The History of the World Humor Federation by the Ideological Inspirer of the Initiative, Richardas Vitchas:

Hello everyone! My name is Richard, and I’m happy to meet you! I hope this is the beginning of a great collaboration. In the comedy community, I’m primarily known for founding the creative association “Shiza” from Ufa and being its ideological inspirer. It was a team from the early 2000s that became a flagship of unconventional humor. We always played and joked against the imposed common rules, trying to set the trend for a cosmic, innovative style—that’s what made us memorable. Even back then, I felt that the approach to competitive humor was not optimal, so I decided to create what you are reading about now. If you don’t mind, I’d love to tell you more about the birth of this idea that has inspired me throughout my life.

I spent my childhood in Vilnius. I fell in love with sports at the age of eight when Vilnius’ “Žalgiris” won the bronze medal in the USSR Football Championship (1987). After that, I never missed a major sports event: the Olympics, European club tournaments, World and European Championships in team sports. I attended stadiums and arenas, supporting local teams. I always had “Sport-Express” and “Lietuvos Sportas” in my hands. I collected and archived newspapers, recording everything. At the same time, during my school years (early 90s), I played football, albeit inconsistently, for Vilnius “Lokomotiv” at the stadium of the same name. The railwaymen’s field was adjacent to the most criminal district of Vilnius—Dzūkai, where I grew up. Our youth team was called “Dreamer,” and we struggled through children's and adult district tournaments until, at the age of 16, I was carried off the field on a stretcher. A foot fracture, torn ligaments, a whole summer in a cast—sports were over for me. But I loved playing, winning, and being at the center of competition. Since I was considered a pretty funny guy in class, I thought that if humor competitions were held at school, I would win. That’s when the idea of competitive humor was born (1995).

After getting my cast removed, I found out that our alma mater refused to participate in the Lithuanian Humor Games (LIK). So, I decided to try my luck there instead. After all, in that competition, you could earn points, advance from the quarterfinals to the semifinals... Almost like sports.

Lithuanian and Baltic humor in the late 90s was on the rise. There was no editorial oversight. Performers on stage weren’t restricted—they were given room to grow. With my school team, and later a Lithuanian national team I assembled, we won everywhere—or at least had the largest fan base. This creative incubator without censorship (between Vilnius, Riga, and Jurmala) gave birth to new comedic brands—the St. Petersburg team, the KVN BSU team, “ChP,” and some of the most iconic sketches of “Ural Dumplings” and other groups. And then? Then, by a twist of fate, I moved from the Baltic states to the Urals, settling in Ufa.

I created the team “Shiza,” which later became one of the top three greatest teams of all time, known for promoting “non-standard humor” (along with “Ural Dumplings” and the Pyatigorsk team), according to the kvn.ru website (TO “Alexander Maslyakov and Company”). However, I encountered a fundamental injustice that contradicted the sports genre. I discovered the presence of editors—essentially censors—who dictated outcomes based on financial backing rather than wit. The audience loved and applauded us, but victories were determined by the number of days spent negotiating with the editors. Sports principles were destroyed—the world had changed.

We attempted to realize the idea of transforming humor into a sport through our creation—the Alternative Humor League “FARA,” which was a hotbed of unconventional humor. In 2004, AMIK officially denied us league status, and a year later, we were completely cut off from the KVN world. We were told we didn’t fit the format and would never make it to television with our kind of humor.

Our dreams lay in ruins. But on those ruins, a flame still burned—we were inspired to create a new comedic movement as an alternative to the existing formats. That’s how our first project was born, where countries, rather than freely assembled teams, were supposed to compete. We presented this idea to the then-up-and-coming production company “Yellow, Black and White.” We pitched it and forgot about it. Six months later, the TV project “League of Nations” appeared—without us—and lasted about a year. Coincidence? Maybe.

To cut the long story of breaking into major television short—over 15 years, in one form or another, our idea was presented to chief and creative producers of almost every major entertainment channel: TNT, STS, “Che!” TV, Channel One, TO “Ural Dumplings,” REN-TV, “Comedy Club,” and even Evgeny Donskikh, who, a week after our meeting, returned to work with KVN (we had given him our flash drive with materials). Everywhere, we heard the same mantra: “This can’t be launched, Alexander Vasilyevich won’t approve, and we won’t go against him...” Yet, projects like “Laughter Without Rules,” “Meat Grinder,” “Super League,” and “League of Laughter” emerged—the last of which most closely reflected our vision and became a real success. We kept getting rejected, being told to respect the “master’s creation,” until someone launched the infamous “Game” and “League of Cities.” In the end, the students began to “devour” the teacher...

At the same time, we worked in a marketing agency and wrote for other projects: “Evening Urgant,” “Give Youth!,” 2x2 TV, and so on. Then, I found myself at the origins of the professional football club “Ufa” (2010). Here, we dived into sports as an element of show business. At the football club, I was responsible for branding, promotion, and all marketing. That’s when I realized what sports technologies and tricks we could apply to our comedic project.

In 2015, a project tentatively titled “Humor World Championship” was launched in two forms: as a competition among universities at the regional level and as a series of local tournaments for professional humorists, leading to a final champion. For the first time, we also recorded a pilot for another attempt at breaking into television. It was now clear: HUMOR IS A SPORT. This became our core idea, the one we would develop and fight to be recognized. And then, another pause.

Work as a commercial director at the professional football club “Baltika” gave me even more insights. Then, four years of fruitful collaboration with the film company “Good Story Media” (TNT), where we developed mobile and children's web series. Thanks to this company, in early 2022, we were preparing to present the “Humor World Championship” to a major media ecosystem. But then, events unfolded as they did, and everything was put on hold. There was no more time to wait.

In 2022, we decided to give the project TRUE international status and develop it in any country where there was interest. The World Humor Federation was officially founded, and we started organizing our first competitions—beginning with the most recognizable comedic discipline: stand-up. By 2024, Lithuania and Poland had established national humor federations, crowned their first champions, and launched open tournaments where anyone interested in stand-up or comedy could participate. We are starting to hold games in English, Lithuanian, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Polish. In 2025, we hope to introduce this initiative to a wider audience and, with your help, establish humor federations in other countries. Our mid-term goals: an evolutionary approach, local competitions, and turning humor into a sport.

Join us! Let’s create something truly exciting together.