV show on TNT: participants, names, biography, photos

• Year of birth: April 19, 1991
• Place of birth: Voronezh
• Education: State Agrarian University named after Peter I, manager
• Height: 197 cm
• Marital status: single
• Instagram: @anton.shastoon

Start

Anton is not as simple as he seems. This little guy, although not quite small given his height, has been in love with the work of the magnificent and incomparable Jim Carrey since childhood. Known as The Mask or AceWintura. And even in their appearance there is some similarity.

Anton Shastun. Improvisation - TV show on TNT: participants, names, biography, photos

After entering the university, Anton began to actively participate in the activities of the Cheerful and Resourceful Club in the BV team. Subsequently, the young man became the leader of the team and it was under his leadership that BV won the League.

First steps towards project I

After graduating from university, Anton chose a path in which he felt confident - humor and local TV. But Shastun was not limited only to Voronezh. He actively auditioned for various TNT projects: Comedy, Comedy Battle.

Anton Shastun. Improvisation - TV show on TNT: participants, names, biography, photos

The first attempt at writing on TNT was a complete fiasco; the episode with his participation was not even aired.

But Anton did not lose heart and tried further. Attempt number two was a breakthrough for Anton, but he never became the winner of the battle.

In addition, the boy has excellent stand-up skills. Among his friends, Shastun organized the “Controversial Issue” project, which became very popular in his hometown and formed the basis of a new improvisation project on TNT.

Format

Each Improv television episode features four improv actors, a host, and a guest star (or stars). The presenter is located at a table on the side of the large stage area, and the guest star(s) sits next to him. The actors sit at the back of the stage on poufs and only come on stage during improvisations. Performers who are not participating in the game remain in their seats at the back of the stage. There is also a secondary set - a specially hidden decoration that appears at a certain moment. For example, the improvisation “Shockers” is played out in it. In addition, there is a separate area called the "Red Room", where the camera is on top and films the actors as they lie on the floor.[7]

The main difference between Improv and other shows is the lack of a script. In all other television programs, all numbers and jokes are first invented, edited, rehearsed, edited again and only then filmed. In this show, the actors have no idea what or who they will be playing. The only script that is in the show is the rules of the games and tasks for improvisation, which were invented by the author’s group of the project. Before going on stage, the actors do not know these tasks, so everything that happens on stage is invented by the participants right on the spot[8].

Each series consists of 6-7 improvisational games. Approximately half of each episode consists of improv games featuring a guest star.

Different numbers of actors take part in different improvisations. There are improvisations in which all four performers participate, and there are those in which only two or three.

At the end of each episode, the host and actors say goodbye to the audience in improvisational images specified by the host (for example, as zombies, karatekas, detectives, etc.)[9].

Arseny Popov

And this stand-up artist almost made the biggest mistake in his life by enrolling in an economics university after school. To the delight of his future fans, Arseny quickly came to his senses and moved to study as a dramatic actor at Omsk State University. Having received his diploma, the aspiring artist came to work at the Lyceum Theater, where he mainly played loving characters.

A fateful turn in his career came with the difficult decision to leave the stage of his native theater and go to St. Petersburg together with the Buryat troupe, which was working at that moment in Omsk. In the Northern capital, the actor became one of the participants in the improvisation theater “Cra3y”, auditioned for the role of presenter of MUZ-TV and the project “Avtozvuk”, and played in the show “Tochka Yu”. His ability to improvise was noticed by the producers of “Improvisation” and the artist became a regular participant in the interactive show.

Improvisations

"Party"/"Blind Date"/"News"

• Arseny Popov must guess what characters the other three actors are playing, without knowing it in advance.

"Interview"

• Anton Shastun must give an interview on behalf of the guest star to the other three actors playing the role of journalists. When the guest star presses the red button, the actor must utter a line that has the opposite meaning.

"First Date"

• The guest stars, who are a married couple, tell the story of how they met, after which the actors try to show the story in a skit. During performance, Pavel Volya stops the action at a certain moment and changes the conditions or chronology of the story. When the stars press the red button, the actor must utter a line that has the opposite meaning.

“Change!”

• Arseny Popov and Anton Shastun play a miniature on a predetermined theme. After the command from Pavel Volya “Change!” the actor must quickly insert different phrases or perform different pantomimes, depending on the direction in which the action in the miniature was going before the command.

