Comedians on Campus #8: Yohay Sponder - comedians are superheroes
10/11/2024
01:11:17
Yohay Sponder says on stage that friends from America told him that in America they have the PC, politically correct, which means you can only do jokes about what you are. So Yohay goes on to say: "I am half Moroccan, so Moroccan jokes I can do. Also, Morocco is in Africa, so jokes on Africa - I can do. I am also half Polish, so jokes about Poland, the holocaust - I can do". He goes on and explains how he can do jokes about Asians as well because he is Israeli (and Israel is in Asia), and even more - as he is married to an American lady, he is technically African-American, so jokes on African-Americans - he can do!
(See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYUG0ywakOc&t=11s)
In another English-speaking episode of Comedians on Campus, top-tier Israeli comedian and the founder of Funny Monday - Israeli Standup done in English - Yohay Sponder comes to connect comedy with theory in his unique way. To add to the festivity, our very own Shai Fischer comes out of the shadows to enlighten us with some relevant scientific findings.
Together, the three of us discuss how comedians are superheroes that help people on all levels of the Maslow scale, not like that bum Superman who is only interested in life-or-death situations. It's a comedian's challenge (and pleasure) to take crowds from their daily worries to a happier place, and now the scientist's challenge to explain why jokes work better in that happier place. We learn how standup comedy started, how the new media greatly expanded the way you can learn from veterans, and the importance of sharp, short jokes, which you can especially pull off if you're Israeli. These short jokes sometimes involve the audience completing the joke themselves, as he says: "if you want the joke, come take it!"
Yohay recommends Louis CK bit about Schindler's list:
https://youtu.be/7BycuvBd04I?si=xH2ZmGatRolcJmqr
Amir recommends Ismo's shit bit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igh9iO5BxBo&pp=ygUXaXNtbyBpIGRpZG4ndCBrbm93IHNoaXQ%3D