Standup has become an escape for many as the conflict drags on, and comics see dark humour as part of their mission to ‘stop people going crazy’

Anton Tymoshenko is exhausted. Ukraine’s most famous standup comedian – Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t count, since he is the president – has just returned from a gruelling European tour, involving 36 shows in 50 days. He played in Berlin, Paris and London. And Birmingham, where Tymoshenko tried unsuccessfully to buy Peaky Blinders merchandise.

His audiences were made up of Ukrainians living abroad, many refugees. The tour raised nearly half a million dollars, all of which will go to Ukraine’s armed forces.