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Tag: Iris Bahr

Sharing parts of their lives

Sharing parts of their lives

Iris Bahr opens the Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition on March 19 with Stories from the Brink: My Festive Near-Death Adventures. (photo from Chutzpah! Festival)

The Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition kicks off with comedy, though the laughs will mix with thoughtful moments of reflection on life, family, being Jewish, and more. Live, all the way from New York, Iris Bahr will perform at the Rothstein Theatre on March 19, and Talia Reese will be on stage there March 20.

Bahr is coming to Chutzpah! with her show Stories from the Brink: My Festive Near-Death Adventures.

“I don’t want to give anything away,” Bahr told the Independent. “Let’s just say I talk about my childhood in the Bronx, where I had to lead a double life. My bacon-eating parents sent me to an Orthodox yeshivah, which, as you can imagine, was extremely stressful. I was also stung by an entire beehive. But there’s a lot more. Just come and see. I really look forward to sharing the story and coming back to the theatre. I’ve missed it. Vancouver’s one of my favourite places to perform.”

Bahr explained why she has ventured into the non-fiction realm with her performance work.

“Some very significant events happened in my life, like my mom’s stroke, which was the basis of my previous show See You Tomorrow, that I performed in Vancouver a few years ago,” she said. “I felt a need to not only share the story because it was a very dramatic story, but, even more so, as I was in the depths of caregiving for my mom [in Israel], first with a stroke and then with dementia, I realized how isolating it was, especially with a loved one with dementia. And I realized how important it was, as an artist, to create a new piece about it, because so many people undergo similar caregiving trials and tribulations. I’ve been doing that show for over three years, and the amount of people that come up to me after, thanking me and hugging me and telling me they found comfort and were also entertained and were able to find the humour thanks to the show, is truly the reason I keep doing it.

“With my current show, Stories from the Brink, I had been exploring this theme of near-death experiences for awhile, first on a podcast that I created and then near-death-themed stand-up shows, with guests sharing their own stories,” continued Bahr. “But, after Oct. 7 and my experience in Israel on that morning, which was obviously terrifying and gut-wrenching, and the rise in antisemitism and extreme anti-Israel sentiment, it was very important for me to create a show that was framed by that experience that I knew would reach people from all persuasions and attitudes. But that is only one small piece of the mosaic of the show which is also filled with a lot of other life shmutz and a lot of humour.”

For Bahr, humour is one of the ways in which she handles challenges.

“Any coping mechanism that can find light amongst the darkness is a highly effective one,” she said. “And, as someone who has always reveled in the world of humour and made it a living, it seems like an obvious go-to when dealing with dark times. It’s not even a conscious decision, it just exists as a muscle, an internal reflex.”

While See You Tomorrow was written as a long-form story, Stories from the Brink comprises vignettes. Bahr explained that See You Tomorrow “takes everyone on a ride and hyper focuses on one aspect of a story. There are some tangents there, but it really is this one event that has a clear beginning, middle and end in a finite time.”

She took a different approach with Stories from the Brink because, she said, “I have a larger theme that I’m trying to explore from many different facets. The vignettes kind of tackle that theme from different angles and ways. And, it’s also a very colourful way to put a show together. It’s like a mosaic and there’s something beautiful about a mosaic, as well. Mixes it up a bit, especially for those audience members that have short attention spans.”

But audiences don’t have to be concerned about remaining focused on Bahr, who is an accomplished storyteller. Being an engaging performer, she said, “comes from physicality to voice to emotional presence and being authentic, being in the moment. Especially with storytelling, you have to have that combination of performance and authenticity and live in the present as you are recounting these stories. Otherwise, you’re just kind of giving a clinical recap, as I tell my students. You also have to really paint a picture and create a world and you have to depict the characters, including yourself, in a very full manner.”

Reese, who went from being a comedian to being lawyer and back to being a comedian, agrees about the importance of being a good storyteller. It has served her well both as a lawyer and as a stand-up comedian.

“So, this is random, but I’m a really good summarizer,” she said. “At the law firms, my thing was summarizing case law for memoranda and stating the facts of a case succinctly but informatively in a pleading,” she explained. “I think I took that skill to joke writing. Word cutting is so important, saying just enough to get to your punchline then move on to the next. 

