January 24

I was looking over a list of today's candidates, and got to wondering what's going on with Yakov Smirnov these days. I mean, he got plenty of laughs out of the Cold War, but I figured the fall of Communism put him out of business. Should have known better; he's been in Branson since '93, which seems like a place where Reagan jokes would still play. Not only is he still playing to crowds, he's a professor of positive psychology at Missouri State, teaching about applied uses of laughter in interpersonal relationships. He's even developing a talk show, of the couch variety.
Before he reinvents himself as the next Dr Phil, let's enjoy a shot of some vintage Smirnoff: