Benny P. Leva made aliyah three years ago, as he wanted to be part of the Jewish country and the Jewish future, “for better or for worse.” He initially moved to Jerusalem to work as an English teacher through a Masa program. Comedy had long been his passion however; back in the US, he performed stand-up six nights a week, sometimes two or three shows a night.
In Israel, he still performed occasionally, starting out at the Jerusalem Comedy Cave in Bessarabia bar, an informal hangout for people who like comedy. “It wasn’t for people trying to make it big,” he recalls. “Just a place for people who liked comedy to hang out.” But after making aliyah, he decided to focus on learning Hebrew and building a more stable career, putting comedy on the back burner.
One day about two years ago, something shifted. Leva and a handful of other comedians realized they wanted more. The Comedy Cave was run by people from Tel Aviv, and they wanted to build something rooted in their own city.
They began putting together shows wherever they could - in apartments, bars, and sukkot. Slowly, Jerusalem’s English-language comedy scene began to take shape.
In the past year, that growth has accelerated. Comedian Paul Gilbert, originally from the UK, now runs a bi-weekly show at Jerusalem's Blaze Bar. Racheli Gal established a space at the Red Lady, offering 20-minute sets - “a big deal in comedy,” Leva notes.
A few months ago, American comedian Mikey Greenblatt, a popular name in the Jewish comedy world, performed during Sukkot. And Leva himself performed a 45-minute headline set as part of the Misrad HaComedy show in November which drew upwards of 70 attendees. More international performers are reaching out, and bigger names are showing interest.
Around this time, Yosef Gross, who runs shows at The Terminal at the First Station, under Hedgehog Entertainment, encouraged Leva to return to the stage more seriously, a turning point that opened new professional opportunities for him.
That growth reached a milestone on December 17, when the Jerusalem Comedy Scene hosted its first-ever Hanukkah Extravaganza at the Terminal at the First Station. The event featured many of the city’s leading English-language comics, including Mike Kroll, Mollie Goldstein, Joan Weiner, Ella Ben Emanuel, Joseph Begoun, Benjamin Hadi, Andy Friedman, Leva himself, and even the Taylor Swift cover band, Wonderland, as musical guest. For Leva, it marked not just a successful show, but a personal turning point and a significant milestone in Jerusalem’s comedy transformation.
Leva was also pleasantly surprised to find a growing English-language stand-up scene in Israel.
“No one can deny that Hebrew is Israel’s language - everyone wants it to be,” he says. “But the language of the world is English. To be filming big specials or having big comedians come here and perform in English, it makes Jerusalem a world-class comedy city.”
Recently, Leva performed a set that was one-third Hebrew and two-thirds English, a balance that reflects both life in Israel and the city’s growing international appeal. “The English scene is still big and growing,” he adds, especially as tourism slowly rebounds after the war.
A crowd as diverse as the city itself
What makes Jerusalem unique, he says, isn’t just the language; it’s the people.
One of the defining traits of Jerusalem’s comedy scene is its audience.
“Jerusalem has one of the most diverse communities,” says Leva. “You’ve got the widest variety of backgrounds, cultures, political views — everything. The city all comes together, and that makes for an amazing comedy scene because people are willing to listen to stories and perspectives from people who are completely different from them.”
Audiences range from the youngest to the most senior, from secular to deeply religious. Leva even recalls once spotting an elderly woman knitting through an entire show.
With each new show, Jerusalem’s rising comics are redefining Israel’s entertainment culture as the city’s English-language comedy scene secures its place on the cultural map.
For Leva, ironically, aliyah proved to be the very thing that led him back to comedy.
In his words: “It’s not easy, but it feels rewarding to be part of the future of the people that I have a history with.
“I love it here. I grew up a lot of my life in public schools. For a while I was really disconnected from Judaism. It took me time to realise that even in non-Jewish spaces, a lot of my best friends were Jewish and shared that similar background and similar personality. In Israel, it’s like being around a lot of my favourite friends… and so I feel a lot closer and a lot more community.
"One outgrowth of that is that the arts here are amazing and I feel like they represent my views, passions, and interests a lot better than anywhere else I’ve ever lived. It’s the arts that keep me going, and I’m very happy to be a part of it.”