Childhood and youth
Ilya was born on February 25, 1983 in Krasnoyarsk.
As a child, Sobolev was an active and cheerful child who felt quite confident on stage. At the age of 13, Ilya entered the city KVN School League. In the final game, the teenager fought with the captain of the opposing team, Roman Klyachkin, who later became his best friend and colleague in the world of humor.
Ilya Sobolev in his youth
After graduating from Krasnoyarsk Lyceum No. 102, Ilya entered the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals and Materials Science in Krasnoyarsk, and then received an acting education at the St. Petersburg Theater Academy (SPbGATI).
Humor
At the institute, the guy began playing as part of the KVN team “Left Bank”, which in 2003 became the champion of the Premier League. A year later, “Left Bank” entered the Major League - the participants reached the quarterfinals. Then Sobolev distinguished himself at the Voting KiViN-2004 festival, and in 2005 he reached the semi-finals of the Premier League, losing to the teams Maximum (Tomsk) and Friends (Perm).
Ilya Sobolev in KVN
Even while participating in KVN, Sobolev and Klyachkin began performing in a duet called “Beautiful”. Soon the guys became residents of the Comedy Club Siberia. In 2007, the duo tried their hand at the first season of a new humorous competition from TNT, “Laughter without Rules,” in which they took 2nd place and received the right to participate in the “Slaughter League” show. In this show, until 2010, Ilya performed not only as part of the “Beautiful” duet, but also solo.
In August 2010, the TNT channel launched the entertainment show “Comedy Battle,” in which Ilya became one of the participants. The comedian, together with Dmitry Romanov, Evgeny Otstavnov, Konstantin Pushkin and Slava Komissrenko, performed as part of the “Aristocrats” clan in seasons 1 and 2 of the show and more than once became the author of the best jokes.
Ilya Sobolev in the Comedy Club: “Smirnov, Ivanov, Sobolev” In 2011, the “Beautiful” duet became the winner of the 9th season of “Laughter without Rules,” in which the finalists of previous seasons took part.
In the fall of 2013, Ilya Sobolev, together with Alexey Smirnov and Anton Ivanov, founded the trio “Smirnov, Ivanov, Sobolev” - in this composition, comedians became residents of the Comedy club show.
"Prozharka" in Russian
Who rocks the “roast” genre in Russia.
TNT4 TV show “Prozharka” is an adaptation of the American hit Comedy Central Roast, in which the stars make fun of each other. In America this has been going on for decades. “Roasting” in the form in which it is now known has been produced by Comedy Central since 1998. The concept is simple - in each episode there is a main character who is very harshly and impudently teased by his colleagues, friends and comedians. Each celebrity guest has a different composition of guests and presenters.
The creator of “Family Guy” Seth MacFarlane , the host of the evening show Jimmy Kimmel , stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr and many Hollywood actors from Ben Stiller to Edward Norton . Ilya Sobolev became the permanent host and face of “Prozharka” , and the role of “prozharki” is played by young stand-up comedians who, in comparison with the “victims”, are quite little known. They are still at the beginning of their journey, they have nothing to lose, but there are many complaints about celebrities. The only equal to the main character is the special guest who appears at the end of the episode.
Thus, the main difference between the foreign “Roasting” and the Russian one is that on Comedy Central world stars “roasted” their colleagues, and our show business is taught self-irony by those who, in fact, until recently were themselves simple spectators. Such changes ultimately turned the TNT4 project into an original format - the channel presents it on international television markets under the name Haters. We discussed with the participants of TNT4’s “Prozharka” and its host Ilya Sobolev the features, prospects and development of the complex “roast” genre in Russia.
Ilya Sobolev / Photo: press service
Most of the Russian comedians first became acquainted with the genre through a foreign original. Among its features they name an exorbitant degree of jokes, a lack of boundaries, tough and honest humor, as well as maximum self-irony of all participants. Someone first found clips on the Internet from foreign “Roasting” by Justin Bieber, James Franco, Charlie Sheen , someone watched these episodes in their entirety, someone followed the show even earlier, for example, from Pamela Anderson’s almost fifteen years ago .
Valera Artyukhov
In 2014, I heard friends discussing James Franco's Roast. I became interested in the format and watched all of Comedy Central's Roasts that I could find. I liked that the audience was okay with the jokes and saw the real line between humor and hurt feelings.
Alexey Shcherbakov
I have never watched foreign stand-up comedians, but “Roasting” is not stand-up, so I watched it simply as an entertainment program. I liked this banter style of jokes. Perhaps because I generally like to offend people.
Philip Voronin
I knew that such a genre existed, and it was very exciting for me to follow it, since I love text jokes. Many tried to adapt the format, and I looked at who did it well. And in the version that turned out more fun and good, I took part.
Mark Sergienko
When I watched the American show, I thought it would be cool to launch such a show in Russia. Then the guys called and offered to participate, cool!
Ilya Sobolev
For a very long time I dreamed of being involved in such humor. There were even offers to participate in “Prozharka” on Channel One, when they did not yet know that the project would be closed.
None of the comedians has yet undertaken to claim that the “Roasting” genre has already fully “arrived” in Russia and has taken shape. They all agree that the process is just beginning. When and who was the first to launch this process, the roasters have different opinions on this.
Andrey Beburishvili
At one time, Pavel Volya, for example, started the Comedy Club with this, if you remember. At first he was perceived with hostility and negativity, and then the stars themselves wanted to come to him for this, let’s say, “execution.”
Valera Artyukhov
“Prozharka” came to Russia along with the logical development of stand-up comedy and its various subgenres. Quite often, such a format began to be tried in 2016-2017, when the number of platforms for stand-up events grew. Plus, the Moscow StandUp festival “Open Microphone” became a regular event, and within its framework they began to hold roast battles and “insider parties”, where harsh jokes could be voiced about the participants and everyone involved in the fest. About “Prozharka” on Channel One it’s hard to say that it was “promotion of the genre.” Rather, he could have been buried then.
Vera Kotelnikova
I’ll just list all the sites where I saw roast in Russia before TNT4. First channel, YouTube channels StandUp Club #1 and Dani Poperechny. Channel One is the first to do this on a large scale, resonantly, but not funny.
Sergey Detkov
The development of stand-up comedy also influences the development of other genres. Therefore, for the appearance of “Prozharka” in Russia, I would thank those who began promoting stand-up in the country.
Ilya Sobolev
Pavel Volya managed to do something similar to “Roasting” in a cool, lively and in his own style. He was the first to show that you can laugh so openly at the stars. And the current “Prozharka” came to Russia several years ago. Everyone tried a little bit, but to film it beautifully, funny and sharply, so that people would all say: “What, was it possible?”, probably only worked on TNT4.
Roasting team / Photo: press service
“Roasting” has become a television show, but the corresponding genre can also be seen live. A few stand-up clubs hold so-called roast battles - these are competitions between comedians who go one-on-one and try to humiliate each other in the most unusual and funny way possible. Essentially, these are like rap battles, but in prose and with an emphasis on humor. Periodically, such parties are held in Moscow at the StandUp Store Moscow and at StandUp Club #1; the date and time can be found in their schedule. Some of them are filmed and posted on the Internet. But, for example, at the “Skovoroda” roast tournament at the StandUp Store Moscow, video recording is strictly prohibited. “Prozharki” are also held at various “internal” stand-up parties—as part of the “Punchline” festival, the “Open Microphone” StandUp festival, and at MHS VKontakte public events.
Andrey Beburishvili
Due to the fact that anyone can participate in club “Roastings”, the quality sometimes suffers. There is always a risk that in the end people simply start insulting each other, and at these moments the whole room becomes ashamed and embarrassed.
Ira Prikhodko
For several years now, roast battles have been organized among comedians, including as part of stand-up festivals. So, if this is happening in your city, watch the program and you will find it.
Philip Voronin
I don’t know how it is in other cities, but it usually happens that it becomes popular in Moscow, and over time it becomes popular in the regions. They'll start doing it soon, if they haven't already. It was the same with stand-ups, improvisation, everything is penetrating into the regions. You can search YouTube for recordings of roast parties, sometimes it can be very interesting.
Ilya Sobolev
If we understand that there are already several people who are ready to do this, perhaps we will do a roast battle on TV. In St. Petersburg they made Stand-up Band at their venues. Young comedians really like the genre and they are trying to join it, which is cool.
According to comedians, a joke at “Prozharka” should be biting, sharp, aggressive, but at the same time always remain a joke. The most difficult thing is to shock, but not offend the guest. That is, ideally, roasters should always adhere to these “buts” and walk a fine line. Therefore, some of them admit that writing a simple stand-up is much easier.
Valera Artyukhov
In fact, coming up with really interesting and funny jokes like “fuck you” or “he’s a very gay gay” is not as easy as it seems at first glance. Especially when they stand next to a large number of jokes with the same theme.
Mark Sergienko
You need to get to know the character, “live” with him. At first, this emotion always arises: “Well, why fry it?! He's cool! Then, after a month of digging into it, you think: “I hate you! I want to fry you as hard as possible! But you're a cool dude!
Vera Kotelnikova
I look at a person’s biography - his/her faults, bright or annoying features. The book by the recognized master of “roasting” Jeff Ross is called “I Only Roast Those I Love.” I don’t think that this is straight “love”, but you really need to treat a person well and understand that he/she is not just sitting here, but deserves attention. Otherwise, the jokes will be, so to speak, “you’re a shit eater because you eat shit.”
