Changes

It is perhaps for this reason that comics in Soviet Russia borrowed liberally from each other, rarely did original material, and never, ever improvised. Says Smirnoff: “I would do some original material, but that would be unusual. Also, it was OK for comedians to borrow—if one of the big comedians went on television and did a monolog, next day 10 or 20 other comedians would do the same thing in clubs. That wasn’t considered stealing.”<ref>[http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/yakov-smirnoff-remembers-the-soviet-department-of-jokes.html Yakov Smirnoff Remembers “The Soviet Department of Jokes” & Other Staples of Communist Comedy], Open Culture</ref>}}

It is perhaps for this reason that comics in Soviet Russia borrowed liberally from each other, rarely did original material, and never, ever improvised. Says Smirnoff: “I would do some original material, but that would be unusual. Also, it was OK for comedians to borrow—if one of the big comedians went on television and did a monolog, next day 10 or 20 other comedians would do the same thing in clubs. That wasn’t considered stealing.”<ref>[http://www.openculture.com/2013/12/yakov-smirnoff-remembers-the-soviet-department-of-jokes.html Yakov Smirnoff Remembers “The Soviet Department of Jokes” & Other Staples of Communist Comedy], Open Culture</ref>}}

== Vladimir Lenin: Humorless and uncompromising ==

=== Vladimir Lenin: Humorless and uncompromising ===

Craig A. Lockard, author of the book ''Societies, Networks, and Transitions'', described the militant atheist and [[Communism|communist]] [[Vladimir Lenin]] as being "humorless and uncompromising".<ref>Societies, Networks, and Transitions, Volume 2: Since 1450. By Craig A. Lockard, page 662</ref>

Craig A. Lockard, author of the book ''Societies, Networks, and Transitions'', described the militant atheist and [[Communism|communist]] [[Vladimir Lenin]] as being "humorless and uncompromising".<ref>Societies, Networks, and Transitions, Volume 2: Since 1450. By Craig A. Lockard, page 662</ref>