There is a lot of liability involved in trying to make people laugh in Kazakhstan these days. Just ask comedian Alexander Merkul: a court in the Kazakh capital Astana recently sent him to jail for using foul language during a show.

The court, in ordering Merkul to spend 10 days in the municipal clink because of his penchant for uttering four-letter words, said his performance in June at an area restaurant "disrespected others and violated public order."

Somewhere, the spirit of Lenny Bruce is getting a kick out of the controversy.

This past March, Kazakhstan’s parliament adopted amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, toughening penalties for using obscene language in public. Fines were quadrupled to as much as about $150 and potential jail time for repeat offenders extended to up to a month.

Merkul’s sentencing on July 26 caused a minor uproar on social media, where many called the punishment excessively harsh for something that many people do. "We all swear - among friends and even at work, when we need to let off steam, express indignation - how can you deprive someone of their freedom for this?" Maria Bakalchuk, a designer at the Almaty advertising agency Uptime, told Eurasianet.

Others are convinced the sentence for swearing is meant to intimidate the comedian, whose performances often contain routines that employ satire to mock authorities. “He joked about ‘Zhana Kazakhstan’ [New Kazakhstan is the slogan for the reforms of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev],” wrote Anton Miroedov, founder of the SMM agency Diskurs, on Instagram. “And our officials, in order to show everyone that he is wrong... gave him 10 days.”

Merkul is known as a daring stand-up comedian, willing to push the boundaries of free speech in a country where the government seems intent on tightly controlling the flow of information. He doesn’t shy away from touching on sensitive topics in his act, including social problems. 

“Kazakhstan is new, poverty is old. Do you know that there are people who are ready to fight for 50 tenge? (about 10 cents)? ... Do you feel the New Kazakhstan? … I haven't even recovered from ‘Rukhani Zhangyru’ [Spiritual renewal - reforms of the previous ruling regime] yet...", Merkul riffed on stage during a recent show, causing laughter in the audience.

In a podcast interview in May, Merkul was outspoken in arguing that humor and satire are essential elements of politics. “Who else but stand-up comedians should raise topical social and political issues in a humorous manner?” Merkul asked.

He is not the only one who has paid a price for having a quick wit and a sharp tongue. In May, a court in the commercial capital Almaty locked up another stand-up comedian, Nuraskhan Baskozhaev, for 15 days, also for swearing during a performance. The Almaty court termed it “petty hooliganism.” Apparently, Baskozhaev’s tendency to ridicule official corruption is what earned him an extended stay behind bars, Radio Azattyk, the Kazakh service of RFE/RL, reported.

The Central Stand Up Almaty club, where Baskozhaev was a regular performer, issued a statement expressing concern about the “violation of the rights of young artists.” The statement noted that the case against Baskozhaev stemmed from a “a closed event in a club,” at which people wishing to purchase tickets were warned in advance about the use of foul language.

Comedians aren’t the only ones running afoul of obscenity statutes. In July, Maria Kochneva, an Almaty activist, received a 10-day jail sentence for cursing while singing a hip-hop tune, titled "Yo, orystar" (Yo, Russians). She cursed Russians to protest the war in Ukraine.

The head of the Almaty comedy club Please Stand Up, Ruslan Kuanov, said in an interview with Eurasianet that stand-up comedians in Kazakhstan often try to emulate the style and content of American counterparts. However, when engaging in political satire, Kuanov noted, local comics should remember that Kazakhstan’s political culture is far different than that in the United States. He expressed hope that stand-up will not lose its bite. “Our stand-up comedians should not be afraid, they need to learn to joke about topical issues subtly and wittily, so that it is funny and at the same time they do not have to answer according to the law,” Kuanov told Eurasianet.