“I also really enjoy telling stories, which is helpful in law and in comedy. I can tell a good story, ya know? That’s why I  have a low tolerance for stories that dwell on unnecessary details. I zone out fast, which is why I think I was so tough on teachers. But I’m all about entertainment value. Entertain me or go away.”

photo - Comedian Talia Reese takes to the Rothstein Stage on March 20
Comedian Talia Reese takes to the Rothstein Stage on March 20. (photo by Limor Garfinkle)

Reese shared that she was the “class clown” growing up, which meant she was “thrown out of class a lot.”

“It really depended on the teacher though,” she said. “I was just so bored in middle school and most of high school and the teachers were such characters. Getting to act in plays was a saving grace for me. I enjoyed doing Neil Simon comedies so much. I wish I was still doing that.”

In high school, Reese said, “I was all about acting in comedies and then, in college, I was the director of a comedy troupe where I wrote all the sketches and played many wacky characters. Coming out of U of Penn, I felt tremendous pressure to choose a more traditional career path, so I did the law thing. Law school was an amazing education but the all-encompassing practice was not the life I would have ever envisioned for myself, so I took a stand-up class on a lark and wound up sticking with that.”

Coming from an acting and then sketch comedy background, Reese wasn’t sure she’d be good at stand-up. “But,” she said, “it was the only way to do comedy on my own schedule, after putting the kids to bed. I’d go to open mics and talk about my life, try out jokes, build setups around lines that I thought were funny. One by one my stories would pop, or a joke would come to life, and it was the most exciting thing since college, when I wrote those sketches. I think I found my voice, and am still finding it, when I started to talk more about my actual life, telling specific stories. And it always amazes me when something so random that struck a chord in me will get an audience going too. It validates that I’m not crazy. Or that I am, but everyone else is too.”

Reese, who describes herself as Modern Orthodox, grew up in a Reform environment, “but we always had a traditional Friday night Shabbat dinner at my savta and sabbah’s house,” she said. “I think, given that my father is Israeli and of Sephardic descent, having Shabbat with my grandparents and cousins every week gave me a strong sense of Jewish identity. Also, my grandparents on my mother’s side survived the Holocaust and I have childhood memories of being in the room when they played cards with their friends, most of whom were Polish and some had numbers on their arms.

“My ‘Jewishness’ played such a strong role in forming my personal identity that it wasn’t a stretch to become more religious for me, or for my parents and siblings, who consider themselves baal teshuva as well.”

She adapts her comedy routine to the situation, she said. “I try to be respectful of religious institutions that hire me to do a night of clean comedy. I know where that line is and I’ll go right up to it and then walk it back. I like to play with an audience’s expectations. Like I talk about my two failed marriages. Then mention that I’m still in one of them. As far as getting to know my audience, at a live show, I’ll usually do some crowd work to see what I’m working with, or throw questions out up top.”

As for how she works, she said, “If I make myself laugh with a thought, I write it down. If I make my friends laugh with a story, I write it down. Then comes the development. Will this be good for the stage? Are there enough moments in the build-up that keep it funny? Like, I was thinking about how my daughter’s name is too long for how much I have to yell at her. Isabella, too many syllables, it’s exhausting. So, just abbreviate. Isabreakfast! Isabedtime! Who knows, maybe that will make it into the act!” 

* * *

Spring Chutzpah! Plus

The Jewish Independent interviewed Jessica Gutteridge, artistic managing director of the Chutzpah! Festival and the Rothstein Theatre, in advance of the March 19-23 Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition.

JI: Why has Chutzpah! decided to do a spring edition?

JG: Chutzpah! has for many years presented special programming outside of the main festival through our Chutzpah! Plus program. It has been a goal of the festival to expand this programming in order to deepen our engagement with audiences and to take advantage of artists’ touring schedules that bring them to the area throughout the year. In late winter 2024, we were delighted to offer a Winter Weekend of programming. Now, with a shorter fall festival, we are able to shift some of our programming into the spring, offering opportunities throughout the arts season for audiences to enjoy what the festival has to offer.

JI: Last fall, there was concern about the future of Chutzpah! How is it looking now?

JG: We were gratified to see the community come together to support Chutzpah! at a time of crisis, contributing generously and expressing a shared commitment to Jewish arts and culture. Adjusting our festival schedule to a shorter fall flagship festival plus our spring edition has also aided our sustainability. Important capacity-building support has come from philanthropic organizations like the Diamond Foundation and the Azrieli Foundation.

