After the Soviet Union collapsed, people thought I wasn't funny anymore.

I fed my ego, but not my soul.

I believe that laughter is a language of God and that we can all live happily ever laughter.

In every country, they make fun of city. In U.S. you make fun of Cleveland. In Russia, we make fun of Cleveland.

I was not only typecast as a Russian, but I was typecast as Yakov Smirnoff. This is understandable, and I was very happy to get the roles, but it would be nice to be in a movie where I could be someone else.

Everybody laughs the same in every language because laughter is a universal connection.

In today's society we sometimes forget to balance our hearts and our heads; this is the reason we stop laughing.