Tom: SOME OF YOU ALL KNOW
AND LOVE, THE ONE, THE ONLY,
YAKOV SMIRNOFF.
[APPLAUSE] ♪
♪ >> Joy: CONGRATULATIONS!♪
♪ >> THANK YOU.
Joy: EVERYTHING BUT A
DIPLOMA.
THAT'S OKAY.
I SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON THIS
WARDROBE, I SHOULD WEAR IT AS
MANY TIMES AS I CAN.
Tom: I DON'T KNOW THAT I
WOULD TAKE IT OFF.
EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE THE WARDROBE.
AND GRADUATED WITH MY
DOCTORATE DEGREE IN GLOBAL
LEADERSHIP FROM PEPPERDINE
UNIVERSITY IN MALIBU AND ON MAY
18 OF THIS YEAR.
SO I'M DOCTOR YAKOV AND DOCTOR
SMIRNOV WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD
TOO BUT SOUNDS LIKE VODKA
MARTINI OR SOMETHING.
Tom: YEAH, PROBABLY NOT.
Joy: CONGRATULATIONS, WE ARE
HAPPY FOR YOU.
I FEEL LIKE IT GIVE ME A
DIFFERENT ENERGY.
I AM DOING A NETFLIX SPECIAL ON
DECEMBER 1. I'M GOING TO FILM
IT AT MY THEATER AND IT IS
CALLED UNITED WE LAUGH.
AND IT IS ABOUT HOW, BECAUSE MY
FIRST DEGREE WAS MASTERS DEGREE
FROM UKRAINE AND THAT WAS IN
PSYCHOLOGY.
THIS IS IN GLOBAL LEADERSHIP.
SOME COMBINING THOSE DOING
MARRIAGE COUNSELING FOR
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS.
IF WE CAN SET GET THEM TOGETHER
WITH LAUGHTER MAYBE WE CAN MOVE
FORWARD.
Tom: THEY SAY OPPOSITES
ATTRACT.
THEY DO BUT, SOMETIMES THEY
REPEL AS WELL BECAUSE THEIR
POSITION THE WRONG WAY.
Tom: FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO
MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH YAKOV,
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THIS.
I FELT HAPPY WHEN PEOPLE
WERE LAUGHING AROUND ME.
SO CREATING LAUGHTER WAS SORT
OF ADDICTING.
HE FELT THAT WAY EVER SINCE
HE WAS A BOY.
LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS AND
NINE OTHER FAMILIES IN A
COMMUNAL APARTMENT IN ODESSA,
UKRAINE.
WE SHARED ONE BEDROOM AND
MY PARENTS, WHEN THEY WANTED TO
GET ROMANTIC, THEY WOULD SEND
ME TO LOOK AT THE WINDOW.
AND THAT MY DAD WOULD SAY WHAT
DID YOU SEE IN THE WINDOW?
IS IT OUR NEIGHBORS BEING
ROMANTIC.
AND HE SAID HOW CAN YOU TE
HE SAID BECAUSE THEIR SOUND --
THEIR SON IS LOOKING AT ME.
THAT'S HOW I GOT ONE OF THE
FIRST LABS FROM MY PARENTS.
AND THAT KIND OF CHANGE MY
WHOLE LIFE BECAUSE I WANTED TO
GET MORE LAUGHS FROM MY
CLASSMATES, MY FRIENDS AND SO
THAT'S KIND OF A GUIDED ME.
[LAUGHTER]
LAST TIME I SAW LIKE THAT
WAS MID TEENAGE RUSSIA.
OF COURSE MORE HAIR.
[LAUGHTER]
Joy: IT IS SO GOOD TO HAVE
YOU BACK!
IT HAS BEEN A WHILE.
YOU HAVE HAD QUITE THE CAREER.
WHEN DID YOU GET STARTED IN
COMEDY?
