Anglo-Russian comedy night: Viv Groskop and Aliona Muchinskaya

British comedian Viv Groskop and Russian PR guru and raconteuse Aliona Muchinskaya go head to head in this comedy chat show which aims to answer the question:

“Which is better: to be Russian in Britain or British in Russia?”

This event will be in a mix of Russian and English, with Aliona giving her take on twenty years of life as a Russian in London and Viv talking about her experiences as an anglichanka in Moscow and contributing editor to Russian Vogue. Is it social death to refuse an extra helping of olivier salad in a Russian household? Will Brits judge you suspicious if you never put milk in your tea? And why do British people prefer baths and Russians love to shower? Underneath it all, do we love each other far more than we think? Or do our differences run deeper than we imagine? Expect laughs, fun and, perhaps, some revealing commonalities…

Viv Groskop is a writer, stand-up comedian, broadcaster, Pushkin House trustee, committed Russophile and author of The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature (Penguin), soon to be translated into Russian and published by Individuum in Moscow. Her latest show VIVALICIOUS was at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Funny Women finalist and Maestro Improv winner, you can also hear her on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends and Saturday Live.

Aliona Muchinskaya is the ‘Creative Tornado’ (Moscow Times) and ‘Russian Party Queen’ (Evening Standard) founder of Red Square PR. Previously foreign correspondent in London for Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK), one of Russia’s biggest newspapers, she then worked with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman on their Long Way Round trip, chaperoned Paul McCartney on his Moscow tour and acted as the Head of London Office for Mikhail Gorbachev for his 80th Birthday Celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall.