On April Fools' Day we meet with colleagues working in the „Humour and Satire" section of the Bulgarian National Radio - Vesel Tsankov, Lyubomir Metodiev and Dimitar Bezhanski. This is one of the oldest sections of the "Hristo Botev" program and the Bulgarian National Radio as a whole. It is believed that it originated from a sharp satirical show of the former Rural Section of the radio called "Miladin and Kostadin" that became very popular. The official beginning was given in the 60s but after the Prague Spring and the events in 1968 it was closed and everyone working in it were fired. Among them were famous satirists like Marko Stoychev and Konstantin Kostov, as well as poet Nikolai Tsonev. In 1969 a new section was created and legendary literary masters like Valery Petrov, Radoi Ralin and various Bulgarian actors worked in it.

Have satirists had problems with state authorities these days?

"Well I have been here since 1991 and I haven’t had problems with the state,” says Vesel Tsankov. “If you need to talk about problems with it, the truth is that both the Sturshel newspaper and the Humour and Satire section of the radio were a type of vent that let pressure out in the times before the democratic changes in this country. It was known that there were places in the country where some free speech and criticism was allowed. However, there were rules: one could criticize up to a deputy minister. You could not voice criticism towards higher levels. There was a defined set of topics like the lack of crates for collecting the crop or shopkeepers using dishonest scales. Everything else was more or less concealed in Aesopian language, which in turn, encouraged people to create more artistic humour and valuable works of art. Now you are allowed to say whatever you want and there is not much focus on art.”

Here is what Dimitar Bezhanski told us:

"Let me quote great Russian and Soviet humorist – Zhvanetsky, who says: ‘Now it is very difficult to write humour. Previously when I wrote that we are the country of evergreen tomatoes, everybody laughed. Now this is on the front page of every newspaper. How can you write humour?’”

"I have been here since the memorable date of April 1, 1990 and so far only once I had troubles, if I can use this word. We had this show that claimed was a charity performance for the Bulgarian MPs in need. We recorded it and we just about to air it when then head of the radio Ivan Obretenov called and asked us not to air the show as MPs were about to vote on the budget in parliament.”

Co-organizer of the show was also the Trimata Glupatsi (the three stooges) newspaper, in which Bezhanski also worked. During the budget voting in parliament, however, MPs proposed that the budget of the radio should be cut by 5 million. On the next day Ivan Obretenov called and said: “Air the show now!”

What are the trends in modern humour?

According to Vesel Tsankov, "Humor and Satire" of the BNR works in a different direction in comparison to what is usually seen on TV. "We strive, as far as we can, to preserve some artistic values; to preserve the humour genre in its diversity and not to allow vulgarity or outright nonsense. We are idealists but this is not so bad.”

"We focus on humanity and not on the crude side of things,” Lyubomir adds. The three humourists seek for the artistic side of humour and strive to please the audience with well-polished works.

On April 1 Dimitar Bezhanski told us a one funny story from the everyday life in the Humor and Satire section of the BNR: "Our colleague late epigrammist Toshko Klimentov,  once told famous Bulgarian writer, poet and translator, Vasil Sotirov: ‘So what do I care you translated Villon. All kinds of people translate Villon but can you write me an epigram?’”

English: Alexander Markov