What happens when you dump a bunch of Canadian comedians in the middle of a political hotspot? A place where battlelines are drawn and people can’t even agree on the name. A place of censorship and thought policing. A place called Israel.

It’s an interesting concept. Grab some guys from Yuk-Yuks, a comedy club notorious for pushing the envelope, and have them perform in a radically different situation. Is comedy universal? Can it build bridges? So, with director Igal Hect, we follow a motley crew across Israel, to Palestine, to Tel Aviv as they see how far they can take it. There are walkouts, hecklers, and religious experiences.

It’s a fascinating insight into life in Israel. We see a country that lives, breathes, plays music, laughs, and gets frustrated. The local comedians we see are blown away by the freedom Canadians are perceived to have, while the Canadians try to see how to make comedy work when most of the mainstays are off-limits. One particularly funny moment has the organiser, the very funny Mark Breslin, frantically trying to re-organise a setlist: “Aaron, are you going to do the hooker story?!”

Inspired by the public’s surprisingly negative reaction to TIFF’s spotlight on Tel Aviv in 2009, Mark Breslin decided to test out the comedic waters with an Israel/ Canada comedic exchange. A Universal Language documents the first part of this exchange: Canadian comics in Israel.

It’s slightly too short. It could easily have run longer, with more interviews with local comedians, but it covers the ground adequately. Recommended.

Donal O’Connor, Astrid Handling