Anton Tymoshenko

Anton Tymoshenko is one of Ukraine's most prominent stand-up comedians, based in Kyiv. A philosophy graduate who wrote his thesis on how humor updates political discourse, he has been performing stand-up for over a decade and is a resident of Underground Stand-Up, the largest stand-up project in Ukraine. He is a two-time winner of the Make a Comedian Laugh competition and a member of the League of Laughs.

Tymoshenko gained wide international attention in 2022 when he performed stand-up in an air raid shelter in Kyiv during Russia's full-scale invasion - one of several comedians who refused to go quiet as bombs fell. In October 2023, he made history by becoming the first Ukrainian comedian to fill the Palace of Ukraine in Kyiv, the country's largest concert hall, drawing over 3,457 people to a sold-out show assembled in just six weeks of promotion. He has raised millions of hryvnias for Ukraine's Armed Forces through charity tours across Ukraine, North America, and Europe, donating proceeds to the Prytula Charity Foundation. His English-subtitled content on YouTube has brought his perspective to international audiences since 2022.

His comedy draws on philosophy, political absurdity, and everyday life under wartime conditions, using humor as what he calls a "defense mechanism" - a way to process fear and make it smaller. On stage, he jokes about death, the enemy, and the contradictions of life during war, believing that naming what frightens us takes away its power.