A night just for laughs – in English

Stand-up comedy shows are a fairly new phenomenon in Cyprus with the majority being in Greek. But an upcoming event aims to please the English speakers of Nicosia as a British-Israeli comedian brings his show to Cyprus for the first time.

Leeor Brooks hasn’t always been a stand-up comedian though. Before his stand-up days, Leeor would still take the stage in a very different way: as The Chutzpah Lior Ben-David, a professional international wrestler for years before he traded his bodysuit in for a mic.

“I always wanted to do stand-up comedy,” he told Cyprus Mail, “as a teenager I watched Carlin, Chappelle, Lewis Black and Billy Connolly and said to myself I’ll do it one day. But for some odd reason, I had massive stage fright. So, I went to the pro wrestling ring. Performing in front of people while wearing spandex and putting baby oil all over my body pretty much killed off any stage fright I had so then I was able to make the transfer to the comedy world. And yes, I do talk a little bit about pro wrestling in my comedy.”

Now, the 30-year old comedian finds himself in Cyprus, attracted to the island’s beaches, and is getting ready to present his show A Well-Travelled Schmuck on July 23 at Plato’s Bar. His set has taken him around Europe in the last year and he’s excited to finally bring it to Cyprus as well.

Drawing inspiration from his daily life, A Well-Travelled Schmuck includes a variety of stories and jokes from growing up in the Middle East with an Israeli mother and a British father to strange travel stories, failed relationships and Leeor’s almost 20-year-old challenge to quit smoking – even though he’s only 30 and even he says that it doesn’t make much sense.

The show at Plato’s starts at 9pm though doors open an hour earlier to allow the audience to settle in and order their beers. E tickets must be bought in advance from the eventbrite.co.uk website and cost €8. In Leeor’s words: “The summer season is a great time for some live comedy and after all this corona mess, I’m sure people need a bit of laughter in their life.”

 

English Comedy Night

With pro wrestler turned comedian Leeor Brooks. July 23. Plato’s Bar, Nicosia. Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 9pm. €8. www.eventbrite.co.uk

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.