Definitions of some of the following terms, like kalambur (pun) can be found in dictionaries. Others, like dobivka (punchline), are KVN terms of art. Some words, like khod (literally, "move"), have dictionary entries but mean something different in KVN.

bloc: a set of jokes on a common theme

biathlon: a joke contest within KVN games. Teams each read two jokes, and the weakest teams are eliminated in turn. The teams that survive the most rounds earn the most points.

bolt: a zinger; a joke that gets audience members to "fall out of their seats" laughing (Marfin and Chivurin 1998, 15).

dobivka: punchline

geg: a gag. Gags usually involve physical comedy of some kind or a trick with props. For example, the Belgorod team Radioactive People (Radioaktivnye Liudy) used cherry tomatoes as their punchline in the following sketch:

Young man: Actually, I learned to kiss on tomatoes.
((Another young man stage right begins kissing a tomato))
Young man: Katya?! What about our—children?!
((throws cherry tomatoes onto the stage))



karapulya: a song that overlays humorous lyrics onto a well-known melody

kalambur: pun

khod: an approach to, theme, or setting for a skit

coda: a short, concluding line in a team's performance; often a clever line or moral. The military team Commissars of the Capital from Moscow, for instance, after showing a politician awkwardly touring a tank, offered the following coda: "Let politics climb wherever it wants around the military. As long as the army never climbs into politics."

KOP (Konkurs Odnoi Pesni, Contest of One Song): In this competition, often last in the line-up of a KVN game's events, teams build a skit around a single song, usually a well-known tune for which they write new, humorous lyrics.

lineika: a line-up of KVN players. Team Snezhnogorsk, below, relies on humorous introductions of individual characters on their team rather than traditional skits or dialogue. The introduction given for Mikhail, the shirtless man to the far left, was, "This is Mikhail, Snezhnogork's novice porno actor. So far he just watches."
muzikalka: muzikal'niy nomer; a skit with a musical component

obraz: persona on stage. As KVN author Aleksei Eks said, "You're just a student...but when you're in your persona, you can start to say something" (interview with author, October 28, 2018).

obzor: a written or video review, in this case of a KVN or League of Laughter game. The Russian video blogger Crafty Sound said in his review of the first KVN Premier League Octofinal, for instance, about the team 1930, "Everything was funny until the final short skit [miniature] with the veteran dad. I understand that it was all exaggerated, and maybe I'm cavilling about this guy, but the overacting simply did not take."

otbivka: a music clip played between sketches in a team's performance. The same songs may also be played upon a team's entrance and/or exit, or the team may choose other songs for these.

paravoz: when a joke causes the audience to explode with laughter. 

privetsvye/privetka: literally "greeting," a skit-type number that often opens competitions

perebivka: a music clip played between a team's sketches

redaktura: an editing session. During editing sessions teams present proposed to material to one or several editors, who give the team feedback.

razminka: an improvised question-and-answer section of a KVN competition.



refrain: a phrase or punchline that is repeated across several jokes in a skit.

vykhod: a character's entrance on stage