"Scenes from a Hat"

• The four actors are divided into two teams of two. Pavel Volya sets situations for the actors to perform various unexpected behavior options.

"Prompter"

• Two actors perform a miniature and at a certain moment one of them makes a finger snap, after which the guest star must throw in a word or phrase that the actors must use in dialogue.

"Options"

• Two actors play a miniature on a predetermined theme; Pavel Volya stops the miniature at a certain moment and asks the guest star to introduce a theme or genre in which the actors should continue the miniature.

"Genres"

• Three actors play a miniature on a predetermined theme; Pavel Volya stops the miniature at a certain moment and asks the guest star to introduce a genre in which the actors must perform the miniature again.

"Detective" (formerly "Psychic")

• The guest star, playing the role of a detective, must guess where, who did what, and with the help of clues from the actors playing the roles of the detective's subordinates.

"Bartender"

• The guest star, playing the role of a bartender, must guess which girl dumped the guy. Improvisers play one person.

"Strange Restaurant"

• The guest star, playing the role of a restaurant patron, must guess the name of that restaurant with the help of clues from actors playing the roles of waiters, chefs, customers, and so on.

"Understudy"

• A guest star, participating in a miniature with an actor, must use his lips and movements to perform what the other actor is saying into the microphone.

"Loud Talk"

• Sergei Matvienko and the guest of the episode, while wearing headphones and not hearing anything, must guess from Anton Shastun’s facial expressions what he is talking about and conduct a dialogue.

"Voice acting"

• The two guest stars must voice the actions of the two actors in the skit, and the actors, in turn, must adjust the dialogue to the sounds they hear.

"Items"

• The four actors are divided into two teams of two. Each team is given unusually shaped objects. The actors need to come up with ideas on the fly and show funny scenes with objects.

"Freeze"

• The four actors are divided into two teams of two. The guest star comes to the center of the stage and freezes in any static position. The actors' task is to come up with a funny scene on the fly based on the star's pose.

“Shockers” (extreme improvisation)

• Two actors put shock bracelets on their hands and perform a skit on a given topic. If Pavel Volya hears that in a conversation the actors say words with a letter that they do not know, he will shock them for this. The actors' task is to guess the letter given by the editors, and if the actors do not guess, then Pavel Volya will shock them again. Actors must pick up objects from the set and interact with them while delivering dialogue.

• According to the documentary about this show, this improvisation was invented by the actors themselves[5].
• In new episodes, Pavel Volya shocks the actors along with the guest star
• In the new episodes, the rules of improvisation have changed: Pavel Volya and the guest star shock the actors if they commit a “forbidden” action. The actors' task is to guess the action planned by the editors.

“Mousetraps” (extreme improvisation)

• Two blindfolded actors perform a miniature on a floor covered with mousetraps on a predetermined theme. The actors' task is not to be distracted from the miniature after contact with the mousetraps.

"Red Room"

• Three or all four actors in a special room act out a skit on a predetermined theme in a lying position. Pavel Volya at a certain moment stops the action and introduces new themes for performance[10].

"This is rap"

• The actors perform a skit on a predetermined topic. At a certain moment, Pavel Volya stops the action with the words “This is a rap” and the actor who uttered the phrase last must compose a rap on the fly related to his phrase.

"Stuntmen"

• The actors act out a skit created by Pavel Volya. At a certain point, they stop the skit with the words “The stuntmen will do this,” after which the invited guests continue the skit for a short time for the participants themselves.

"Two Phrases"

• The guest star is asked to choose two phrases: one affirmative and one interrogative. Next, the star goes on stage with an improviser (usually Anton Shastun) and plays out a predetermined situation, answering only with two selected phrases. Other improvisers may appear during the storytelling process.

"Right question"

• This improvisation is a parody of popular TV quiz shows. During the process of improvisation, the guest star in the role of the computer comes up with an answer to the topic asked by Dmitry Pozov in the role of the presenter, and the task of the actors in the role of “players” in the characters invented by Pavel Volya is to come up with the funniest question for this answer. The funniest player according to the star chooses a new topic.

"A question to a question"

• Two actors act out a skit on a predetermined topic, addressing each other exclusively with questions. If an actor accidentally delivers a non-questioning line, then at the command of Pavel Volya he is replaced by one of his colleagues who is not currently playing.