Vera Kotelnikova “roasts” Yuri Dud / Photo: press service
Ira Prikhodko
It turns out much better, of course, to roast a person you know personally.
Philip Voronin
About 20-25 jokes make it to the final version, but tens of times more are written. If you work closely, it takes a month to come up with ideas, and if you work from time to time, it takes 2-3 months. For example, while I was writing jokes about Sobolev, I managed to visit 4 countries, and in each of them I wrote jokes about Ilya. In the process of preparing for “Roasting” you fall asleep and wake up with thoughts about it. You go to work, to the cinema, and your phone is always at hand so you can write down a joke, an interesting wording or a topic that you can get hooked on. Basically, whoever you roast becomes part of your family for a while. Well, I always want the speech to be varied in topics and humorous moves, and also lead to some idea. I don’t know if it works or not, but ideally I want it this way.
Ivan Usovich
When writing jokes, I rely on everything I can rely on. You sit alone or with someone, you think. Or you walk and think. You can still stand and think. Just think and think...
Ilya Sobolev
We always tell the truth! Real, honest facts from life, presented through the prism of humor. Even if there are few facts, but the person himself is bright, that’s already interesting. There are several topics about Pamela Anderson - vagina size, boobs, number of sex partners, marriage to Tommy Lee, Baywatch and passion for animal protection. There are only 6 facts, but for an hour and a half they are played out in an incredibly funny way in the American “Roasting”. This is skill! We don’t know how to do this yet, so we would like more facts about a person.
Andrey Beburishvili
I can say that it is very difficult to sit for an hour in a guest’s chair, listening to all these jokes and jabs to yourself. This is a huge, strong step for any person.
Andrei Beburishvili and Garik Martirosyan at the roast / Photo: Press service
After the premiere of “Roast” on TNT4, interest in the genre sharply increased. The project's releases became trending on YouTube, and its participants began to be recognized on the streets. Despite the fact that many of them participated in the StandUp or Open Microphone shows, they were remembered by the audience specifically for “Roasting”. Viewers are getting used to the format, and many already understand that it’s just humor and nothing more. Plus, as the project participants say, “there are still a lot of people in our country who even deserve to be “fried.”
Mark Sergienko
So far, in Russia it is arranged in such a way that the genre that is represented by a high-quality project on TV becomes popular and interesting. This happened with the Comedy Club, stand-up, improvisation, now it’s the turn of “Prozharka”.
Sergey Detkov
“Roasting” influenced the development of the genre, but this is only the beginning of the journey. It seems to me that people still do not fully understand what is happening. Our task is to further popularize the genre.
Ira Prikhodko
This is something new, daring, something that was missing on TV.
Andrey Beburishvili
Channel One, of course, wanted to drown this genre in every possible way, but I’m glad that they stopped in time.
Valera Artyukhov
From the personal hype after the broadcast of “Roasting”, I can note that one gay man wrote to me. He thinks me and Mark Sergienko are beautiful. But Mark is married, and I’m straight, so I’ll wait for the women’s reaction after the new releases.
Vera Kotelnikova
The main thing is that “Roasting” influences the trend “be able to laugh at yourself, even if you are a popular person.”
Philip Voronin
I think that in Russia “Roasting” will soon become a very popular genre. Thanks to the same rap battles that appeared a couple of years ago and took off, people saw that they could insult each other funny, ironically and at the same time show their brains. Rap battles, roast battles - the humor becomes modern, harsher.
Participants in the TNT4 project admit that so far they are all just beginners. Among those who have not yet appeared on television, but also work well in this genre, they name stand-up comedians Alexander Dolgopolov, Artur Chaparyan, Alexander Grishaev, Maxim Zaits, Vasya Medvedev, Zhenya Sidorov, Alexei Stakhovich . Behind the scenes, the television “Roasting” also has strong authors and creative producers who do not perform themselves (or do not perform yet), but write very cool hard jokes.
Guram Amaryan
It’s very early to talk about the strongest roast comedians in Russia, because the genre has just appeared. It’s difficult to even talk about strong stand-up comedians, because stand-up in Russia is also young, and roast is even more so. While there are just cool comedians who do INCLUDING “Roasting”.
Ira Prikhodko
It would seem that every smart comedian can write such jokes. But the point here is how organically you feel about yourself. After all, in addition to the ability to write tough jokes, you need a high degree of self-irony and a really good mood to laugh at an offensive joke addressed to yourself.
Sergey Detkov
I don't really like it when people choose the best in comedy, because it's all subjective.
Ilya Sobolev
I believe that, unfortunately, we don’t have any professional roasters at all yet. There are several like-minded comedians who are trying themselves on the TNT4 channel. This is not a club, this is a television story with big stars. They are still growing their potential and developing. Of course, this will lead to something, something very interesting.
The nearest “Roasting” on TNT4 is “Yuri Dud’s Roasting” on December 17 at 23:00 .
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Garik Martirosyan Roasting TNT4 Yuri Dud
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Ilya Sobolev and Uncle Vitya
There is an opinion that under the guise of the most mysterious participant in “Laughter Without Rules” and “Slaughter League”, the cynical and gloomy Uncle Vitya, it is Ilya Sobolev who is hiding. In defense of this theory, fans cited the following evidence: firstly, the image of Uncle Vitya was partly taken from Sobolev’s favorite film “Man on the Moon”, and secondly, in one of his speeches, Uncle Vitya’s voice broke, and the phrase he said “He’s no longer defender” was pronounced in a voice very similar to Sobolev. Having closely compared the photographs of Sobolev and Uncle Vitya, attentive viewers found similar details that makeup could not hide.
Fans believe that Ilya Sobolev is Vitya’s uncle
Another proof that fans of domestic humor found is the show “Money or Shame.” Its host is Uncle Vitya, and on Ilya Sobolev’s VKontakte page, the official page of this program appears in the list of his subscriptions almost at the highest place. Answer to the haters of the show “Money or Shame” from Uncle Vitya! Ilya Sobolev in every possible way denied his involvement in the “Money or Shame” show. When MBAND participant Artem Pindyura, enraged by the show’s host’s phrase (“MBAND is a show for worms”), recorded a video message demanding an apology, Sobolev posted a response video, but not an “apologetic” one.
Current career and personal life
Regular viewers and TV critics have repeatedly noted the excellent artistic talent of Ilya Sobolev. The short, smiling comedian shows himself very actively in every performance, becoming a real “highlight of the program.” He is always happy to communicate with fans and maintains pages on various social networks. Lately, Sobolev has been increasingly invited to appear in popular videos and clips posted on the Internet hosting site YouTube. He also managed to work as a presenter on the MTV channel and periodically appears in entertainment shows on TNT, both personally and in the role of Uncle Vitya.
The artist does not forget about his personal life. Ilya Sobolev has a beloved wife, Natalya Pakhomova, who works in the field of law and advises on the acquisition of foreign real estate. The wedding of the newlyweds took place during the period of Ilya’s active television career. The couple currently lives in St. Petersburg and is raising two daughters, Eva and Sofia. The comedian and showman is supported by his parents, who follow his every performance and give instructions in difficult times.
Music and cinema
Since 2009, Ilya has been closely involved in music. Together with the artist Andrian Sobolev, he recorded several humorous songs, including “Don’t Think,” “Gansta,” and “I’m Stupid.” Several songs remained on the charts of the Radio Record radio station for a long time. Sobolev Ilya and Andrian - I'm stupid In 2020, Sobolev starred in the TV series "The Phantom of the Opera", directed by Emil Nikoghosyan ("Moms 3", "Champions"). The series tells the story of the friendship between police operative Alexey (Vyacheslav Evlantyev) and the ghost of the legendary swindler Pashka Veterok (Garik Kharlamov).
Ilya Sobolev now
Sobolev continues to work in the Comedy Club show, tour cities in Russia and foreign countries with his trio, as well as give private concerts and work as a presenter at various events. In September 2020, Sobolev joined the #TOPSHOWMEN project, a community of the best presenters from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Also in September 2020, Sobolev resumed publishing vlogs on his YouTube channel. In his videos, the comedian covers all the most relevant and eternal topics: old age, fears, show business stars, the gay community, etc. In October 2020, Sobolev, together with other members of the Comedy Club, went on a tour of North America. Ilya Sobolev “Bad Jokes” In the winter of 2018, the comedian announced a new show “Prozharka”, which launched on the TNT4 channel. As part of the project, aspiring comedians and humor professionals made fun of a specific person throughout the entire episode. One of the first heroines of the program was Olga Buzova.
Personal life
If you count all the residents of the popular Comedy Club, the list will be quite large. Since 2003, we have been captivated by the charismatic and talented members of the comedy club, who throughout this time have already become the favorite comedians of many.
The personal lives of Comedy Club residents are always visible, especially if they have nothing to hide. Despite their excellent sense of humor, many of the comedy participants have started families and are already raising children.
Who are they, the halves of the comedy club residents, the wives who inspire their comedians and look after family comfort. If everyone knows the wife of Garik Kharlamov or Pavel Volya Kristina Asmus and Lyaysyan Utyasheva, then you may not have seen the other wives of no less famous residents of the comedy club.
Therefore, we have collected for you photos of Comedy Club residents with their significant other. Which of the comedy club participants has the most beautiful wife, of course, is up to you to decide. But for each of the residents, judging by the strength of the marriage, his own wife is the most beloved and the most beautiful.
Let's take a look at the wives of the current Comedy Club residents. Which women were able to win the hearts of comedians.
