Sasha Nezlobin is a household name in Russia but can’t travel back there [Bez-Obrazie]

HOW does one of Russia’s most successful comedians find himself performing an English-language show at a small Islington theatre on a chilly Tuesday, while keeping an eye peeled for Novichok agents?

Sasha Nezlobin, a household name in his home country thanks to a long-running gig on Russian broadcaster TNT’s main comedy programme, numerous film and TV credits and huge arena shows, was designated a foreign agent by the Russian government in 2021.

Last Tuesday, the comic – dubbed “Russia’s Michael McIntyre” – performed his latest hour of English-language material, I’m Fine, for an audience at the Pleasance Theatre in North Road, which has become known for platforming top comedic talent including Sean Lock, Alan Davies and the UK’s Michael McIntyre, Michael McIntyre.

His public anti-war comments and expressions of support for the LGBTQ+ community earned him the label, which forced the comic to relocate to the United States. He has refashioned his career by performing for Russian-speaking diaspora audiences and formulating new material for English-speaking punters.

“I love the James Bond movies, so my dream was to be a special agent, and my government designated me as one,” he said.

It is now too late to worry about political repercussions for his comedy. The state has already punished him with one of its most powerful sticks. It is near-impossible to step foot in Russia, he cannot transfer money back home, and when he flies he worries about fellow passengers falling ill and being grounded in a country with which the federation has an extradition deal.

Mr Nezlobin told the Tribune the regime wants to make it harder for dissenting artists to make money and warn others against speaking freely. Fans are now scared to post pictures with him or buy tickets to his shows if they have upcoming trips home.

Mr Nezlobin told how officials search through people’s phones at the border for traces of unfavourable views or associations – or even liking a Putin meme on social media.

“It looks funny from the surface, but if you go deeper, it’s really – I don’t know if this is the right word – repression.”

I’m Fine debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe this year before entertaining the audience at the Pleasance.

“Sometimes I start writing in Russian and finish the sentence in English,” he told the Tribune. “Sometimes it gives you a new perspective. I read an article that said how we think and accept the universe depends on the language we are thinking in. So sometimes when you’re translating, it shows you new sides to the joke you never saw before.”

There are things which unite people across cultural frontiers: credit cards, Donald Trump, oat milk. As his career continues to develop outside the borders of the Russian Federation, home TV channels report that Mr Nezlobin is making $35 per show and label him a traitor.

“Many people congratulate you when you get the status of foreign agent in Russia. It means you’re a good guy. But it’s really bad stuff.

“They give you this label of being a ‘traitor’. It’s really humiliating to write it down because I don’t think I’m a traitor.”

Aside from the diplomatic implications of his “foreign agent” status, a key cause of pain for Mr Nezlobin is the way his criticisms of the invasion of Ukraine are being used against him in Russia.

“They’re trying to say I don’t love Russia, that I betrayed Russia and I don’t love my people. I just disagree with Putin and his actions.”

For now, the comic is trying to focus on making the most of his life in exile while watching his back and holding onto hope that it will come to an end.

“One day it will finish. Maybe I will still be alive or maybe not. It could happen anytime in Europe or even in London,” he added. “They have many agents.”

What does he mean by “it could happen”?

“They can poison you. I don’t know,” he said. “They can do anything.”

He told the Tribune that although he feels fairly certain that, given he is not a politician or an activist, he is shielded from the full force of the Russian state, the fear lingers in the back of his mind regardless.

“I want to think about how I can get tickets to the Odyssey in HD. I don’t want to deal with Novichok. If you go to the Russian embassy and they’re like, ‘do you want a tea?’, you immediately start thinking, maybe they want to poison me. Even if you are nothing,” he said.

“The machine of repression, it has no logic.”