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Published: 1 May 2008

Ivor Dembina

The state they’re in, 60 years on

IS the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel a date for celebration, or reflection?
Ivor Dembina, the Jewish compere and founder of the Hampstead Comedy Club, believes it is time to take stock – and use the anniversary to consider how a peaceful future can be created.
The show brings together a collection of performers – Jews and non-Jews – and takes over the Hampstead Town Hall in Haverstock Hill on Thursday.
“We want to mark the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel rather than celebrate it,” he says.
“I do not believe there is much to celebrate while there is still occupation and conflict. We’ll celebrate when there is peace and justice in the region.”
Ivor has aired his views on Israel before: he tackled the conflict head on, writing a show called This Is Not A Subject For Comedy. He travelled to Israel to help collect his thoughts on what it meant to him to be Jewish and what Israel represented to him.
He then took the show to Israel, the Occupied Territories and the West Bank – and was pleasantly surprised by the reaction his comedy received.
“I set myself the challenge of creating laughter out of human tragedy,” he says.
“I did it by examining my own feelings about the conflict. I found that there was comedy to be had from matching up what I had been brought up as a Jew to believe and what was going on out there.”
And he was struck by the huge similarities between the two groups of people in the region – and how they were more alike than different.
It prompted the following joke, which brought the house down in front of both Israeli and Arab audiences:
“I came here to see for myself what it was like,” he tells his audience.
“While I was here I discovered the similarities are so much greater than the differences. I performed my show to both groups – and neither wanted to pay.”
DAN CARRIER

• 60 Years... What A State!, Thursday May 8, 2008 at the Interchange Studios, Hampstead Town Hall, 8pm. £10 (£8 concs), 07905 917425.

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