Markov emerged, joking, from a sound sleep. Playing on “Ivan,” as in
Ivan the Terrible, he exclaimed, “Oh! Father Czar himself is feeding me.”
“Ivan is grown up now,” Andrei explained, “but to this day he has a
nickname—the Czar. It was Markiz’s blessing.”
Some of Markov’s jokes were set-pieces and when he told them he
would affect a Caucasus accent and the gender confusion that often goes
with it, both of which are funny to many Russians in the same way that
Southern accents combined with poor grammar are funny to many
Americans. Stalin was from the Caucasus, so for Russians of a certain age
this accent has a certain chilling significance.* Mocking it is one way for
survivors of that era to siphon off some of the residual toxins. Included in
Markov’s repertoire were queries to a fictitious call-in show on Armenian
Radio. Armenian Radio is an imaginary station that emerged in the
Russian consciousness during the 1950s and is known throughout the
former Soviet Union. Broadcasting out of the southern Caucasus, it offers
free advice on topics ranging from sex to socialist doctrine. The ground
rules are simple and reflect the reality of many Russians: “Ask us
whatever you want, we will answer whatever we want.”
One example goes like this:
This is Armenian Radio. Our listeners asked us:
“Is it all right to have sex in Red Square?”
We’re answering:
“Yes. But only if you want lots of advice.”The Soviet regime was a popular target:
This is Armenian Radio. Our listeners asked us:
“Why is our government not in a hurry to land our men on the moon?”
We’re answering:
“What if they refuse to return?”Markov was well disposed toward this brand of humor and, in his own
small “listening area,” he functioned as a kind of pirate station, a one-