Comedy Showcase: Orthodox Israeli Comedian Chava Darski Kovacs

Chava Darski Kovacs grew up in Canada and made Aliyah to Israel. She lives in the Haredi community of Tel Tzion with her husband and seven children. She is one of a new generation of religious women standup comics who perform at David Kilimnick's Off the Wall Comedy Theater at the King Solomon Hotel in Jerusalem.

Here is an excerpt from her standup routine. Not exactly an Israeli equivalent of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, she nevertheless gets laughs at a community talent night with funny observations about her life. 

Chava will be performing on Sunday January 5 along with two other religious Jewish standup comics at David's Comedy Theater in Jerusalem.

Enjoy!

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David Kilimnick (Jerusalem's Comedian) Reflects on Life as a Comedian in Israel

David Kilimnick, known as Jerusalem's comedian and dubbed Israel's father of Anglo comedy by the Jerusalem Post, has been telling his jokes and stories about the joys and perils of making aliyah since moving from Rochester, New York to Israel in 2003.

David owns and operates the Off the Wall Comedy Basement at the intersection of King George and Ben Yehuda Streets in the center of Jerusalem.

He was recently the subject of With the Help of Laughter, a five-minute video feature in which he reflects on his life as a stand-up comic in Israel. It includes excerpts from his comedy nights in English and in Hebrew.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Stand-Up Comedy in Israel: David Kilimnick Performs at His Off-the-Wall Comedy Basement

If you visit Jerusalem as a tourist, you'll probably see all the traditional sites -- the Kotel (Western Wall), the City of David, the shuk (Machane Yehuda market), the new light railway. 

But don't leave this ancient city without spending a couple of hours laughing in David Kilimnick's Off-the-Wall Comedy Basement at the intersection of Ben Yehuda and King George Streets.

We profiled David and his club back in January 2010. As we wrote then,

David Kilimnick, an American from Rochester, New York quickly became the biggest star of English-language Jerusalem stand-up with a series of family-friendly stand-up routines touching on immigration from the West to Israel, the struggle to find a wife, and, of course, religion.

The material presented by Off the Wall's stable of comics is pretty safe; comics working blue, or those mining bleaker comedic veins, are more of a Tel Aviv sort of thing.

In this new video clip, David talks about the ladies of Jerusalem, how Jerusalem is better than Tel Aviv and how to get on a bus in Jerusalem, while praising the Israelis' loyalty to their homeland.

David performs every Thursday Night at 8:30pm and Saturday at 10pm (9pm during the winter months), and does Hebrew shows every Wednesday, When comedians from around the world pass through Jerusalem, David gives them the stage on Open Mike nights.

When we were there last month, he gave us the stage for a ten minute introduction to Jewish Humor Central and our Jewish humor programs.

David is also available for performances on his comedy tours around the world and for your groups in Israel. 

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)