In 1990, Andriy Danylko began to create the character of Verka Serduchka, a flamboyant middle-aged woman from a rural family, working as a railroad sleeping car attendant. Danylko presented Serduchka publicly for the first time in a Poltava comedy competition on January 4, 1991. He invented the character's name by combining the randomly picked first name Verka and the last name of a former school classmate, Anya Serduk.