Star presenter Konstantin Anisimov on humor, restarting the online show “OK in contact!” and “Darling Pavel Derevyanko”

Konstantin, you have been involved in the project as a leader for seven years. What was the main difficulty and the main challenge for you?

We sat down with the team, talked and found an understanding that a new atmosphere, a new character of the conversation will come with the new moderator. One thing worries me about actors or athletes, my predecessor Yevgeny Rybov worried about something else. Times change and so do the interests of the audience. They are interested in how yesterday’s aspiring stars grow up. Our joint task was to approach the process of creating a new program for me and the team.

What will you bring to the show? Any branded features?

Of course, there are preparations, but we cannot impose big changes on the viewer right away. We will gently look for what format of games, interviews, questions will come. Maybe we’ll introduce one question per program and it will look so cool that everyone will say, “God, what a great reveal of the hero!”. Or maybe, on the contrary, we will talk in a flash format, or maybe in the “either / or” format that is now fashionable on the web. We generally love such shows precisely because of the different approaches of the interviewers.

How was filming the first pool? what did you like the most?

What I liked most was that each guest had a different conversation. We did not have a template for communication with any of the guests, the same pace of conversation. Someone spoke deeply, intonation, I wanted to listen to every word. With someone, it turned out to be a conversation between two friends who have three children, and viewers will have the opportunity to see how two fathers talk about their families with love and respect. We managed to find out how the star guests experience when they change their star status from one profession to another – from actor to director, and get to know very young artists. All the warmth, energy and laughter that went into the shot, the good thoughts are visible very early. Our closest star guests include Maxim Trankov, Dmitry Shepelev, Mila Ershova, Daria Moroz and many others.

What style of conversation do you prefer? How do you detect guests – provocation or friendly conversation?

The casual conversations of friends in the kitchen are closer to me, but you have to admit that sometimes in the kitchen you want to whisper and share something secret. I would like to have an open but cozy and private conversation for everyone. And then people will be interested.

Before “OK in contact!” broadcast and now there will be a recording. The task is easier for you as a leader, right?

I wouldn’t say that. Generally, this change is due to the fact that we can gather as many great guests as possible in one day and release recordings. Plus, we feel like it will allow us to make the show even better. By the way, we will also shorten the timing – each number will last 30-40 minutes, and not an hour, as before. Another update is the audience is in the studio so there will still be live reaction. Viewers will be able to ask some questions directly to the guest and through them we will be able to reveal the star hero as an ordinary person.

Do you have a dream guest list? Who would you like to interview?

All dream lists, in my opinion, breed disappointment. Let’s say I’m waiting for Elon Musk, but he didn’t come for a number of reasons. Or I want to make someone a guest, but they don’t want or don’t have the information opportunity. My list is therefore simple: I would like to invite the ones we see on billboards, on TV, on streaming platforms, that we hear on the radio. As they say, in the morning in the newspaper, in the evening in verse. This is a guest show and you have to see who is relevant and interesting to our viewers this particular week.

In general, you started in KVN. Tell me what did this school teach you?

Three main things: teamwork, the ability to make content on a minimal budget, and the understanding that it’s not gods who burn pots – an ordinary guy with talent can go on stage and make an audience laugh.

Perhaps your sense of humor began to manifest itself in childhood?

I will not hide, my mother was very worried about my desire to go to drama school. She was afraid that I wouldn’t find a job after that and offered me to become a cook. So I trained as a food technologist, I even have a few years of experience in restaurant kitchens. By the way, it is very symbolic that I later started as a screenwriter in the first season of “Kitchen”. Then I left there, but my colleagues in the series left my name and surname and named the hero – the bartender, played by Viktor Khorinyak. Well, now I cook in the TV “kitchen”. In general, I grew up on Mikhail Žvanecki and Mikhail Zadornov. This is early childhood, they were often shown on TV back then and of course they influenced my development. And also, of course, my senior comrades in KVN: the Megapolis and Fedor Dvinyatin teams.

Do you still have skills from your cooking education?

I like to cook and I have two dreams: to host a cooking show and to open a small restaurant where I will feed people with my pastries and coffee in my retirement. And my signature dishes are anything to do with meat and cooking it over fire.

Tell us how your career as a presenter started?

I became a host for the first time on the stage of KVN. There were regional and Moscow games, I was a kind of small representative of the great Maslyakov. I was under 18 when I played my first game. This is a responsible job, because it is not necessary to joke here, but you need to be a moderator, maintain the atmosphere between the performances of the teams. In general, this is such a job for, I am not afraid of this word, a good guy, which is Alexander Vasilyevich. After all, we perceive him as a kind, cheerful, intelligent presenter who can respond sensitively and insightfully, but he is not the main engine of this show. Then I got a video blog, the career of a presenter continued, I began to host a show on Muz-TV. And for me, these different phases are connected by one professional opportunity to be such a good guy next to excellent people. These meetings interest me in the leadership profession.

Which characters do you like to remember the most? Which stars impressed?

First, Pavel Derevyanko. Our meeting took place at his house at six in the morning. You can imagine the mood of a person who is exhausted from work and a film crew bumps into him at such an early hour. But he was such a sweetheart, just the perfect person! And secondly, Alexander Ovechkin. He is a leader, a real rock – both in hockey and in everyday life. No wonder he is a legend in world sports.

By the way, they say that many great comedians joked funny only on stage, but in everyday life they were rather sad. Does this stereotype apply to you too?

Well, I’m not much of a comedian yetLaughter). In my life, I still have time to joke, I communicate with people who are not related to creative professions. My relatives have nothing to do with television or the stage. This allows you to switch, see ordinary life, hear some life lessons, jot them down and then screw them into your speeches.

How do you feel about your popularity?

I love when people come up and say, “We watch your show as a family and we love it because it’s so hard to find content that everyone can watch together.” For five seconds it turns into a kind of fire of the soul, and then I understand that this is why I am doing everything right. There are many excellent professions – surgeons, subway builders, scientists, which, unfortunately, are not in sight. And it happened that I have a public profession. When someone comes and asks for a photo shoot, I understand that it is a significant moment in their life. And I don’t want to spoil it. And it turns out that I am so kind within the framework, and then suddenly I say: “Leave me alone.”

What is new in your work now?

We are planning to launch a new project on one of the largest federal channels. We are also preparing a concert show on the music channel, where representatives of the era of audio cassettes and the era of streaming perform live and are evaluated by a jury consisting of masters and first-timers. And soon there will be a reunion of a well-known comedy TV series hosted by me – like James Corden in a Friends reunion. Stay tuned for more details that I will be happy to share very soon.

What do you think the ideal entertainment content should be?

I would like the viewer to have a slight smile and desire to see something more with our guests. Or with me – that will be a great reward. So that our jokes or conversations are quoted and give a drop of inspiration. When a decorated artist still respects his work, a young artist respects his elders, and a famous athlete can boast not only well-developed muscles, but also good speech – all this can, after all, inspire people.

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