Israeli humor is robust. When I visit Israel I do not stop laughing because people there make you laugh. The sense of humor is everywhere, it is part of life. No surprise that Israelis are considered happy people and on the Happy Planet Index they have achieved a score of 55.2 and Israel ranks #15 of all the countries analyzed.
Perhaps the hardship Israelis have been facing for so long has made them see life though the lens of a sarcastic, cynical and even sad sense of humor.
These days this sense of humor has been brought to Los Angeles by Yuval Haklai, age 25, from Ramat Gan, a town adjacent to Tel Aviv; a Tel Aviv university graduate, in acting and history, who, somewhat, resembles Adam Sandler.
I met with Yuval, a comedian, writer, actor, to hear more about who he is and what brought him to Los Angles.
Yuval’s family is 7th generations Israelis. Originally Feldman and his grandfather went along with the Zionist vogue of his time and Hebrewtized the family name.
In 2009, while still studying, Yuval started to perform his own material, as a comedian, in local clubs and writing to TV shows and experienced popularity growth. He kept on hearing that his humor is very Americanized and was told he should try perform in English as well. So he did and his popularity kept on growing, so much so that other local comedians started following in his footsteps and performing in both Hebrew and English.
In 2010, while still a student, he accompanied a Taglit-Birthright group on a ten day program in Israel. For ten days the group did not stop laughing. Among the participants was a fellow, a member of the Jewish Federation Young Leadership in Los Angeles who invited Yuval to Los Angeles to perform in their upcoming event. So he packed his bags, with a few original jokes, many hopes and lots of charm and landed in Los Angeles.
Since then, Yuval has been busy performing for the JNF, JCC and on January 19th he will be performing at the Friends of the IDF, San Diego Gala.
Yuval came to Los Angeles for one month but the invitations to perform have not stopped and now, three months later, he is still with us and is going strong with his career.
A Taste Of His Sense Of Humor
For a taste of his sense of humor: a mother kept telling her kid that if he will not eat she will call the police. One day the kid, again, refused to eat and the mother kept her threat and called the police. When the policeman arrived and the mother lodged her complaint, the officer asked to taste the food and then arrested the mother.
You wish to hear Yuval, in a bar-mitzvah, wedding, or Confirmation, and laugh at fresh Israel-Jewish-American humor, call him and invite him: 310-343-9410 / yhaklai@gmail.com.
Yuval Haklai stand up at JNF Fundraiser 2013 –
