Since comedienne Chani Lisbon moved to Hollywood (Florida) from New York City last year, she has been steadily booked at many South Florida venues sharing adventures growing up in a large Jewish Orthodox family in her show titled “Unorthodox Comedy”. Lisbon will be performing “Unorthodox Comedy” twice this month on Wednesday, September 18 in Hallandale Beach and on Thursday, September 26 in Bay Harbor at two fundraising events in support of Israel Defense Forces hostage families.
The focus of Lisbon’s comedy is based on her unusual background, growing up in an Orthodox Jewish family of eleven children, being socialized in the principles of Talmud and Torah.
“My upbringing is not thought of as the focus of a comedy show because my family takes Orthodox Judaism seriously, to the point of having a very strict and formal life,” said Lisbon.
Her jokes are not the usual jokes you would expect from a young comedienne, such as her disappointments in dating men or using colloquial language in expressing her humor.
Instead, one of her most popular jokes is “I come from a family of eleven children. Let me think if I can remember all their names. They are:Devorah Leah, Mendel, Hillel, Shaina, Chani, Fayge, Chaim, Shmulie, Sholom, Nosson and Tyron.”
The punchline is that Tyron, although a popular name among Amerians, is not a name that an Orthodox Jewish family would name their son.
Another of Lisbon’s unusual jokes is “Out of all the kids in my family, I’m the only one who grew up to be an alcoholic. I am the drunk sheep of the family.”
There is much truth to the jokes Lisbon shares on the stage. She was raised by an Orthodox Jewish family in Los Angeles and, although loving her tradition, was eager to break free from her former life and moved from Los Angeles to New York City in her late teens.
“I continued my formal schooling, but I started to enjoy my freedom, so much so that I started drinking vodka every day and I became an alcoholic. Despite being hooked, it did not stop me from working, as I became an office manager in the New York City diamond district. However, drinking did stop my emotional growth. “
Lisbon went for counseling and rehabilitated herself by taking a six week course in improv comedy and found her voice. She started to perform in many New York comedy club open mic nights and started to build up her unique brand of humor.
“I gained confidence and became happy from being funny. There was and still is no greater feeling in the world than to know you are making people laugh and making them feel good from my jokes.”
Lisbon gave up drinking for good at age 25 and has never looked back.
“I have been off the wagon for 17 years now and life is good and I will never drink again.”
Over the years, Lisbon felt her hair fall out in her late teens due to a medical condition called alopecia from much anxiety she suffered as a teen.
“I learned to perform sometimes with a wig, sometimes with a little hair and sometimes with a lot of hair. My comedy really became my focus and I learned to love myself more. Fortunately over time, my hair has grown back, but I can never be sure if I will have to suffer from hair loss again.”
Lisbon has remained close with her family and has rediscovered her thirst for Judaism in recent years that has been a source of motivation.
“I learned through reexamination my love for Hashem (God) and while I don’t want to label myself as Orthodox, I am proud of being Jewish each and every day and I take nothing for granted.”
Her career took off since the end of the pandemic, and Lisbon has earned enough money in the past two years to leave her office manager job in New York and move to South Florida.
Lisbon has performed not only in New York and South Florida, but performed this summer in Israel.
“I loved being in Israel and, especially after what happened with the war in Israel, I met and loved so many of the Israeli families there who had sons and daughters as hostages. I want to do whatever I can to bring their message of hope alive,” said Lisbon.
To that end, Lisbon’s next performance on Wednesday, September 18 in Hallandale Beach is a fundraiser for the Loving Moms Heart to Heart not for profit organization that is dedicated to helping Israeli Defense Forces families with therapy.
Following this week’s comedy show, Lisbon will next perform on Thursday, September 26 in Bay Harbor in a fundraiser for an Israeli hostage’s family. The husband was one of the six hostages recently murdered and he left behind a wife and two children, one that was born during his captivity.
MORE INFORMATION
Comedienne Chani Lisbon performs her stand up comedy show “Unorthodox Comedy” on Wednesday, September 18 at 7 p.m. in Hallandale Beach at a location to be announced (because of security reasons) once tickets are purchased in a fundraiser for Loving Moms Heart to Heart not for profit organization for Israel Defense Forces families.. Tickets are $36 and could be ordered through the website jewishmiami.org website. Once tickets are confirmed, the website will reveal the location of the Hallandale Beach event.
Lisbon will also perform “Unorthodox Comedy” on Thursday, September 26 at 8:30 p.m. in Bay Harbor, a fundraiser for the family of a murdered Israeli hostage. Tickets are $72, which includes the show, sushi and drinks and can be purchased through the website tickettailor.com Once tickets are confirmed, the website will reveal the location of the event.