"Distant relative"

• The guest star in the role of a distant relative turns out to be a member of a crazy family, played by actors, he or she comes to them at a time when family members are sitting at the table and sorting things out among themselves. Each of them has a specific complaint against some other family member, for example: a father in the role of Dmitry Pozov against his son in the role of Anton Shastun, a son against his grandmother in the role of Sergei Matvienko, a grandmother against his wife in the role of Arseny Popov. The guest star puts on headphones, at this moment Pavel Volya tells the actors the claims of family members against each other, which the guest star must subsequently guess.

"Inner voice"

• Two actors perform a skit on a predetermined topic. At a certain moment, the lights on the stage go out, one of the actors is caught by the spotlight, and the guest of the program (along with the presenter) pronounces a phrase on behalf of the character’s “inner voice.” The actor is obliged to play out the phrase in the continuation of the scene.

"Minus one"

• All four actors perform the scene from beginning to logical conclusion. After this, one of the actors (at the choice of the guest of the episode) leaves the improvisation, transferring his role to another actor, and the scene is repeated. This continues until the last actor.

"Behind the back"

• The actors are divided into two teams. Two improvisers from different teams perform the situation specified by the leader. At some funny moment, the presenter stops the improvisation, asks one of the actors to change places with the other and continue the scene in the right way

Actors of the show “IMPROVIZATION” on TNT: we were so fired up with the idea that we were upset

They prove their improvisational skills in live concerts, attracting thousands of spectators to their performances. On October 31, the artists gave a concert in Chelyabinsk. We managed to talk with them about the new project “Improvisation. Teams”, about vlogs and humor in our country.

— How do you like snowy Chelyabinsk?

Anton Shastun: Cool! I woke up, and it was New Year outside the window.

— This is not the first time you have come to our city. What are your impressions of Chelyabinsk?

Dmitry Pozov: We haven’t been to many places. In your city we support the Our Place charity foundation, this is a really important cause.

Anton Shastun: Cool people work there, and they always welcome us very warmly.

Dmitry Pozov: And when we come to Chelyabinsk, we give them a concert either the day before or on the same day as the main one. Therefore, there is not enough time to go somewhere else.

Sergey Matvienko: Cozy, good city.

Dmitry Pozov: You have a lot of Ferris wheels, which means there is something to look at.

— Do you think Chelyabinsk will surprise you with unusual topics for improvisation?

Sergey Matvienko: Chelyabinsk always surprises. This is our fourth time coming, we hope that once again everything will go well.

— Your tour has just begun, but there must have been something memorable at the first concerts, can you share?

Anton Shastun: The fact is that there is no feeling of the beginning of a tour. We arrive somewhere, return home, then go somewhere again. The cities we visited for the first time are well remembered. Podolsk, Saransk.

Dmitry Pozov: It was a wonderful tour in the Moscow region, if only because the road from home to the concert takes no more than half an hour. There is no need to fly anywhere. Nizhny Novgorod is always remembered. Last time we lazed around all day. We arrived, and the concert was only a day later.

Arseny Popov: Beautiful ancient city. Have you seen its historical part?

Sergey Matvienko: What people! The audience is amazing.

Dmitry Pozov: I even went to hockey.

— Do you often manage to attend matches when you are on tour?

Dmitry Pozov: No, for this you need to arrive in advance. Also buy tickets. Yesterday “Traktor” played at your place, but we, naturally, were busy.

Anton Shastun: We once wanted to look at Rubin in Ufa (note - Russian professional football club). But we decided that minus ten was not the best option.

— Do you think there are still viewers who believe that your entire show is not improvisation, but pre-prepared jokes?

Sergei Matvienko: My mother recently came to see me. And she is sure that we have the preparations. I was shocked.

-Are you offended by this?

Sergey Matvienko: No, it's fun.

Arseny Popov: Before making a show on TNT, we performed on offline platforms for a long time. And they often told us: “Guys, we have everything prepared. How did you catch each other and understand each other so quickly?” This is a compliment for us. Another thing is that there is no point in arguing, because everyone can think whatever they want. You can come to our concert and check: anyone proposes a theme and it is played out without preparation before your eyes.

Sergei Matvienko: But there are ten, there are a thousand people. Therefore, ten believe, but a thousand do not.

Anton Shastun: I’m sure that half definitely don’t believe it, and the other half simply don’t think about it.

Dmitry Pozov: One person recently told me that he is our fan and watches all the episodes. But he clearly sees “prepared moments.” Now I'm interested in sitting down with him and watching these episodes in the show.

