Has your definition of what’s funny changed? Are there some things that are not funny anymore?

In my opinion, anything that makes people laugh is funny. Comedy is built on surprises – when there is a funny surprise, it makes people laugh. At the end of the day, humor is what makes me laugh and what makes the audience laugh. I don’t believe there are jokes that aren’t funny; I think you can joke about anything – it all depends on the delivery and approach.

Do you believe humor can be a form of resilience?

Of course, humor can serve as emotional resilience. I can share a personal story from high school – kids used to make fun of a certain part of my body (my butt), which caused me to have very low self-esteem and poor body confidence. Years later, during one of my performances, someone shouted at me that I had a big butt. I replied, “That’s not a butt – that’s a pelvis. And in my case, it’s the Mediterranean Basin. And just so you know, the Mediterranean Basin is a symbol of fertility!” (So people, love yourselves just the way you are!) From that day on, I became proud of my butt; instead of hiding it, I embraced it. This story is similar to that of Shahar Hason, who shares that he struggled in school and spent most of his time in the hallway because teachers kept kicking him out of class. As a result, he had to entertain the teachers passing by in the hallway, and that’s how he became a comedian. It’s no coincidence that Charlie Chaplin once said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” To me, this is what emotional resilience looks like.

Is there a piece of work—a joke, a meme—that’s inspired you during this period?

In one of Shahar Hason’s performances, a woman from the audience told him that she didn’t like stand-up comedy. He asked her what she did like, and she answered, “musicals.” So, he spontaneously improvised a musical about her and the people with her – hilarious, artistic, and brilliant. That moment, in my opinion, set a new standard that had never been seen before in any stand-up show in Israel or anywhere in the world, and it continues to be a great source of inspiration for me.
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