He is a popular stand-up comedian, parodist and actor.

Gennady Viktorovich Khazanov was born in 1945 in Moscow into a Jewish family that broke apart soon after his birth.

Since childhood Gennady Khazanov admired the great Arkady Raikin, whom he considered his teacher and who had a great influence on the future famous gagman. Starting from 1962 Gennady Khazanov tried to enter theatre colleges of Moscow, including the renowned Schukin Theater School of Higher Education, yet failed at the exams and finally found himself a student of the Moscow Institution of Civil Engineering (MICI). It was in MICI where Khazanov’s first and the most famous character – Student of a culinary school – was born. From 1967 he started performing as a comedian on a big variety stage.

After graduating from the MICI in 1969 Khazanov worked as a master of ceremonies in Leonid Utyosov Orchestra, which turned to be a good school for him. In 1971 he shifted to the Moscow state concert association “Moskontsert”. The young performer tried his wings in various genres – from parody to clownery and finally found himself as a stand-up comedian, making a really talented gagman. Famous satiric writers of the Soviet period were authors of his comic monologues.

Since 1997 he has been Director of Variety Theatre.