Comedy Review: Comedy for Koby

Four American comedians kept the auditorium laughing by giving the audience their perspective on how funny life in Israel can be.

By GIL STERN STERN, NETANYA HOFFMAN
Lenny Solomon 88 248 (photo credit: Yissachar Ruas)
Lenny Solomon 88 248
(photo credit: Yissachar Ruas)
Comedy for Koby The Lab Jerusalem June 7 Four American comedians kept the packed auditorium at The Lab laughing nonstop on Sunday by giving the audience their perspective on how funny regular daily life in Israel can be. Los Angeles-based comedian Avi Lieberman has been bringing funny men on Israel tours for several years to raise money for charity - Crossroads in the past, and now for the Koby Mandell Foundation, an organization that helps people affected by terror translate tragedies into positive growth. The audience appreciated that the comedians devoted much of their time to observations about Israel that the crowd could relate to, instead of merely delivering their regular routines. Lieberman poked fun at jailed celebrity Dudu Topaz, Israeli swine flu, Jerusalem's bridge to nowhere and the haredim who let their pictures get taken when they were protesting the opening of a parking lot in the capital on Shabbat. Following up on his successful "10 Things You Will Never Hear in Mea Shearim" that he delivered last year, Lieberman came up with statements unlikely to be heard in Tel Aviv. The list included, "Hey, let's go to Jerusalem to party," and "I want to get a cat, but I can't find one." Comedian David Crowe from Seattle had the audience in stitches for 20 minutes straight with his jokes about the "cavity search" administered by El Al security, the evolution of the beach paddle "sport" matkot and the large Arab bathing suits that he called "burkinis." He said the fabric from the eye and mouth holes in Arab bathing suits could be used to make the skimpy Israeli bikinis he saw in Tel Aviv. Crowe's only misstep was when he said he liked US President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, an endorsement that earned him a hiss from the Jerusalemite crowd. Jewish comedian Jeffrey Ross, who is known for his "roasts" of celebrities on Comedy Central, spent most of his time making snide remarks about audience members. African American AJ Jamal, who claims that his name stands for "almost Jewish," poked fun at how much he stood out in Israel. "I look like a raisin in a box of Frosted Flakes," he quipped. When asked whether he wanted to exchange money at the airport, he replied, "I don't want shackles, I'm free."