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The IDF instructor became the first stand-up comedian in the IDF Israel today

2021-02-01T12:04:40.303Z


| You should know Mai Sage was not accepted to the IDF theater, but refused to give up, served as an instructor and passed on stand-up to the soldiers. May Sage Photography:  Courtesy of the photographer "Life is what you make of it," is a motto that fits perfectly with May Sage, 20, a former IDF instructor who became the first stand-up comedian in the IDF on her own, and is now looking for a way to reinvent h


Mai Sage was not accepted to the IDF theater, but refused to give up, served as an instructor and passed on stand-up to the soldiers.

  • May Sage

    Photography: 

    Courtesy of the photographer

"Life is what you make of it," is a motto that fits perfectly with May Sage, 20, a former IDF instructor who became the first stand-up comedian in the IDF on her own, and is now looking for a way to reinvent herself and enter the civilian sphere, in the shadow of the challenging Corona.

Sage had a dream.

All her life she knew she was connected to the performing arts: already in the fourth grade she went up to perform as part of a school talent contest, and while all the girls performed performances of Maimonides songs, May decided to "run" jokes in front of the whole class.

Over the years she has appeared many at every opportunity, and at the age of 15 she even had her own corner on Channel One.

Therefore, when the question arose as to where she would enlist in the army - the answer was clear: IDF theater on the agenda and nothing else. 


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A post shared by ᗰᗩY ᔕᗩYᗩG • May Sage (@maysayag)

But when she came to the tests - a surprise awaited her.

"I came to audition in a situation that ranged from full of self-confidence, to a blatant lack of awareness," she says.

"I went into the room and I was supposed to present a piece I had to prepare at home. Instead, I asked the examiners at the screenings - Chen Amsalem, Eyal Rosenfeld and Nadav Assulin, if they wanted me to do a standup for them, and I just started talking. I said 'Good evening, IDF Theater, come We'll hear you make some noise.

In short, anything that has nothing to do with the comedic-dramatic monologue I was asked to do. "

"They were in the market, did not understand what was going on. I managed to tell about six jokes, and then they stopped me. I managed to make them funny, and I even got a message that I had passed the first stage. I was in 'hi'. I came to the second stage a little arrogant, I admit. I did not. Nothing and improvised, they did not laugh with me or me, my worldview at that time, as a girl that being in the IDF theater is every dream, was very narrow.

And when I was not accepted, it was a fracture and a pain. "

Instead of enlisting in the theater, Sage found herself in training for service as an IDF instructor. "I did not understand why the hell I was assigned to this position, I enlisted in a very difficult feeling, and I also transmitted this feeling to my commanders, until the school commander arrived.

Everyone who met me heard the same speech: "How much I do not want to be where you are."

It was one of the free evenings in training that suddenly changed the picture.

"I did an impromptu standup show for novices who were with me about what was going on in training. There for the first time I felt this spark burning in me, that maybe I was actually wrong and even where I got to I can do what I love. I started my military service as an IDF instructor.

I would come, give the training and immediately after that initiate a stand-up show. "

And the military got it?

It is nevertheless a challenging system, which you come and laugh at.

"Sometimes it got a little complicated for me, I will not lie. There was a case where soldiers in a cadet course came to us, to BAH Zikim. I gave them training as usual but during it I noticed that all the soldiers around me looked 'broken' and tired. No one listened to me. I offered to give them a 'comic respite'. They were really excited and it was even filmed, but their officer was less enthusiastic, and did not give it permission. When she went to the bathroom, I did a five minute impromptu show. When that officer came back she was very angry with me and complained to my officer. That totally, and yet on every base I guided, at recess I searched the education NCO to try to make an appearance.

It did not stop me from trying to fulfill myself. " 


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A post shared by ᗰᗩY ᔕᗩYᗩG • May Sage (@maysayag)

And Sage did fulfill the dream of her life despite the great challenge.

At Lachish, Hatzor base, Zikim, Border Police, Kfir, these are just some of the places and divisions in front of which she appeared, and her officer also did not stop receiving calls: "Call and tell her 'the standup officer? I want her at my base for the show'. 

"It should be said to the credit of my commanders that they were very supportive and allowed me to go to shows at other bases. Instead of going out after. I would go out in uniform, make soldiers happy at a show and come back," she shares.

Soon, even standalone content she uploaded to Instagram gained momentum and reached the familiar ‘Paz Gram’ page.

Today, a month and a half after her release from the IDF, Sage is one of the editors and creators of its content. Many soldiers praised her for the great success and sent her messages that she had made their sucky trips to the base on Sundays more enjoyable.

Although overall Sage tells of good feelings, the reactions were not always good.

"They would say to me, 'What are you obsessed with, who are you anyway?'

And you know, even when you're already doing the shows, they would see me wearing a uniform, and that took away all the respect you feel when you see that they brought in an outsider, for a show just for you. 

"There were a lot of performances that came down on me, that would tell me 'come on come on, you're just like us, go to the checkpoint, not suitable.

When it happens in the army it's even harder, I'm in uniform, I'm just like everyone else, which is true, but I came to do something and say something in front of them.

And sometimes it was difficult for the audience to separate. "

May says one of her biggest challenges was finding a common denominator with combat soldiers, who did not understand their military world.

"You can be great at performing in front of T.S. bags and crashing in front of guts. So before performing in front of such an audience, I would look for someone from the audience in front of whom I would perform, and ask about the world of their concepts, the jokes between friends and their military world." 


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A post shared by ᗰᗩY ᔕᗩYᗩG • May Sage (@maysayag)

Then, at the height of her success, Sage received a phone call from the Production Department, which is in charge of the IDF Theater, with a huge message to the successful stand-up comedian - and they offered her a new role that had not yet been officially filled: a military comedian. For a long time. "My school principal did not let me move a job and it hurt.

I felt that once again, my wings were cut off. " 

But May refused to let the challenges defeat her and maintained an optimistic spirit.

In retrospect, she says, that school principal's decision was a good one.

"It was also the best point in my service. I performed a lot after training, I created a lot of content and in my training base the support was never greater, even my officer lovingly accepted in the end to be a 'standup officer'. My service is the best thing that ever happened. I'm alive. "

We finish the interview about an hour after she was fired from her job at the supermarket where she has been working since she was released.

So when the question of aspirations and endeavors comes later, especially due to the fact that all its content in the last two years and what brought it to consciousness, is based on the army, which was and is over, and in the shadow of the Corona period, she expresses her concern: You ask yourself what you are doing now that the army is no longer alive, when the inspiration for creating materials is no longer in front of your eyes every day at the base.

 "I will have to reinvent myself. I have to all the time. The dream is to make a living from my art, from my shows, but I know that what needs to happen will happen no matter what. I will try to go inside and fulfill myself. Come in from the window, the door, the main thing you will enter, without fear." 

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-02-01

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