But significant challenges remain. The grant-funding landscape has not improved appreciably and, with more organizations competing for less funding, costs rising and the general economy precarious, it’s critical that we keep the momentum going. Not only is it important that the community continue to sustain us as donors and sponsors, we need audiences to “vote with their feet” and come out to festival shows and events – and bring friends. Showing support and getting to enjoy fantastic artists – it’s a win-win!

 

The Chutzpah! Plus Spring Edition runs March 19-23. Universus, a dance double-bill by Belle Spirale Dance Projects and Fernando Hernando Magadan is at Vancouver Playhouse March 21-22, 8 p.m.; Yamma Ensemble is at Rothstein Theatre March 21, 10 a.m., and March 22, 7 p.m. (for more about Yamma, see jewishindependent.ca/unique-in-style-rich-in-culture); and City Birds, a new project in the tradition of Americana by Tamar Eisenman and Sagit Shir, will perform music for families March 23, 11 a.m., at Rothstein Theatre. For tickets, visit chutzpahfestival.com or call 604-257-5145.

Format ImagePosted on February 28, 2025February 26, 2025Author Cynthia RamsayCategories Performing ArtsTags Chutzpah!, comedy, Iris Bahr, storytelling, Talia Reese
Chutzpah! coming soon

Chutzpah! coming soon

Josh “Socalled” Dolgin leads an evening of Yiddish songs as part of Chutzpah! 2021. (photo from Chutzpah!)

The Chutzpah! Festival returns this November, presenting music, theatre, comedy and dance that reflect the joy of coming back together. For more than two decades, Chutzpah! has been an annual highlight of Greater Vancouver’s arts season. From Nov. 4 to 24, artists will once again grace the stage of the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre, the festival’s hub, and share their work in person and online. Tickets go on sale Sept. 15.

The 21st Annual Chutzpah! Festival will include a variety of performances, paired with conversations and opportunities to interact with the artists. Audiences will have the chance to attend in-person shows, with COVID safety protocols in place, or enjoy digital streams from their homes. With an emphasis on artists from across Canada, the festival will also present work from Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Artists and arts enthusiasts alike have been eagerly awaiting our chance to come back together to share our stories,” said Jessica Mann Gutteridge, artistic managing director. “With the joy of reconnecting comes the knowledge that our lives have profoundly changed over the past year-and-a-half. The Chutzpah! Festival will explore and celebrate the many ways we tell stories now, with a variety of ways to experience and participate in the work.”

The festival opens Nov. 4 with a screening at the Rothstein Theatre of the Marx brothers classic A Night at the Opera, during which City Opera Vancouver will sing the operatic music parodied in the film. The 1930s cinema experience will include festive treats, glamour and a costume contest.

In the comedy realm – all in-person performances at the Rothstein Theatre – Canadian-born, New York-based stand-up comedian, storyteller and writer Ophira Eisenberg, host of NPR’s comedy and trivia show Ask Me Another, performs Nov. 10. Israeli-American stand-up comedian Avi Liberman is joined by special guest Jacob Samuel and host Kyle Berger on Nov. 20. And Iris Bahr, who impressed Chutzpah! audiences in 2020 with her festival hosting and her solo show DAI (enough),  performs her new solo show Nov. 23.

The dance performances at the Rothstein will be in-person events, as well as digitally streamed. Nov. 6 and 7, a Project inTandem double-bill features the works of Calgary producers and choreographers Sylvie Moquin and Meghann Michalsky, which explore the themes of female struggle and empowerment. Nov. 13 and 14, Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art return to Chutzpah! as resident artists with the third “chapter” of Kuebler’s research that began in 2018, after he read about the United Kingdom hiring a minister of loneliness. On Nov. 16 and 18, Ballet BC artist in residence Alexis Fletcher, who was 2019 and 2021 Chutzpah! resident artist, returns to the festival with a solo integrating movement and the visual art of Vancouver painter and HIV/AIDS activist Tiko Kerr, while 2020 and 2021 Chutzpah! resident artist Ne.Sans Opera & Dance, led by Idan Cohen, returns to showcase a new solo drawing inspiration from the myth of Orpheus and Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice, with co-creator Ted Littlemore (aka Mila Dramatic).

Theatre works featured are Lilach Dekel-Avneri and the Pathos-Mathos Company’s The Eichmann Project – Terminal 1 on Nov. 8 (digital stream available); The Flame – An Evening of Storytelling on Nov. 17, under the stewardship of artistic director Deborah Williams, featuring storytellers including Stephen Aberle, Glenda Zenoff, Eleanor Lipov and Helen Schneiderman, with musical guest Anton Lipovetsky; and Halifax-based Surplus Production Unit’s A Timed Speed-Read of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Trial Transcript on Nov. 21 and 22.

Montreal’s Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, accompanied by a local string quartet, leads an evening of rediscovered Yiddish songs, with stories and perhaps a little magic, on Nov. 19, and Israel’s Guy Mintus Trio’s performs A Gershwin Playground Nov. 24. (Digital streams available for both shows.)

Nov. 8-12, Chutzpah! Festival favourite, U.K.-based theatre artist Tamara Micner, transforms her theatrical work-in-progress (workshopped in the 2020 festival) into an audio installation. Audience members will be invited into the Zack Gallery to listen to Micner’s reading of letters written to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, reflecting on how their music informs her feelings about friendship, activism, Jewishness and art. There will be opportunities to “meet” the artist via video stream for conversations about her work and ideas.

Throughout the festival, Bahr converses with festival artists, featuring her stand-up and a wide-ranging cast of characters.

Due to COVID-19 safety processes, all tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be available at the door. Visit chutzpahfestival.com starting on Sept. 15 or call 604-257-5145.

– Courtesy Chutzpah! Festival

Format ImagePosted on September 10, 2021September 9, 2021Author Chutzpah! FestivalCategories Performing ArtsTags Chutzpah!, comedy, dance, Iris Bahr, music, storytelling, theatre
First-ever virtual Chutzpah!

First-ever virtual Chutzpah!

The new artistic managing director of Chutzpah!, Jessica Mann Gutteridge, faced unique challenges in presenting the festival. (photo from Chutzpah!)

“This has been a challenging time for all communities. I hope that this year’s Chutzpah! Festival can bring a sense of joy, and the communal spirit that comes from sharing performing arts experiences with others, whether at the theatre or from the comfort of home,” said artistic managing director Jessica Mann Gutteridge in a recent interview with the Jewish Independent.

This will be the first-ever Chutzpah! The Lisa Nemetz International Jewish Performing Arts Festival that people will be able to watch at home. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the performances will be available online, Nov. 21-28, with a few opportunities to attend small-audience shows that are being live-streamed from the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre. Not only will this be the first Chutzpah! presented digitally in the festival’s 20-year history, but it will be the first directed by Gutteridge.

“I knew that I had an exciting and challenging year ahead of me when I took the helm of Chutzpah! from Mary-Louise Albert, who was artistic director before me for 15 years,” said Gutteridge. “I really could not have anticipated how much the world would change just three weeks later, when the pandemic shuttered the Rothstein Theatre and the entire performing arts sector. The first month or so was spent focusing on our staff’s well-being and helping the many users of our theatre to reschedule and replan all the events that had to be canceled.

“The first thing I did for the Chutzpah! Festival was to take some time to think,” she said. “My board was wonderfully supportive from Day 1 and assured me that whatever scale I felt was right would be all right with them – even if I wanted to postpone for a year. I spent a great deal of time just thinking about the purposes of the festival, how it serves the community and the relationships we have with our audiences and community of artists. Even before COVID, when I was thinking about what my first festival might look like in a transition time, I felt inspired to bring together artists who had performed in the festival in the past with new artists who I hoped would join us in the future. So, I began by reaching out to artists from both groups so that we could just start to get to know each other, and find out how everyone was responding to this unprecedented situation.”

By early summer, said Gutteridge, it became clear that the health-related restrictions with respect to the pandemic would still be in place in November, “so I began to think about how we might incorporate digital presentations into the festival, and to talk to artists who were exploring this form of performance in their work.

“I was thrilled to learn that Iris Bahr, who was in the 2019 festival, is not only a brilliant actor and stand-up comic, but is also a podcaster who interviews other artists and public intellectuals with much wit and insight. I invited her to perform her solo stand-up, but also to function as our festival host and conduct live interviews with all the festival artists,” said Gutteridge. “Because Iris divides her time between Israel, New York and Los Angeles, we knew she would have to appear digitally and, though this adds another layer of technical complexity, I think it’s such a special opportunity that the present moment brings us – to join artists from across the world and have a chance to learn more about how the pandemic is changing and shaping their creative work.”

The festival’s online-only shows will include Bahr’s stand-up comedy performance (click here for story); New York-based playwright Rokhl Kafrissen’s Shtumer Shabes (Silent Sabbath) and former Vancouverite-current Londoner (England) Tamara Micner’s Old Friends, both of which are works-in-progress; a concert by Israeli pianist and composer Guy Mintus; and Israeli choreographer Ella Rothschild’s Pigulim.

There will be two shows live-streamed from the Rothstein, where limited audiences will be permitted. Ben Caplan will perform music from Old Stock, which is adapted from his music-theatre piece Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story (see jewishindependent.ca/searching-for-a-safe-harbour). And Chutzpah! artist-in-residence Idan Cohen (Ne. Sans opera and dance) presents the world première of Hourglass. Closing out the festival are Jess Salomon and Eman El-Husseini (click here for story), who will be live-streaming from Brooklyn, joined by yet-to-be-announced local comedians performing at the Rothstein.

The lineup is a fraction of what it would have been if not for COVID, but Gutteridge thought it important to proceed with the event.

“Well, for starters, I’m stubborn and I like a challenge!” she said of the decision. “I also knew that we were well-positioned with staff and support to execute a creative and fulfilling festival, even though it would not look much like past festivals. In talking to colleagues inside and outside the JCC, and hearing from our community via a survey in July, I understood that there was a lot of enthusiasm to keep experiencing the kind of performing arts presentations that Chutzpah! has offered for 20 years now. And, looking ahead to dark November nights, I think we can offer a communal experience that will bring some much-needed joy.”

In addition to focusing on quality entertainment, health and safety has been at the forefront of the planning.

“We have worked carefully with health and performing arts sector experts to make sure that we are providing the safest possible experiences for audiences, staff and artists, including at our physically distanced, intimate live events at the Rothstein Theatre,” said Gutteridge. “I’m also very impressed by how our artists have risen to the challenge. Rokhl Kafrissen, the playwright of Shtumer Shabes, has been working with her cast via Zoom since April, when they presented a workshop of the play in lieu of the debut performance they were scheduled to have at LABA in New York. Our audiences will have a chance to meet the artists and see excerpts from the play, with context about the work’s meaning and creation, all performed from the artists’ individual locations. It’s a special opportunity for our audiences to peek inside the creative process.

“Idan Cohen’s Hourglass, a new dance piece with live piano accompaniment, is being created this fall at the Rothstein Theatre as part of our creative residency program. With 318 seats and a large stage, the theatre is large enough for physical distancing, and Idan is working with a skeleton crew – often just himself and the two dancers at work. The dancers, Brandon Lee Alley and Racheal Prince, are partners offstage as well as on, so they are already in a household bubble. The other dance piece, Ella Rothschild’s Pigulim, comes to us from the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv, where the performance was previously recorded in a studio theatre, so that health and safety protocols could be observed and the dancers could form their own bubble.”

Tickets for the festival start at $18 and are available online at chutzpahfestival.com or by phone at 604-257-5145.

Format ImagePosted on October 30, 2020October 29, 2020Author Cynthia RamsayCategories Performing ArtsTags Ben Caplan, Chutzpah! Festival, comedy, coronavirus, COVID-19, dance, Ella Rothschild, Eman El-Husseini, Guy Mintus, Idan Cohen, Iris Bahr, Jess Salomon, Jesse Brown, Jessica Mann Gutteridge, music, Rokhl Kafrissen, Rothstein Theatre, standup, Tamara Micner, theatre
Bahr to host Chutzpah!

Bahr to host Chutzpah!

Iris Bahr pulls double duty at the 2020 Chutzpah! Festival, as host and performer. (photo from Chutzpah!)

Comedien, writer, actor, director, producer and podcaster Iris Bahr will both host this year’s Chutzpah! Festival, Nov. 21-28, and perform her stand-up live Nov. 26.

Known for her eclectic characters, Bahr will call on many of them as she converses with the other festival artists as part of her hosting duties.

“I’ll be conducting these conversations either as myself or as some of my characters, depending on the artist I’m speaking to,” Bahr told the Independent. “My alter egos include Shosh, the salty Israeli who has become popular on Instagram, Rae Lynn Caspar White, my ‘Southern redneck intellectual,’ and Shuli, my Orthodox character who is beyond excited to ‘dive into the arts’ for the first time.”

Many JI readers will know Bahr’s stand-up from having seen her perform at last year’s Chutzpah! The show will be somewhat different this time around.

“My stand-up will involve more crowd work and storytelling versus just straight-on stand-up to camera,” she said. “I have found that to be a more captivating and enjoyable experience for everyone involved when the audience can also engage and experience each other’s presence, it’s the closest we can get to a communal live theatrical experience in these challenging times.”

For more on Bahr, see jewishindependent.ca/bahrs-many-personas. For more about Chutzpah!, visit chutzpah.com and read the next issue of the JI.

Format ImagePosted on October 30, 2020October 30, 2020Author Cynthia RamsayCategories Performing ArtsTags Ben Caplan, Chutzpah! Festival, comedy, coronavirus, COVID-19, dance, Ella Rothschild, Eman El-Husseini, Guy Mintus, Idan Cohen, Iris Bahr, Jess Salomon, Jesse Brown, Jessica Mann Gutteridge, music, Rokhl Kafrissen, Rothstein Theatre, standup, Tamara Micner, theatre
Living and working together

Living and working together

Eman El-Husseini, left, and Jess Salomon with furry family member Esther Honey El-Husseini. (photo by Mike Bryck)

Jess Salomon and Eman El-Husseini, aka the El-Salomons, close out this year’s Chutzpah! Festival on Nov. 28. They will live-stream from Brooklyn, and local comedians will join the event from the Rothstein Theatre.

In performance, the married Jewish-Palestinian lesbian comedy duo leans into the things that make them unique. Their chemistry is not only evident on stage, but even comes out in an email interview, where the pair play off one another like, well, a couple who knows and loves each other well.

JI: You met when you were each performing solo routines and continued in that vein, I think, even after you were married. When and why did you team up professionally as well?

Jess: It didn’t really come from us. We weren’t out in comedy until we got engaged so it was only after that, that we started making jokes about our relationship. Sometimes, we’d follow each other on a show and it became obvious who we were talking about. Like how many Jewish-Muslim-Palestinian Canadian couples that moved to America from Canada are there? Another comedy couple might be able to be on a show together and say my boyfriend did this or my girlfriend did that, and no one would connect that they were referring to one another. So, we built in this reveal and, eventually, people started asking if we were going to share the stage together. We didn’t want to, but it’s a sacrifice we make for the fans!

Eman: The first time we shared the stage was at a gig in an old synagogue turned community centre in L.A. I went on first and introduced Jess for her performance. We bantered, unprepared, on stage for about 10 minutes. We had no idea a reviewer from Tablet was in the audience and, although we individually performed for about 30 minutes separately, that 10 minutes of banter stole the show…. We didn’t think much of it but, a year later, 2018, we were in our hometown of Montreal for the Just for Laughs Festival. The BBC World Service was in town to put on a comedy show. They called us and asked if we’d want to record a set together and we said, ‘absolutely not.’ First of all, they have a huge listenership and we wouldn’t be able to polish an act under such short notice and, second, no one wants or should want to work with their spouse. But, the British have a way to persuade, it must be the accent.

At the same time, because we were back in our hometown, Just for Laughs offered us two shows to do whatever we wanted. We decided to perform individually for 20 minutes and then 20 minutes together. We almost got divorced but the audience loved it! We sold out both nights and added a third. Who would have thought a duo act would be so sought after? We’ve been working together ever since, and we are still married! I think, at this point, if we ever separated, we’d have to be closeted about getting divorced.

JI: From where do you get the strength and confidence to be a stand-up comedian?

Eman: I have no idea why and how I’ve stuck with this career after my first set. I bombed so hard and, until today, continue to bomb at times, but there is truly an addictive element to making someone laugh. Even if it’s a single person in a room. Laughter is so genuine and isn’t easily had. I mean, even in our day-to-day life Jess and I will share with each other how we made a stranger laugh shopping for groceries or walking the dog. It’s so rewarding.

Jess: Making strangers laugh and then talking about it is 100% an Eman thing. Right now, we’re in an argument over a speech therapist I’m convinced she hired just to entertain while she insists she has a speech impediment that must be fixed.

Eman: I feel like my strength and confidence comes from my parents. Although my sister and I have a brother, I managed to be the favourite.

Jess: You do have a masculine energy they might be responding to.

Eman: A big reason I wanted to be a stand-up comic is because of how misrepresented and underrepresented Arabs, Muslims and particularly Palestinians are in the media. More often than not, I am the first Palestinian someone meets in real life. I feel like an ambassador of sorts, dispelling stereotypes about my people. Exposure is such a powerful tool in getting through to people and if you can make them laugh that’s a big bonus. Even if people are immediately turned off by what I represent, they are still curious to hear what I have to say. I remember headlining a show in Niagara Falls once. I had to be on stage for 45 minutes. Twenty minutes in, I realized I haven’t made a single person laugh….

Jess: I love that it took you 20 minutes! That’s confidence.

Eman: They were conservative-leaning so, I called them out, ‘Guys! I know you don’t like what I’m saying but I can tell you like me.’ That eviscerated the room! From that moment forward I knew I could never quit comedy even if I wanted to.

Jess: I tried to do a joke about the no smoking sign on the plane and quickly realized there were at least a few comics who had done the same joke. That’s when I realized it’s better when I pull from personal experience. Even if I’m not an ambassador like Eman. I’m not the first Jewish comedian people have seen.

illustrations - The El-Salomons have their own cartoon. (Illustrations by Jesse Brown)
The El-Salomons have their own cartoon. (illustrations by Jesse Brown)

JI: How and when did your new Crave Canada special, Marriage of Convenience, come about?

Jess: After performing in Montreal for Just for Laughs and the BBC in 2018, we kept working on our duo act and growing our audience on Instagram for our comics (@theelsalomons). We sent a tape of what grew into an hour-long show to Just for Laughs and that’s how we got booked for the Crave special.

Eman: We realized people preferred us together than individually, which is insulting considering we had about a decade each of solo experience. It’s understandable, there are so many stand-up comics but rarely any duo acts.

Jess: There’s no one I’d rather lose my individual identity for.

Eman: Aw.

JI: What is the origin of the cartoons?

Eman: Jess came up with the idea. We would get such a huge response on social media when we’d write these back-and-forth status updates about each other.

Jess: Huge is relative.

Eman: People asking when the sitcom was coming out.

Jess: And, knowing that it would take awhile for us to find the time to write a pilot that was pitch-ready and be in a place where we could sell a series, a weekly cartoon on Instagram seemed like a manageable place to start to develop the character version of ourselves and, hopefully, an audience. We also have a close family friend, Jesse Brown, who just happens to be an incredible illustrator that wanted to work on this with us. So that’s how it was born.

Eman: The El-Salomons was the hashtag for our wedding, and Jesse drew us for our invitations … my mother-in-law saw them and said, “He made you look thin.”

Jess: Actually, yes, that is how it was born.

* * *

Chutzpah! starts Nov. 21. For the full lineup and tickets, visit chutzpahfestival.com or call 604-257-5145.

Format ImagePosted on October 30, 2020October 29, 2020Author Cynthia RamsayCategories Performing ArtsTags Ben Caplan, Chutzpah! Festival, comedy, coronavirus, COVID-19, dance, Ella Rothschild, Eman El-Husseini, Guy Mintus, Idan Cohen, Iris Bahr, Jess Salomon, Jesse Brown, Jessica Mann Gutteridge, music, Rokhl Kafrissen, Rothstein Theatre, standup, Tamara Micner, theatre
Glimpse of 19th festival

Glimpse of 19th festival

Sandra Bernhard performs at the Chutzpah! Festival Oct. 31. (photo by J. Graham)

The Chutzpah! Festival returns during a new late-fall time period – from Oct. 24 to Nov. 24 – with performances at the Rothstein Theatre, Vogue Theatre, Rickshaw Theatre and the WISE Hall. Here are some of this year’s offerings.

