New York Times Review
Land of the Free? What a Country!
"As Long as We Both Shall Laugh" American Airlines Theater
By Lawrence Van Gelder, New York Times
Love of adopted country comes wrapped in laughter at the American Airlines Theater, where the Russian emigre comic Yakov Smirnoff is performing on Sunday and Monday nights through May 26.
In his one-man, two-act show, "As Long as We Both Shall Laugh," Mr. Smirnoff displays his talents as comedian, actor and artist as he weaves the story of his personal American dream with humorous strands of memory about his youth in the Soviet Union; his parents; his early struggles as a poor immigrant in the United States; his marriage, children and divorce; and the effort involved in understanding women.
Sometimes splendidly funny, sometimes poignant, the bearded, boyish Mr. Smirnoff, whose career has taken him to films, television, the White House and ownership of a 1,400-seat theater bearing his name in Branson, Mo., is eager to please and almost always entertaining. With only one reference to current politics (France) and a slight decline in material in the second act, "As Long as We Both Shall Laugh" remains a generous display of warmhearted, high-quality humor that provides a welcome respite from wartime tensions.
A small sample: When his golf-playing, prospective father-in-law asks his handicap, Mr. Smirnoff replies, "I don't speak English very well."
The cold-war Soviet Union of Mr. Smirnoff's childhood, where the words of Emma Lazarus ("Give me your tired, your poor"), heard on a Voice of America broadcast, inspired his journey to a rendezvous with liberty, provides some of his best material.
In the repressive Communist society, Mr. Smirnoff's impudent humorous spirit manifested itself early, and though he studied art, he was determined to become a comedian. Mr. Smirnoff, who arrived in the United States with his parents in 1977 and became a citizen in ceremonies on Ellis Island on July 4, 1986, is also delightful in recounting his early encounters with the pitfalls of literal interpretation of English-language advertising ("Big Sale - Last Week"), signs and labels.
He is touching in his reminiscence of the neighbors who helped his family with money, food and other necessities when they first found an apartment in New York, and in his memories of his love for the Russian woman who could not join him in his journey to freedom.
Casually dressed, Mr. Smirnoff, who created and wrote the show, recounts his adventures on a set furnished for the most part like a sitting room with an easy chair and easel that enables him to display sketches and a painting of his children. High on the wall behind are colorful panels that fade from time to time to reveal projections of photographs and other images of Mr. Smirnoff, his parents and friends.
On either side of the stage stands the figure that motivates Mr. Smirnoff's life story and colors his charming light humor with deeper meaning: the Statue of Liberty.
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