Guest Contributors

Hahafuch is Israel’s premier English-speaking comedy troupe

By Steve

Posted on February 13, 2013

Written by: Ayelet Dekel for Midnight East: Everything is funnier in translation, and the Hahafuch English-speaking comedy troupe translates the idiosyncratic details and esoteric experiences of life in Israel into comedy, with their variety show 50 Shades of Blue & White, directed by Gary Rudoren. Exploring the laughter potential in everyday life, Hahafuch are: Josh Kaplan, Debby Kaye, Eran Kraus, Molly Livingstone, and Dudy Starck.

Hahafuch takes its name from the ubiquitous Israeli version of cafe latte, the word in Hebrew means both upside down and opposite; a fairly accurate description of Israeli life in general. Founding member Molly Livingstone told Midnight East that what started out in 2009 as “just a bunch of us being creative once a week at night” soon evolved into the realization that “there is a niche audience no one’s talking to.”

“We make fun of everything,” said Molly, “from the perspective of someone who lives in Israel.”

Originally from Los Angeles, Molly reports, “I did Birthright, I got sucked in, what can I say? I fell in love with the country.”
Israel is a great country for comedy writers, the supply of material is endless. For Molly, ideas are everywhere: “standing in line at the grocery store and someone cuts in line, going to the bank and finding it closed, the latest strike…” Some ideas come from audience members who come up to the actors after a show, sharing their own funny and frustrating experiences. While giving a voice to the experiences of new immigrants and tourists, Hahafuch creates humor anyone can relate to, as in their popular sketch: Bibi Netanyahu translated by a subpar Ulpan student.

All the Hahafuch members write the sketches and perform, Molly does the film and editing for their videos.

Their new show 50 Shades of Blue and White, represents a landmark for the comedy troupe, this will be the first time they have worked with an outside director. An ensemble member of the Annoyance Theater, and writer/director of the one person show So, I Killed a Few People, Rudoren is currently residing in Israel, much to the delight of Hahafuch.

“This kind of thing never happens,” said Molly of the group’s work with Rudoren, “it’s really exciting.”

From Haaretz:

Standing on a Jerusalem stage with five other improv comedians, Benji Lovitt has a few seconds to portray the world’s worst yoga instructor by request of a member of the audience. The Texas native from Jerusalem steps forward, sits down and crosses his legs. He closes his eyes and assumes a typical yoga posture, apparently getting ready for a silent ohmmm. Instead, he opens his eyes and shouts at his imaginary students: “Relax!!”

This scene was part of Tuesday’s performance by Hahafuch, a new comedy and improv group by and for native English speakers in Israel. The eight funnymen see their project as an Anglo version of “A Wonderful Country,” Israel’s premiere satirical television show, which also draws inspiration from “Whose Line is it Anyway?” Faithful to Hahafuch’s slogan, “Remember, Israel is funny,” they usually crack jokes about “the daily dramas of bureaucracy, cafes, traffic jams [and] political troubles.”

Hahafuch – a double entendre referring to the Israeli term for cafe au lait and literally means upside down or backwards – aims at immigrants who can laugh at themselves, says group member Assael Romanelli, 32 and a social worker by profession. “We’re living in a crazy reality here, it’s tense and polarized. And you sometimes just need a space to [release the stress],” he told Anglo File.

“Life here is so opposite, you always feel like you’re upside down,” says founding member Molly Livingstone, 27, about the group’s name. “First of all, I don’t understand what an ‘upside down coffee’ really means… What is a hafuch? It’s the perfect name for this group: Life is always ‘upside down’ here – but in Israel that’s the standard.”

During this week’s sold-out performance in the capital’s Merkaz Hamagshimim theater, the comics didn’t perform any written material but focused on improv comedy, a form of unrehearsed acting that lives from the comics’ quick-wittedness.

Backdrops for scenes, all of which were chosen by the audience, ranged from matchmaking among religious Jews through Chelsea Clinton’s wedding to people who have a secret yen for piercings or are closet ninjas.

Hahafuch members feel Israel’s Anglo community is receptive to improv comedy, citing the success of one of its early videos, which showed a subpar ulpan student t
ranslating a speech by the prime minister. Despite the poor recording quality, the clip has close to 15,000 hits on YouTube. Tuesday’s audience too, reacted overwhelmingly positive to the show.

