Sasha Nezlobin: I'm Fine - Sasha Nezlobin on rebuilding his life through comedy in Sasha Zezlobin: I'm Fine

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe marks a new chapter for Sasha Nezlobin, one of Russia's most famous arena comedians, as he presents his first full hour performed entirely in English. After fleeing Moscow in 2022 following his public opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, Nezlobin uses I'm Fine to reflect on emigration, identity, fatherhood, and the challenge of rebuilding both a life and a career from scratch in the West. Whenever someone asks how he's doing, his answer is always the same: "I'm fine." This show is his attempt to find out whether that's really true. We caught up with Sasha to hear more about the show.

For audiences meeting you for the first time in Edinburgh, what kind of show is I’m Fine?

Quentin Tarantino once said that if you can explain what your film is about, you probably don’t need to make it. I’m not Tarantino, although I’d love my comedy to feel as gripping and occasionally shocking as his films. The difference is, I never worked for the mafia - the mafia came to power in my home country.

My goal with this show is simple: to deliver a great hour of comedy. People choose to spend their time with me, and that’s worth far more than money. Money can always be earned - I remember that. I want the audience to laugh as much as possible - and then leave with a little intellectual hangover that stays with them a little after the show is over.

You still perform to sold-out Russian-speaking audiences who understand every cultural reference. How are you preparing to walk onstage in front of an English-speaking crowd?

I think we all understand what love means, what family means, and how complicated both can be. Family can be your greatest support - or the source of your deepest wounds. As a father, one of my biggest fears is passing my own trauma on to my daughter, and I talk about that in the show.

I’m not worried about kilograms versus pounds or Celsius versus Fahrenheit. We’ve all been children, and one day we’ll all die. Those experiences are universal. I’ve learned that people everywhere carry childhood wounds and the same hopes, fears, and questions about where this world is heading. That’s much more interesting to me than cultural differences.

One of the stories in the show involves explaining to your daughter why the family now flies economy instead of business class. Do you rely on humour to make sense of those everyday losses and adjustments? And how do you find the humour in situations that may have felt frightening or overwhelming when they first happened?

I think I’ve always been like that. I remember learning to ride a bike as a kid. For some reason, I believed I could only ride in a straight line if I looked up at the sky. A few seconds later, I crashed straight into a tree. There was blood on my forehead, it hurt… but at the same time I couldn't stop imagining how ridiculous I must have looked from the outside.

That’s how my brain has always worked. Pain and comedy often arrive together.

My advice is simple: write down your struggles. Then, after some time has passed, try telling the same story as a comedy instead of a drama. You might discover that your worst moments also contain your best jokes.

What have audiences responded to most strongly so far when hearing your story?

One reaction I’ll never forget happened when a big Russian rapper was touring in the U.S. I brought an American friend to the concert, and the audience was full of Russian-speaking people. Suddenly, some of them started coming up to me and asking for photos.

My friend was completely confused. Later, he looked me up and discovered I’d once been named one of the 50 most famous TV hosts in Russia. For the rest of the night he kept asking, “Sasha, how could you leave all that? I would never have done it.”

But he grew up in America, so I don’t think he fully understands the connection between fame and safety in Russia now.

You’ve worked across stand-up, television, and live performance. Does this show, and being part of the Festival feel like a new chapter creatively, and personally? 

Yes, definitely. It feels like starting over, but in a good way. Performing in English has made me question almost everything I knew about comedy, and I think that’s healthy.

For a long time, I was chasing milestones - the biggest shows, TV, streaming specials. Now I’m much more interested in becoming better at my art. I’m sure Edinburgh will help me write stronger jokes, become a better comedian, meet interesting people, and have a great month. In that sense, I’ve already won, even if the shows turn out to be terrible.

What stark cultural differences have you discovered through trying to make audiences laugh in different countries?

Honestly, I think the similarities are much bigger than the differences. Love, family, fear, childhood - we all understand those things. And, of course, political news too - Trump, the Royal Family, AI … there are some stories the whole world follows.

I grew up on British comedy - Monty Python, A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and later Stewart Lee. So British audiences already feel familiar to me.

What surprised me most was discovering how fearless British comedians can be. Sometimes I hear a joke and think, “Wow…” Meanwhile, I was sitting backstage worrying that I might offend somebody’s aunt.

In a world shaped by conflict and uncertainty, why do you think people still need and want live comedy?

Ha! We’ll find out. For me, it’s already a huge honor to be part of the Edinburgh Fringe and to perform at such an iconic venue. And seeing that people are already buying tickets weeks before the show is genuinely exciting.

I think live comedy gives us something we can’t get online. We gather in one room and communicate without even realizing it. Comedians probably go on stage because we never got enough love, and we need to know we’re accepted. The audience comes to discover they’re not the only ones struggling. For an hour, we laugh at the same fears, and somehow, we all leave thinking “maybe… I’m fine.”

I hope to see you at the show.

Sasha Nezlobin: I’m Fine will be performed at 9:30pm at Pleasance Dome from 5th – 31st August.

Booking link: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/sasha-nezlobin-im-fine