This is not a Subject for Comedy – Ivor Dembina – September 2004

24th September 2004 at Teviot Terrace Bar (organised by Edinburgh University Palestine Solidarity Society)

Review by Shabana Basheer

Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina’s stand-up show This is Not a Subject for Comedy, met with a hugely positive reaction when he performed to a packed room in Edinburgh University Students’ Union at Teviot on Friday night. Based around his experiences of his visit to Israel and Palestine in April of last year, this was intelligent, thought-provoking comedy – not really how you might imagine a bunch of students spending a Friday night!

Ivor’s unique blend of self-deprecating humour and political awareness went down a treat. He begins the show by letting the audience in on his views about the Israeli occupation – "I’m one of those Jews who believe we should give up the occupied territories. But I think we should hang on to New York!" Much laughter follows. Within moments of getting up on the stage, Ivor has endeared himself to his audience.

He draws on memories of his Jewish upbringing in North London, telling the audience about his father presenting him with a one-way ticket to Tel-Aviv, in case fascism ever took root in Britain, with the warning "don’t make the same mistake as they did in Germany!" He relates how questioning Israel’s actions in the 1967 war led to him being branded a self-hating Jew and an anti-Semite, to which he responded, "I’m not anti-Semitic, my best friends are Jewish!"

Despite the hilarity of the show, it’s impossible to forget the issues and the politics on which it’s based. As student Tessa Clark (19) points out, "It’s really funny, but sometimes you don’t know whether you ought to laugh or not".

Ivor’s anecdotes about his visit to Israel are informative and eye-opening. He gives the audience an insight into the nature of the terrifying situations Palestinians have to face every day, relating how he and a friend insist on going through a checkpoint without permission, terrified of getting shot in the back by the checkpoint soldier, only to discover they’re going the wrong way anyway! As has been the case for much of the show, there is a pause before the audience explodes with laughter.

This is Not a Subject for Comedy is a provocative, insightful and highly enjoyable performance. Making a comedy about such an explosive subject is brave to say the least. Undoubtedly, everyone in the room left a little bit wiser about the Middle East conflict, and there cannot have been one person who did not go away still chuckling. All in all, a fantastic evening.