“They’re a little below professional, but for amateurs they’re amazing, and I really had a good time,” Toronto native Binyamin Kleinman told Anglo File during the intermission.

Adele Levin also enjoyed the evening but said she favors regular stand-up comedy. “I prefer when someone has been working on his material for a while,” she said. “Even though this is fun, I can’t relax when I watch improv because I’m worried for the people on stage. There’s a mix of tension and humor that happens when people are putting themselves on the line.”

But Hahafuch does not only want to amuse local audiences. Future plans include taking the show abroad – to improve Israel’s public image in the world. “We’re sending a really important message, that Israel is funny, that we can make fun of ourselves,” Romanelli said. “A lot of communities outside of Israel would be very surprised by seeing us making fun of ourselves.”

Good Golly, Miss Molly! Molly Livingstone recently read Tina Fey’s memoir and has decided that she too will live her life according to the rules of improvisation. Most important rule: “there are no mistakes, only opportunities.” And with those words of wisdom she continues to pursue her dreams of comedy in Israel…in English. Molly is the co-founder of the comedy troupe Hahafuch which means “upside-down” or “opposite”, both true of daily life in Israel. It is also the name of the most popular coffee but no one knows if that is a latte or cappuccino once again proving true of life in Israel. As well as the big business duties, she takes part in the producing, writing, filming, directing and acting in the group’s performances. Molly believes Hahafuch and comedy are the best platform for Israeli Advocacy. Humor is the best form of honesty. Her main goals for the future include the group’s touring all over Israel and eventually the world, teaching improvisation to locals, international students and tourists alike and showing the world the funny side of Israel. Enough with all the war talk already! To book an improvisation workshop with Molly go to www.israelifunny,com.

Known to some as Mr. (noun) and to others as the (adj) (noun), Josh Kaplan has been making audiences (verb) for (number) years. It all started in middle school when each time he got together with his friends, he would make them (verb). From there the comedy kid went into the business professionally, working for such organizations as (name of gas station chain), (name of weapons manufacturer), and most recently (name of male escort service). That was cool. When the heat from the feds got too hot, Josh decided to move across the Atlantic. Now here in the (adj) city, Josh enjoys long walks on the beach, a cozy night by the fire, and trips to (mysterious yet volatile Middle Eastern countries.) Josh continues to dazzle audiences with his (adj) improv and out-of-the-box characters. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire Josh (explicative verb ending in “ing”) Kaplan.

Actress, photographer, wife, mother of four boys and a dog, Debbie Kaye was born and raised in Australia. She completed her BA degree in theatre and drama, but it was another ten years until she returned to her passion for acting. “My Aussie accent causes some confusion in being understood by both Israelis and my fellow American actors,” Debbie admits. “But it’s easy for me to be funny. People laugh at my Aussie accent even if they have no idea what I’m saying!”

Dudy Starck is a native Chicagoan who moved to Israel in ’96 and remains purely out of spite. Some of Dudy’s favorite childhood memories were early Sunday mornings, watching the original Hahafuch comedy troupe on TV, featuring legends such as Chaim Topol, Abe Vigoda, Flip Wilson and Charo. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine he would be following in their comedic footsteps in the Land where it all began. Dudy works in media development, consulting, voiceover and has appeared in several stage musicals in Israel.Dudy looks forward to a successful and rewarding run with Hahafuch… but only until he finds his Yoko.

Gary Rudoren is happy to be working with HaHaFuch as a director for their new show. He’s done this kinda thing before, only in other countries. He is an original member of Chicago’s Annoyance Theater where he directed such shows as “Ayn Rand Gives Me A Boner”; “The Idiotic Death Of Two Fools”; “God In A Box”; “A Huge Horrible Failure”; “I’m 27, I Still Live At Home and I Sell Office Supplies” and many others as well as the internationally acclaimed one-man show – “So, I Killed A Few People.” The Annoyance is recognized as one of the premier venues in the country for alternative comedy and as well as teaching of improvisation. He has also directed and taught at the Second City in Chicago and the Magnet Theater in NY. He is the co-author of the humor bible, COMEDY BY THE NUMBERS and has put together other combinations of words and sentences elsewhere that people found amusing when they heard or read them. He is also the proud father of 5-year old twins who keep both young and old at the same time. He is relatively new to Jerusalem, but having grown up on Long Island, NY and lived in Brooklyn, he believes it is refreshing to live in a place with fewer Jews.