SHOT Claims Comedy Club Banned in Uzbekistan

Organizers complain about concert bans and mounting financial problems, Orda.kz reports, citing SHOT.

In Uzbekistan, the Comedy Club show was reportedly banned after local authorities concluded that portraying "family and marital relations" in a comedy format contradicted national spirituality.

According to the organizers, the Ministry of Culture officially notified them that the program did not comply with ethical standards.

The show was supposed to take place in Tashkent in 2023, but was cancelled. A new date has not yet been announced. Since then, oversight has only increased: artists coming to Uzbekistan were required to approve materials, stand-up comedian Alexey Shcherbakov was forced to cut out some of his jokes, and the concert of rapper T-Fest was cancelled altogether,
SHOT says.

Grigory Leps, Irina Dubtsova, Zemfira, and Diana Arbenina have also faced similar restrictions. Local promoters claim they are losing up to 90% of their income due to censorship.

Verification of programs has become mandatory, and any deviation from the "moral code" risks a ban.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov