Top lista nadrealista
Encyclopedia
Top lista nadrealista also known as Nadrealisti (Surrealists) was a comedy radio broadcast on Radio Sarajevo
during early 1980s and later a sketch comedy
and variety
show on TV Sarajevo in three separate installments from 1984 until 1991.
'Top lista nadrealista' started as a segment on Boro Kontić's programme called Primus (Priče i muzika subotom) on Radio Sarajevo. The segment became successful, eventually getting spun off in its own time slot separate from Primus. By 1984 the radio show got made into a TV sketch series.
The show was composed mostly of political satire
or humour connected with mentality of people from ex-Yugoslavia
(for example, "Hrkljuš
") in form of sketches
, and became famous in former Yugoslavia
. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many sketches dealt with current political situation which was a prelude to the Yugoslavian war
. Some proved to be prophetic, as they described things like Sarajevo being divided in different republics, a single family split into two clans and warring over control of rooms in the apartment, UN peacekeeping force's "significant" presence and their adding fuel to the conflict.
Surrealists held clear pacifist posture, often using absurdity
to describe the imminent war, e.g. warning that "peace may break out and ruin Bosnian
harmonious war" or giving alarming instructions on how the public should act in case of "peace".
's Koševo neighborhood who were involved with music as well as other forms of artistic expression, he brought them on his weekly radio show Primus. Their very first radio appearance took place on Saturday, May 9, 1981. The 15-minute segment Kontić gave them already had a name 'Top lista nadrealista' from the previous group of kids that he used on the show. The segment essentially functioned as a weekly recap through satirical commentary of events that occurred the previous week, from those of local character to global ones. Though uncoordinated and chaotic at first, the segment gained popularity among young listeners and soon became a separate radio programme on the station's schedule.
After getting its own timeslot, the show slightly expanded from topical humour to include longer sketches. Its popularity further increased in the city and it eventually moved to television.
, Branko Đurić, Zenit Đozić, Boris Šiber, and Dražen Ričl
as main protagonists, and Davor Marjanović as the director, the show had the basic structure of a radio programme. Around 45 minutes long, each episode had a sketch of a single theme that was presented in segments sandwiched in-between folk music numbers.
The sketches centered around exuberance and improvisation, which dominated over the written material. According to Karajlić, the first installment of Nadrealisti was "the result of our youthful hysteria and it relied more on raw energy than brains". Furthermore, many sketches were lifted straight from the English series Monty Python's Flying Circus
with a slight adaptation for the local setting. Also, the actual events taking place as the series was shot – such as Yugoslavia
's atrocious showing at the Euro 1984 or Rajko Janjanin
's European Cup hat-trick versus Benfica – provided fodder for the sketches. Still, the programme's popularity was primarily based on the abundance of colloquialisms and local Sarajevo street parlance - none of which could be seen up to that point on the very buttoned-up Yugoslav TV - and the show communicated really well with young viewers. At this time, Nadrealisti were still mostly a local Sarajevo phenomenom as their prominence was yet to gain a Yugoslavia-wide character. In total, eleven episodes were aired during the first season.
For several months in late 1984 and early 1985 the show was halted. A part of the crew which created the show, most of them both actor
s and writers, were members of rock band
Zabranjeno Pušenje
. During a concert in Rijeka
the band frontman and one of the members of Surrealists dr Nele Karajlić made a pun after the Marshall amplifier
broke down, saying: "The Marshall is dead, and I am talking about the amplifier now", involving late Josip Broz Tito
who held the military rank of the same name. The band and the show were verbally attacked by several communist organizations and Surrealists opted to stay out of the eye of the public for a while. The show resumed in the spring of 1985 without much fuss.
With the second series, the show's popularity expanded to other parts of SFR Yugoslavia too, as they earned both critical and popular praise.
. It was put together mostly by the whole new personnel led by Sejo Sexon
and Saša Petrović, in addition to the only member from the original group - Zenit Đozić. For the most part it was a radio broadcast, opening with lines such as "good evening to all three of you who still have generator
s", however a few sketches were filmed and televised as well. As a comedy show in a war torn city, it arguably had an impact on citizens' morale
. The show was more directly dealing with the surrounding reality of war, making fun of all sides involved and everyday situations in which citizens of Sarajevo were during the city siege.
E.g. One war-time sketch showed Serbs
arresting obviously innocent Czech
tourists who got lost on their way to seaside as Muslim
extremists and terrorists. Other sketch shows how a Bosnian Muslim "Super Imam
" heals a child of Chetnik spirit.
assembled a group of performers, including two of the original cast members Zenit Đozić and Darko Ostojić as well as one of the original new primitives Elvis J. Kurtović, for a sketch programme named Nadreality Show
(Surreality Show) that somewhat resembled the original series. It aired on RTL in Croatia, FTV
in Bosnia, and B92
in Serbia without much success.
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
during early 1980s and later a sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
and variety
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
show on TV Sarajevo in three separate installments from 1984 until 1991.
'Top lista nadrealista' started as a segment on Boro Kontić's programme called Primus (Priče i muzika subotom) on Radio Sarajevo. The segment became successful, eventually getting spun off in its own time slot separate from Primus. By 1984 the radio show got made into a TV sketch series.
The show was composed mostly of political satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
or humour connected with mentality of people from ex-Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
(for example, "Hrkljuš
Hrkljuš
Hrkljuš is a fictional sport, created for the TV show "Top lista nadrealista" which was very popular in ex-Yugoslavia in the 1980s. In one episode of the show, a game appeared to be broadcast live.-Rules :...
") in form of sketches
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
, and became famous in former Yugoslavia
Former Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many sketches dealt with current political situation which was a prelude to the Yugoslavian war
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
. Some proved to be prophetic, as they described things like Sarajevo being divided in different republics, a single family split into two clans and warring over control of rooms in the apartment, UN peacekeeping force's "significant" presence and their adding fuel to the conflict.
Surrealists held clear pacifist posture, often using absurdity
Surreal humour
Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
to describe the imminent war, e.g. warning that "peace may break out and ruin Bosnian
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
harmonious war" or giving alarming instructions on how the public should act in case of "peace".
Radio days
When Boro Kontić, radio host, producer, and longtime editor-in-chief of Radio Sarajevo's Omladinski program, became aware of a group of kids in their late teens from SarajevoSarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
's Koševo neighborhood who were involved with music as well as other forms of artistic expression, he brought them on his weekly radio show Primus. Their very first radio appearance took place on Saturday, May 9, 1981. The 15-minute segment Kontić gave them already had a name 'Top lista nadrealista' from the previous group of kids that he used on the show. The segment essentially functioned as a weekly recap through satirical commentary of events that occurred the previous week, from those of local character to global ones. Though uncoordinated and chaotic at first, the segment gained popularity among young listeners and soon became a separate radio programme on the station's schedule.
After getting its own timeslot, the show slightly expanded from topical humour to include longer sketches. Its popularity further increased in the city and it eventually moved to television.
First series
The programme's first installment on television began in 1984 following the Sarajevo Winter Olympics. With Nele KarajlićNele Karajlic
dr. Nele Karajlić a.k.a. Nele Karajlić, born on December 11, 1962 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, , is a Bosnian Serb rock and roll musician, composer, actor and television director living and working in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia.One of the founders of New Primitivism movement in Sarajevo,...
, Branko Đurić, Zenit Đozić, Boris Šiber, and Dražen Ričl
Dražen Ricl
Dražen Ričl was a Yugoslav rock musician, best known as the first lead vocalist of the extremely popular Sarajevo based rock band Crvena jabuka.Ričl was born and raised in the Koševo neighborhood of Sarajevo, where he was best known by the nicknames Para...
as main protagonists, and Davor Marjanović as the director, the show had the basic structure of a radio programme. Around 45 minutes long, each episode had a sketch of a single theme that was presented in segments sandwiched in-between folk music numbers.
The sketches centered around exuberance and improvisation, which dominated over the written material. According to Karajlić, the first installment of Nadrealisti was "the result of our youthful hysteria and it relied more on raw energy than brains". Furthermore, many sketches were lifted straight from the English series Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
with a slight adaptation for the local setting. Also, the actual events taking place as the series was shot – such as Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia national football team
The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...
's atrocious showing at the Euro 1984 or Rajko Janjanin
Rajko Janjanin
Rajko Janjanin is a former Serbian football player. He was capped twice for Yugoslavia....
's European Cup hat-trick versus Benfica – provided fodder for the sketches. Still, the programme's popularity was primarily based on the abundance of colloquialisms and local Sarajevo street parlance - none of which could be seen up to that point on the very buttoned-up Yugoslav TV - and the show communicated really well with young viewers. At this time, Nadrealisti were still mostly a local Sarajevo phenomenom as their prominence was yet to gain a Yugoslavia-wide character. In total, eleven episodes were aired during the first season.
For several months in late 1984 and early 1985 the show was halted. A part of the crew which created the show, most of them both actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s and writers, were members of rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Zabranjeno Pušenje
Zabranjeno pušenje
Zabranjeno Pušenje is a Yugoslavian garage rock band from Sarajevo, closely associated with the New primitivism cultural movement and the radio and television satire show Top Lista Nadrealista...
. During a concert in Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
the band frontman and one of the members of Surrealists dr Nele Karajlić made a pun after the Marshall amplifier
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
broke down, saying: "The Marshall is dead, and I am talking about the amplifier now", involving late Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
who held the military rank of the same name. The band and the show were verbally attacked by several communist organizations and Surrealists opted to stay out of the eye of the public for a while. The show resumed in the spring of 1985 without much fuss.
Second series
It would be almost five years before Nadrealisti returned for the second installment in 1989. Now a bit more mature and structured, the second series was directed by Miroslav "Ćiro" Mandić. The number of on-camera protagonists expanded and the written material became tighter as sketches started hinting a lot more at politics and social issues. Also, rather than having sketch excerpts that revolve around a theme over an entire episode, the programme had different sketches of varied structure and the music numbers were reduced. In addition to the returning cast, new protagonists included Darko Ostojić, Dado Džihan, and Dražen Janković. Seven episodes were shot and aired during the season. An additional New Year's special episode was aired on 31 December 1989.With the second series, the show's popularity expanded to other parts of SFR Yugoslavia too, as they earned both critical and popular praise.
Members
- Nele KarajlićNele Karajlicdr. Nele Karajlić a.k.a. Nele Karajlić, born on December 11, 1962 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, , is a Bosnian Serb rock and roll musician, composer, actor and television director living and working in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia.One of the founders of New Primitivism movement in Sarajevo,...
(seasons 1, 2, and 3) - Branko Đurić (seasons 1, 2, and 3)
- Zenit Đozić (seasons 1, 2, and 3)
- Boris Šiber (seasons 1 and 2)
- Darko Ostojić (season 2)
- Dražen RičlDražen RiclDražen Ričl was a Yugoslav rock musician, best known as the first lead vocalist of the extremely popular Sarajevo based rock band Crvena jabuka.Ričl was born and raised in the Koševo neighborhood of Sarajevo, where he was best known by the nicknames Para...
(season 1) - Dražen Janković (seasons 2 and 3)
- Zlatko Arslanagić (season 1)
- Dado DžihanDado DžihanJadranko "Dado" Džihan is a composer, music producer and sound master from Bosnia and Herzegovina. A member of New Primitives, Top lista nadrealista an art movement of Sarajevo of the early 1980s. From 1991, based in London...
(season 2) - Srki Velimirović (seasons 2 and 3)
- Davor DujmovićDavor DujmovicDavor Dujmović was a Yugoslav actor best known for his memorable roles in Emir Kusturica's movies as Mirza in When Father Was Away on Business, Perhan in Time of the Gypsies and Bata in Underground.-Career:Born into a poor working class family, Dujmović's acting...
(season 3) - Davorin Šegulja (season 3)
Guests in sketches
- Elvis J. Kurtović
- Sejo SexonSejo SexonSejo Sexon is the stage name of Davor Sučić, Bosnian Croat rock and roll musician, composer, actor and television director....
- Rambo AmadeusRambo AmadeusRambo Amadeus is the stage name of the Belgrade-based Montenegrin singer-songwriter Antonije Pušić, popular all over the former Yugoslavia...
- Bora Čorba
- Davor Gobac
- Saša LošićSaša LošicSaša Lošić - Loša is one of the most recognizable composers of the Balkans and the leader of the band Plavi Orkestar, which was one of the most popular acts of the former Yugoslav Pop and Rock scene.He is a composer of often folk-inspired pop, as well as theatre scores Saša Lošić - Loša (born July...
- Dino MerlinDino MerlinEdin Dervišhalidović , stage name Dino Merlin, , is a prominent Bosnian singer-songwriter and musician. He is a popular singer/songwriter in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is also popular in the other countries of the former Yugoslavia such as Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia and...
Wartime Nadrealisti
A programme using the name Top lista nadrealista aired during part of the Sarajevo siegeSiege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...
. It was put together mostly by the whole new personnel led by Sejo Sexon
Sejo Sexon
Sejo Sexon is the stage name of Davor Sučić, Bosnian Croat rock and roll musician, composer, actor and television director....
and Saša Petrović, in addition to the only member from the original group - Zenit Đozić. For the most part it was a radio broadcast, opening with lines such as "good evening to all three of you who still have generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
s", however a few sketches were filmed and televised as well. As a comedy show in a war torn city, it arguably had an impact on citizens' morale
Morale
Morale, also known as esprit de corps when discussing the morale of a group, is an intangible term used to describe the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal, or even in oneself and others...
. The show was more directly dealing with the surrounding reality of war, making fun of all sides involved and everyday situations in which citizens of Sarajevo were during the city siege.
E.g. One war-time sketch showed Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
arresting obviously innocent Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
tourists who got lost on their way to seaside as Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
extremists and terrorists. Other sketch shows how a Bosnian Muslim "Super Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
" heals a child of Chetnik spirit.
Nadreality Show
In 2007 Croatian television network RTL TelevizijaRTL Televizija
RTL Televizija is a Croatian commercial broadcaster with national availability that has been broadcasting since April 30, 2004.RTL Televizija is 74% owned by the RTL Group....
assembled a group of performers, including two of the original cast members Zenit Đozić and Darko Ostojić as well as one of the original new primitives Elvis J. Kurtović, for a sketch programme named Nadreality Show
Nadreality Show
Nadreality Show was a reunion of some of the old crew from Top lista nadrealista the late 90s and early 80s crew.RTL Televizija alongside Radio Televizija Bosne I Hercegovine and B92 broadcast Nadreality Show in 2007 with few sketches. The main person in the sketches was Zenit Đozić Zena...
(Surreality Show) that somewhat resembled the original series. It aired on RTL in Croatia, FTV
FTV
-Related to television:*Fairchild TV, a Canadian Cantonese television network*Fashion TV, a television network*First Time Video*Federalna televizija, a public service broadcasting organization of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina*Filipino TV, a Canadian...
in Bosnia, and B92
B92
B92 is a radio and television broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. The network's key demographic is chiefly urban and young audience. Its programs, including the news cover topics with fairly liberal political painted attitudes...
in Serbia without much success.