Yakov-era coming to a close in Branson

After 23 years in Branson, Yakov Smirnoff is headed back to Hollywood.

The Russian-born comedian, famous in the 1980s for his sendups of the Soviet Union, is eager to step back onto the national stage.

"The last few years, I've been kind of setting myself up in Malibu (California)," Smirnoff said, "and going back to Hollywood, doing a lot of shows there, and kind of getting back into the television arena and movies."

His last show at the Yakov Smirnoff Theatre is Dec. 3., a "grand finale." (Smirnoff is offering Springfield audiences discount tickets. Show an ID with a Springfield address, he said, and you can get in for $20.)

Afterward, Smirnoff's name will remain on the building, and his art gallery inside will stay, but he's leasing the space to Acrobats of China as he has this season.

"It's Russians and Chinese working together again," he joked.

Meanwhile, Smirnoff's doesn't have plans to do another season or any special one-off shows in Branson. "At this point I don't have any plans," he said. "I'd never say never. At this point I feel I need to be there (in California)."

Smirnoff said he has a variety of projects in the works:

• He's "very close" to getting on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," as he told the Guardian in January. "That's exciting, and I'm doing everything I know how to get myself in the best shape possible. I do workouts five days a week, and I'm trying to get into Arnold Schwarzenegger shape, but I'm not sure. There's a big picture of him at the gym, so I size myself every day."

• He's working with Smirnoff brand vodka on doing commercials.

• Along with the pivot toward showbiz, he hopes to bring humor and education to married couples with a show called "Happily Ever Laughter." He's recording a performance Jan. 9 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, which will air on PBS in March.

In 2006, Smirnoff earned a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and since then he's been entranced by the science of hormonal and neurological differences between men and women.

"We're kind of treating each other like we're the same kind of species, but we're really not," Smirnoff said.

"Happily Ever Laughter" is based on his studies in positive psychology, and his goal for the show is to get couples reconnecting through laughter.

• He's also looking into a PhD program in psychology at University of California-Berkeley. "If that works out, it's kind of a 5-year commitment," Smirnoff said. "I want to do it because I feel very passionate to do research on happiness and laughter, and how they're connected."

Smirnoff characterized these changes as another round of reinvention for him, he said. "With Hollywood, I've been through this before," he said. "You've got to kind of reestablish yourself, and if people like what you're doing and it's kind of fresh, there's always a place for something good and different."

He said a comedy-club owner first encouraged him with those words in 1978

As he often does in interviews, Smirnoff recalled the reasons he came to Branson in the first place, back in 1992.

In the 1980s, his career flourished. He did movies with Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. In 1986, he had a syndicated TV series, "What a Country."

But in 1991, history intervened.

"What happened is the Soviet Union collapsed," Smirnoff said, "and David Letterman had a top 10 list on the night of the collapse of things that change, and I made No. 1 on the list: Yakov Smirnoff will be out of work."

"I thought it was funny, but with a bank loan of $2.5 million on the home we had at the time, the bills continued to arrive no matter what David Letterman said."

"I looked for a place where they did not know the Soviet Union had collapsed."

Branson turned out to be that place, and audiences there embraced President Ronald Reagan's favorite comedian. Four million people have visited his theater since. In 2012, he announced that year would be his last full season in town, but, he said, this time it's the real deal.

"Branson has been my laboratory for the past 23 years to develop my ('Happily Ever After') concept," he said. "I've been very, very blessed."