Like many comedians these days, Yohay Sponder has seen his career rocket thanks to social media, where he has accumulated hundreds of thousands of followers across TikTok and Instagram. That’s not to say he hasn’t laid the groundwork though, and Genesis, his latest stand-up comedy tour, demonstrates the hard work he has put in around Tel Aviv and elsewhere.
Given the importance of social media to Sponder’s development, it’s apt that British TikTok star Zach Margs warmed things up at the recent Genesis show in London, winning the crowd over with some of his popular Jewish and Israeli-inspired impressions before the Israeli comedian himself took the stage.
“You are my family,” Sponder told the crowd early on. It is clear the affection is mutual, with (mostly) Jews choosing to come together on a drab Sunday afternoon to support the performer.
Whether it is discussing the pagers operation against Hezbollah, Israelis’ determination to head back home as war with Iran broke out last year, or how a boycott in Amsterdam led to him doing a much bigger show in the city, the charismatic Sponder does an excellent job of highlighting just how absurd the last three years have been for us all.
He also jokes at how everyone blames the Jews for… everything… before quipping: “The reason we’re so successful is we don’t have anyone to blame.”
Elsewhere in the set, Sponder covers a range of topics, from navigating antisemitism whilst travelling abroad (he’s Italian, if anyone asks...) to his wife giving birth.
Sponder also recalls his dog going crazy as Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day siren rang out. The loyal pet was desperate to get his family into the shelter, assuming the siren referred to an incoming attack. Admirable, and ultimately ridiculous, that a dog should have such a response. Only in Israel.
That same Holocaust memorial siren went off whilst Sponder’s wife was in labour. The comedian confesses it was the only two minutes of the birth in which he knew what he was meant to be doing.
It all highlights the bizarre situations Jews and Israelis frequently find themselves in these days.
There is also a particularly touching and funny bit in which Sponder describes how a Druze solider injured alongside him in the IDF went along with having Tefilin wrapped by a Rabbi because he thought the “religious doctor” was taking his blood pressure. The joke itself is good, but it also neatly underlines how Israelis of different backgrounds come together to serve their country.
Crucially, despite the sometimes-difficult subjects, the comedian emphasises the need for positivity throughout his show, however hard it is to maintain the principle, which he calls “Sponder’s law” (a riff on Murphy’s law).
Sponder’s show provides escapism, as all good comedy should. But he also allows the audience to take a step back, take a beat, and question how on Earth have we ended up here? How on Earth have such crazy narratives been accepted by so many? How on Earth do Israelis get by day-to-day?
But the show also had a few awkward moments when jokes didn’t quite land with the reserved British crowd, in part because Sponder is performing in his second language, and also because certain bits dragged on too long – particularly the one about his wife giving birth.
He was, though, generally able to turn things around with charm and quick thinking, and any kinks in his material will likely be ironed out as he continues to tour around Europe, the US and Israel.
But this show is about more than making people chuckle. It’s about having the chance to acknowledge the bizarre nature of what Jews and Israelis contend with every day, and what we have come to consider normal. Because sometimes things are so ridiculous that there is nothing left to do but laugh at them. https://www.sponder-standup.com/
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