I STARTED IN THE SOVIET
UNION AND IT IS KIND OF HARD
FOR US TO IMAGINE A RUSSIAN
COMEDIAN SOUND LIKE COMEDIAN.
I STARTED AT THE DEPARTMENT OF
JOKES WHICH WAS -- THE SENSOR
MATERIALS THE STATE HAS A
SCRIPT FOR THE WHOLE YEAR.
THAT WAS THE COMEDY THERE.
BUT THEY GAVE ME A JOB, GOT ME
A JOB ON A CRUISE SHIP ON THE
RUSSIAN CRUISE SHIP, THE LOVE
BARGE.
AND THAT IS WHERE I WAS ABLE TO
MEET AMERICANS AND THEY WERE SO
DIFFERENT THAN ANYBODY.
I MEAN BECAUSE WE DIDN'T KNOW
THEY WOULD KEEP US AWAY
COMPLETELY FROM AMERICA THERE
WE HAD TWO CHANNELS, CHANNEL 1
IS PROPAGANDA, CHANNEL TO THE
KB G TELLS YOU GO BACK TO CHINA
ONE.
SO WE ONLY SAW THINGS THAT
THREE STOOGES AND THEY WOULD
TELL US ITS DOCUMENTARY.
SO WHERE ON THE SHIP BUT
NOBODY'S DOING THAT.
AND THEY WERE HAPPY AND JOYFUL
AND THAT'S HOW I GOT THE IDEA
TO COME HERE.
I DIDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH SO IT
TOOK ME A WHILE TO LEARN THE
LANGUAGE AND START PERFORMING.
Tom: THAT WAS AN AWAKENING
FOR YOU.
YES.
Joy: AGAIN, CONGRATULATIONS
ON YOUR DEGREE.
ARE YOU A PERPETUAL STUDENT?
IT WOULD SEEM THAT WAY.
BUT I AM DONE!
Joy: ARE YOU SURE?
THERE IS NO MORE -- BUT I
AM, NOW TRYING TO IMPLEMENT
THIS AND SHARE WITH THE
AUDIENCE IS HOW WE CAN CREATE
MORE LAUGHTER IN AMERICA AND
THE SPECIAL IS CALLED UNITED WE
LAUGH.
SO IT WILL BE FILMED ON
DECEMBER 1. IF YOUR VIEWERS
WANT TO COME IT IS FREE.
THAT DATE IS A 2:00 SHOW AND BE
PART OF NETFLIX SPECIAL
HISTORY.
Tom: WHAT ABOUT MAKING
AMERICA LAUGH AGAIN?
THAT IS PART OF WHY I AM IN
BRANSON BECAUSE I JUST FEEL
LIKE PEOPLE ARE FORGETTING WITH
ALL OF THE DICKORY THAT WE HAVE
AND WE ARE FORGETTING THAT
PEOPLE DO NOT COME HERE TO
BECOME REPUBLICANS OR
DEMOCRATS.
THEY COME HERE TO BECOME
AMERICANS.
AND THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO
REMIND THEM.
THE RESPONSE IS JUST
PHENOMENAL.
IT SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE ARE
SEARCHING FOR A HOPE AND SO
UNITED WE LAUGH, WILL BE
HOPEFULLY, SOMETHING THAT WILL
SPREAD THE WORD ACROSS TV.
Tom: HOW LONG WILL YOU BE IN
BRANSON?
UNTIL DECEMBER 7. I AM
HERE, I DO SIX SHOWS A WEEK AND
HAVE A SPECIAL FOR YOUR
VIEWERS.
ANY DAY IT IS 1776 FOR A
TICKET.
Joy: THERE IS THE WEBSITE.
Tom: COMPLETE TICKETING.
Joy: YAKOV SMIRNOFF, THANK
YOU!
NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME DRESS
UP I LIKE DOING THIS.
Tom: CONGRATULATIONS ON ALL
YOUR HARD WORK DR.!
Joy: DOCTOR YAKOV SMIRNOFF A