Yakov Smirnoff One-Man As Long As We Both Shall Laugh Begins Feb. 23

By Ernio Hernandez
23 Feb 2003

Promotional art for Yakov Smirnoff's As Long As We Both Shall Laugh.
Promotional art for Yakov Smirnoff's As Long As We Both Shall Laugh.

Yakov Smirnoff, the man who made the phrase "What a Country!" part of the vernacular in the late '80s with the television show of the same name, begins his stint on Broadway, Feb. 23. His one-man show As Long As We Both Shall Laugh will play at the American Airlines Theatre for 12 performances only through April 14.

As Long As We Both Shall Laugh stars the famous once-Russian. Now that the cold war is over, his Russian vs. American material has been dropped to focus on the differences between men and women.

The show runs on a Sunday and Monday night schedule — the off-nights for the Roundabout Theatre Company's current Tartuffe and the upcoming A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. The production officially opens March 31.

Smirnoff (born Yakov Naumovich Pokhis) became an American citizen on July 4, 1986 at the Statue of Liberty. Coming to America in 1977 — his parents and under $100 to his name — the comedian went on to perform on "The Tonight Show," in the aforementioned sitcom and in such films as "Moscow on the Hudson," "Brewster's Millions" and "The Money Pit."

Tickets to As Long As We Both Shall Laugh are available through Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719-1300 or at the American Airlines Theatre box office, 227 West 42nd Street. For further information, visit www.yakov.com or www.roundabouttheatre.org.