When American stand-up comedian MC Deuce began to perform in Israel in English, he encountered quite a few problems.
By RAFAEL LEVImc deuce 224 88(photo credit: Courtesy)
Moni Moshonov, a great and funny Israeli actor, has this bit where he plays an Israeli in America. An interviewer asks him how he's coping with the language. "It was a bit rough at the beginning," Moni answers, "but they learned." Humorous as it may be, it does give a pretty good description of the locals' attitude toward English. We speak Hebrew and so should you.
When American stand-up comedian MC Deuce began to perform in Israel in English, he encountered quite a few problems. "At first I tried English," he says, "but the crowd kicked me off the stage."
Of course Deuce could have targeted his humor to just the Anglos, after all, there are quite a few of them here and I'm sure they can take a joke. Let's try, "I was in Lebanon, serving my country. I had to kill Hezbollah guerrillas and that made me upset. After all, they're an endangered species. But it wasn't my idea to give them guns. I mean, come on! Haven't you seen Planet of the Apes? What did you think would happen?"
Perhaps you laughed at that, perhaps not. Despite the readership of this paper being the potential Anglo audience, Deuce is not counting only on you. "I have jokes that I know won't work in English," he says. "Hence, I developed a new dialect, Hebronics. It's Hebrew from the streets. It's mainly spoken in the Anglo section on the south side of Rishon Lezion - i.e. me."
Deuce started out with stand-up as a hobby back in New York where his buddies from work pushed him to try it. He carried on with it for a year and a half until he was fired from his job. "I worked in the World Trade Center and my company had to do some cutbacks in August 2001." Three weeks later he realized how lucky he was.
Then he decided to follow his Zionism and join the Israeli army. "In the army I did not get to a high rank because I was a satlan," he admits, using the Hebrew word for stoner. "My rank was first satlan. Instead of a falafel on my shoulder I got a marijuana leaf."
Deuce acknowledges that this joke doesn't really work in English. Most would have no idea what he's referring to by falafel (a slang reference to an army insignia that designates rank).
Enter his unique Hebronics. "Before I tell a joke I have to think of the words I use. If the English is too sophisticated I have to find simpler words so that Israelis will understand it," he says. Of course he could have tried for the laughter in Hebrew only. But, the problem, Deuce explains, runs deeper than just lack of fluency, "When I speak in Hebrew I feel like a different person. Language delivers your personality. I want people to laugh because of my jokes, because of me, and not because I have a funny accent."
Deuce is hoping to one day live off his stand-up. In the mean time he takes comfort from the time he was recognized by an airport employee while waiting in line. He was pushed ahead despite the fact that Moni Moshonov was waiting four persons ahead of him. Now who's laughing?
MC Deuce appears at Tel Aviv's Dancing Camel Brewery (12 Hataasiya St., (03) 624-2783) on September 17 at 9:00 p.m. Also performing are: Kandi Abelson (30 Minutes of Hard Kandi for CBC TV) and Jeremy Man. Entrance is from 18-years and up for NIS 30nis plus a NIS 25 minimum drink purchase. Though when it comes to delicious Dancing Camel beer, certainly you could drink more than one. For more information visit dancingcamel.com.
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