With his own sitcom, a thriving stand-up career and various films in the works, Sasha Nezlobin was one of the biggest comedy names in Russia. But in the space of just a few months, he went from writing a new show to fleeing his home country and the wrath of Vladimir Putin.
In February 2022, the comedian found himself frantically packing a suitcase to escape Moscow with his family. He had criticised Russia’s prosecution of those speaking out against the war with Ukraine – and Nezlobin, his wife and their young daughter were headed for the last direct flight to New York before Europe and North America closed their airspace to Russian planes.
“At the airport, the lady at the check-in counter asked me, ‘Are you leaving forever?’” Nezlobin says. “It was a really honest conversation and I told her, ‘I don’t know for now,’ because it was true.”
Four years on, 42-year-old Nezlobin and his family – who now live in Los Angeles – are yet to return to their lives in Russia and most likely never will. He has watched too many of his fellow comedians face jail time for jokes they’ve made. Instead, he’s heading to Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival to tell his story, performing a show for the first-ever time in the English language.
“I started writing about it and it really helped me,” he says. “The best advice I was given was to write stand-up and bring your pain into it – you can release yourself of it.”
Back in Russia, Nezlobin was a certified TV personality – shooting to stardom as a cast member on sketch show Comedy Club. “The closest thing to it is Saturday Night Live in the United States. It was a big, big show,” he explains. The comic later starred in his own sitcom, Nezlob, before moving into writing and directing with the 2016 comedy Groom and supernatural comedy Doomsday in 2022.
Months before Doomsday started airing in Russia, Putin announced plans to invade Ukraine, despite having promised not to attack Russia’s Eastern European neighbour. Thousands of troops began mobilising, European countries introduced sanctions and Moscow descended into panic. Not only was Nezlobin nervous about being unable to leave the country, but just days before, he had signed an anti-war letter addressed to Putin and shared a post on Instagram criticising the invasion along with other comedians. He later edited the post after Russia criminalised the making of anti-war statements. “There is no call to action here,” the post currently reads. “I just want peace. Please.”
Two days after posting on Instagram, Nezlobin took one of the last direct flights out of Russia to New York with his daughter, who was just nine years old at the time. Having flown a few times to the States for gigs, the comedian had his green card ready and had prepared documents for his family beforehand, in case a quick getaway was needed. He managed to sell their Moscow flat extremely quickly, too. Once his wife joined them via several connecting flights to the States, they eventually settled in Los Angeles, jobless and with a limited knowledge of the English language.
“It could be better, but it could be way worse,” he says of his new life in America. “For me, the US is a good country because it was built up by immigrants and there are many here. People are not questioning where you’re from because they understand that even with my limited language, I can be an American citizen. There are many different accents here and I love this country because I grew up watching Hollywood movies and American comedies.”
Since relocating, Nezlobin has continued his comedy career by performing stand-up for the Russian-speaking diaspora across North America, gigging in Boston, Las Vegas and Philadelphia among other states – and he hasn’t stopped speaking out about Putin’s censorship laws.
“In my performances, I joke about how posting something like ‘stop the war’ on Instagram – just three words – can put you in prison for seven years in Russia, but cases of sexual assault only get five years,” he says, adding that he also highlights how Trump “trying to control the media and attacking LGBTQ community rights is what Putin did when he came into power”.
Despite being over 6,000 miles away from Moscow, Nezlobin is still facing backlash from pro-Kremlin groups over his comments. “A huge religious community in Russia asked the general prosecutor to investigate my jokes for LGBTQ propaganda as it’s recognised as a terrorist organisation there. It is so stupid,” Nezlobin said. The comic is now considered an “enemy of Russia” by these groups, who’ve leaked his contact details – and those of other anti-war comedians and journalists – online.
“Angry people started to call. They want to ruin our lives,” he sighs. “They are doing it to stop us from doing well.”
The comic fears what might happen to him and his family if they do move back to Russia – particularly after watching fellow comedians go behind bars. In February, stand-up comic Artemy Ostanin was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail for a joke seen by pro-Kremlin activists as mocking a soldier who lost his legs in Ukraine, despite the performer not explicitly mentioning the war.
“I think I have to wait a couple more years to see what is happening,” he says. “In the past, during the time of the USSR, we’ve had writers and performers escape Russia but when they’ve returned, they’ve been put in prisons and killed so I’m not sure. I hope for my wife and daughter it will be safe.”
For now, Nezlobin is enjoying the freedoms that come with life in the States – especially for his daughter, who is now 13. “In Russia, there is propaganda about how American schools have a stupid education system but what I see is that it’s good for my daughter,” he says.
“She’s doing really well and she laughs at my English. She asks me to stop talking in public because she thinks my accent is so horrible that we could be deported, which is funny.”
While his story may be extraordinary, he’s hoping that people will relate to the everyday challenges that he’s faced along the way when he performs at the Fringe and across Europe next month.
“All of us go through our own struggles and have lost something in our lives. It could be a friend, a parent or a business,” he says. “I lost my country but I haven’t lost myself.”
Sasha Nezlobin: I’m Fine is on at Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s Pleasance Dome (10 Dome) from 5 until 31 August (but not 15, 16, 17 or 18)