— Do you often get criticized online? How do you generally feel about criticism addressed to you?

Dmitry Pozov: Surprisingly, everything is going well for us. We faced minimal hate. When our show first aired on TNT, we were surprised by such positive feedback. Yes, it happens that they write “not the best episode”, “uninteresting guest”. But there is little outright hatred in the comments. If the criticism is constructive, from people who understand, then, of course, you should listen.

I’m currently working on my channel “Pozov Rec”, trying to make videos on sports topics. There are really a lot of negative comments here. In this area, a person does not think positively. But this is not criticism, this is just hate.

— Thanks to your project, the genre of improvisation in our country has grown into a whole movement in just a few years. Do you think people’s attitudes towards humor in general are changing?

Arseny Popov: I don’t think we are changing our attitude towards humor.

Dmitry Pozov: It seems to me that people just started going out and joking. Why do you need prepared jokes? But this did not happen because of our transmission. It just happened that way. Besides, we are still engaged in a specific type of improvisation. Humor is changing thanks to the Internet.

Sergey Matvienko: The world is changing, and the topics for humor are changing.

Arseny Popov: It often becomes funny when something surprises you. What if the topic has exhausted itself? There will be no surprise. It will gradually become unfunny.

Dmitry Pozov: There are no more sensitive topics for jokes. You can just talk more freely now. The Internet helps with this, and more specifically YouTube.

— Is the improvisation genre developing in Russia? Can it be compared to Western improvisation at this stage?

Anton Shastun: Yes, we are developing. Including because of our new project “Improvisation. Teams”, which we are now trying to launch. In our country there are already more than 60 teams that engage in humor in the genre of improvisation. It is impossible to compare, because in the West improvisation is like an entire movement. In the United States there are improv teams in every college and university.

Dmitry Pozov: At some point it seemed to me that the level of development of improvisation in the West was greatly overestimated. There is only one team in America that does an improvisational show. For them, improvisational comedy is developed as a form of leisure, a circle. We can't talk about the level of development simply because they have it in every college.

Anton Shastun: Currently in our project “Improvisation. Teams" there are many official stages where people compete. And there is the “Ural” stage, battles take place in Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg. In Chelyabinsk there is a cool team called “Surovaya”, they are now in the semi-finals of the regional stage. Come cheer for them.

— Now that 5 seasons of the show have already been released, do you often remember how difficult it was to realize this idea?

Dmitry Pozov: Then we were so passionate about the idea that we were upset when they turned us down. Now it is obvious that they did the right thing, the original product was not so good.

We worked on the project and created a show on TNT that we, the channel, and the audience like.

— For a project to exist for a long time, it needs to constantly develop. How and what do you do for this?

Sergey Matvienko: We read books...

Arseny Popov: Why are you lying?

Sergei Matvienko: You have to lie about something.

Anton Shastun: We are developing our show by adding new improvisations. We invite new guests.

Dmitry Pozov: We are constantly trying to change something, not on a very large scale. But it is impossible to predict that with any changes there will be a new wave of popularity. We strive to maintain our brand.

Sergei Matvienko: Arseniy started running.

— Does running help you develop?

Arseny Popov: I’m waiting for the viewer or Pavel Volya to tell us: “Situation: a runner and his girlfriend.” This situation hasn’t happened yet, so I can’t say whether it helps or not.

— Just recently you released the first “Improvlog”. Please tell us how the idea for its creation came about? Will vlogs be recorded for all cities of the tour or selectively?

Arseny Popov: Vlog is not something new. Any project has an inner side, a behind-the-scenes side. She is interesting to many people. I think Dima took the first steps in this when he filmed everything that happens to us outside the concert, because a lot of funny things really happen. He filmed, but the volume of video material was huge; it was not possible to quickly edit it due to his busy schedule. The vlogs gradually stopped, although he was often asked about new releases.

Dmitry Pozov: We have a channel “Improvisation Russia”. Accordingly, it needs to be filled with some content. And we realized that this was a great chance to resume a good business.

Anton Shastun: This channel first released a film about our tour, then about filming. We posted these two videos and decided, why not make a vlog? Although, it seems to me that he is a little unusual in appearance. We try to show not everything in a row, but really interesting moments. For example, the backstage of our filming or behind the scenes on the set of third-party projects, where we are invited as guests.

— Are you considering the possibility of girls joining the cast?