Opening night, Oct. 24: Multi-award-winning, London-based songwriter, broadcaster and musical storyteller Daniel Cainer performs the Canadian première of his internationally acclaimed Gefilte Fish and Chips. Based on personal stories of what it’s like to be Jewish – and British – then and now, it includes travelers’ tales, feuding tailors, a naughty rabbi, family fables, and foibles. All of the human condition is here, lovingly and intelligently depicted in a remarkable collection of stories in song.

photo - Sandra Bernhard
Sandra Bernhard (photo by J. Graham)

Quick Sand, Oct. 31: Sandra Bernhard is always three steps ahead of the crowd. She has to be. She’s “quick sand.” In these fast-paced times, a lady can’t stop moving. You never know what you might encounter next in this fun house world we’re living in. So, performing with a three-piece band, Bernhard takes control, bringing a mélange of musings, music and whimsy – “never boring, j’adoring” is her motto, covering the waterfront of the outrageous, quotidian and glamorous.

The Trombonik Returns to New Chelm, Nov. 1: Taking inspiration from the traditional comic tales of Jewish folklore about Chelm, songwriter Geoff Berner and writer, performer and satirist T.J. Dawe, along with friends Toby Berner, Tallulah Winkelman and Jack Garten, present a klezmer musical set in Depression-era Saskatchewan.

A wandering con artist posing as a rabbi becomes entangled in the Prohibition-era whiskey trade. This production combines the social critique of Berner’s decades of activist songcraft with the comedic zaniness of Mel Brooks. Following this performance is a celebratory full-on drinking, dancing Klezmer Punk performance with Berner and his co-conspirators, along with special guest and renowned clarinetist Michael Winograd, to mark the release of Berner’s new CD, Grand Hotel Cosmopolis.

The Diary of Anne Frank LatinX, Nov. 6-9: Everyone knows the story of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager hidden away while Nazis hunted down Jews during the Holocaust. One American-Jewish director, Stan Zimmerman, adds a modern-day twist to the production, which will see its Canadian première at Chutzpah! Zimmerman said, “When I learned there are over a dozen Safe Houses in the L.A. area hiding Latinx families from ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], it got me wondering – How do these families survive with so little money and needing to remain in the shadows? How do they not lose hope? What are their lives like on a day-to-day basis? Do they see the parallels to Anne’s story?”

DAI (enough), Nov. 12-13: Iris Bahr is an award-winning writer, actor, director, producer and host of the hit podcast X-RAE and she is bringing her critically acclaimed, award-winning solo show DAI (enough) to Vancouver.

AvevA, Nov. 14: Chutzpah! presents the West Coast première of Ethiopian-Israeli singer and songwriter Aveva Dese. A rising star in the Israeli music scene, AvevA’s music fuses traditional Ethiopian sounds and groove with her soul-pop songs; she sings powerfully in both English and Amharic about society, freedom and love. Opening for AvevA is B.C.-based Leila Neverland with Mountain Sound.

Closing night, Nov. 24: Celebrates a week-long inclusion project of sharing, exploring and creating through art. Internationally renowned disability and mental health advocate and stand-up comedian Pamela Schuller and Brooklyn-based professional dancers and choreographers Troy Ogilvie and Rebecca Margolick will perform stand-up and solo dance work, respectively, in a shared evening of dance and comedy. The show will also present Ogilvie and Margolick’s new movement dance work created, directed and performed with members and guests of the inclusion community of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.

In addition to these and many other shows, the Chutzpah! Festival will pay tribute to the JCCGV and celebrate the 25th anniversary of its long-standing and renowned musical theatre summer camp created by Perry Ehrlich – Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!; present a Shticks & Giggles comedy night with local comedians Ivan Decker, John Cullen, Lisa Person, Yisrael Shurack and others; and host multiple workshops as well as creation residencies for artists in dance and theatre in urban and rural B.C. settings.

Festival tickets range from $24 to $60 and are available at chutzpahfestival.com or 604-257-5145.

Format ImagePosted on September 6, 2019September 4, 2019Author Chutzpah! FestivalCategories Performing ArtsTags AvevA, Chutzpah!, comedy, dance, Daniel Cainer, Geoff Berner, Iris Bahr, music, Pamela Schuller, Rebecca Margolick, Sandra Bernhard, Stan Zimmerman, T.J. Dawe, theatre, Troy Ogilvie
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