A mainstay in the entertainment scene since the late 1970's, Smirnoff was a regular guest star on the award winning NBC sitcom, Night Court. He has been a popular guest of numerous national TV shows including the Tonight Show. You've seen him on HBO and enjoyed his humor on his critically acclaimed Showtime special. Yakov has also co-starred in movies with Robin Williams in Moscow on the Hudson, Tom Hanks in The Money Pit, Meryl Steep and Jack Nicholson in Heartburn and Richard Pryor in Brewster's Millions. Yakov was invited to perform at the White House for several presidents and honored guests. President Ronald Reagan called Yakov a, "national treasure."
Since 1992, Smirnoff has performed at his own theater in Branson, Missouri, where he has entertained over four million visitors and produced several outstanding award-winning shows. His comedic style is firmly grounded within his mission statement "to experience happiness and teach it to the world with passion through comedy and sensitivity."
In his newest endeavor, "The Happily Ever Laughter Tour", Smirnoff takes his comedy to a new level to showcase laughter's effects on relationships and envisions a world where sadness and tears are replaced with love and laughter.
His funny philosophies can also be heard at Missouri State University and Drury University where Smirnoff is a professor who teaches about the relationship of love and laughter. He received his master's degree in psychology from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania and is a bestselling author.
Whether on stage or in a classroom, Smirnoff's audiences love him. He is passionate about helping people extend the honeymoon stage of their relationships and "fall in love and laughter all over again." While in the process of doing so, he leaves his crowd in stitches, fulfilling his promise that you will laugh your Yak- off.