Dmitry Pozov: We have never touched on this topic. We're not looking for her.

Sergey Matvienko: We are convinced that the team should be same-sex.

Arseny Popov: There are two main points. First, the most important: if a girl in the show is shocked by Pavel Volya or another person, I will instantly challenge him to a duel. Duels are prohibited here.

Secondly, all our situations are imaginary. We have no sets or costumes. When the team is mixed, someone will imitate, playing a girl, and someone will be a real girl. There is some slight misunderstanding: as if one hero is with props and in a costume, and the second is without. If there is such dissonance, then there is no point.

Anton Shastun: But at the same time, if the entire team consists of girls, that’s cool. This is in the “Teams” project.

Arseny Popov: The most important thing is that all women understand my position. The average life expectancy of a man is shorter than that of a woman. Let us shine now. We will be gone - do whatever you want!

“Improvisation”, every Tuesday at 21:00 on TNT

Seasons

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

1. A participant in the show “Improvisation” on TNT told the whole truth about the project
2. Anton Shastun, show “Improvisation”: “You can develop a sense of humor!”
3. Without a script: Anton Shastun spoke about the backstage of the show “Improvisation” on TNT
4. Voronezh comedians got into a new show with Pavel Volya. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
5. ↑ 1 2 3
   Improvisation.
   Film about the project (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). Retrieved August 21, 2020. Archived August 22, 2020.
6. Anton Shastun spoke about the behind the scenes of the show “Improvisation” on TNT | Obsudi.net (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). obsudi.net. Retrieved August 7, 2020. Archived August 7, 2020.
7. Improvisation, "Improvisation" on TNT-Online
   . Retrieved August 7, 2020.
8. The first show without a script (undefined)
   . improvizacia.tnt-online.ru. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
9. About the program, “Improvisation” on TNT-Online
   . Retrieved August 7, 2020.
10. Improvisation New season! Friday 20:00

Concerts

“Improvisation” at VK Fest 5
After the airing, participants in the “Improvisation” show received invitations to perform in various cities in Russia and abroad[2]. The tour schedule of the show “Improvisation” covers almost the entire country. Differences between concerts and television programs:

• Instead of Pavel Volya, the concerts are conducted by Stanislav Sheminov, creative producer of the show “Improvisation” and coach of actors.
• During concerts, the show's actors perform tasks that they receive from the audience.
• Despite the difference between the digital format and a live performance, the show's actors can also act out impromptu skits with Shockers and Mousetraps.

Tour of participants in the performance (show) “Improvisation”

After the first episodes of the performance (show) were aired, its participants began to receive invitations to perform in various cities in Russia and abroad. The tour schedule of the performance (show) “Improvisation” covers almost the entire country. Differences between concerts and television programs:

• Instead of Pavel Volya, the concerts are conducted by Stas Sheminov, creative producer of the performance (show) “Improvisation” and trainer of improvisers;
• During concerts, the actors of the performance (show) perform tasks that they receive from the audience;
• Extreme improvisations “Shockers” and “Mousetraps” are tried not to be played out;
• As part of the tour, after each concert the actors record a joint video improvisation “Change” with the audience, and then post videos with the hashtag #changecity on the official social networks of the project.

Links

• Official site

• Media files on Wikimedia Commons

1. “Improvisation”: what was going on behind the scenes of the new comedy show from Comedy Club Production (unspecified)
   . Around TV. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
2. Show Improvisation
   - 10.21.2017 - Concert Hall Minsk - KVITKI BY
   (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). www.kvitki.by. Retrieved August 7, 2017. Archived August 7, 2020.

Sergey Matvienko now

In August and September 2020, filming of the new season of “Improvisation” took place in the TNT studio, after which Sergei and other participants in the show intended to go on tour around Russia. Sergei also wants to try himself as an actor.

Since 2020, the experiment of Matvienko and actress Yulia Topolnitskaya has been ongoing: friends followed the example of a Canadian who, over the course of a year, was gradually able to exchange an ordinary paper clip for a real house.

The guys got a red paper clip from the store for free, which they successfully exchanged for a camera for 20 thousand rubles, that for a moped, the moped for breast surgery, and the plastic for a 1961 GAZ-69 car. The friends’ plans are to get an apartment in Moscow through an exchange. Video reports about the adventures of Matvienko and Topolnitskaya were published on the YouTube channel “Lets Do It!”