So October 7th, Shalom Asayag's entire scheduled tour schedule was canceled. The regular performances in the halls were replaced by impromptu performances for fighters, and later also volunteer performances and exciting meetings with evacuees, who were just looking for an enveloping hug - and received it from the veteran comedian.
Between "The 90s" and "Menaik" - Shalom Asayag speaks // Correspondent: Neta Pluderman, Photo: Moshe Ben-Simhon
"We have a WhatsApp group of all the comedians, and this group is busy all day volunteering, visiting the wounded in hospitals, entertaining soldiers and everything else. Everyone pitches in there," he says.
How do you make a living during a period like this, which is actually a kind of shutdown of the entertainment world?
"No one really makes a living. And I'm not just talking about the comedians, but the entire industry around us – show directors, theorists and soundmen. Everyone sits at home and doesn't bring in money, and if they go out to work, it's voluntary."
What do you do in such a situation?
"Maghdarim. It's getting tough here. I don't complain, thank God, because I always look at the situation and say, 'Our troubles are small,' and I also do TV and I had a show and I'm busy. But there are quite a few people here for whom the current situation is very difficult. In one day you're down to zero income, and you don't know how long it's going to last and how you'll manage to rise again."
How do you survive financially personally?
"We didn't bring in money, but let it go as atonement for every soldier's hair in the people of Israel. I look at what other families are going through and say, thank God, what we have. That's how I see things. Money will go, money will come, everything is good. We will work and return and it will be good. Leave me alone, I see the reservists who are in mortal danger in Gaza and their businesses on the home front are collapsing, so who am I to complain?"
Successful comedians earn quite a bit.
"It's true that many comedians earn above average, but you have to remember that not everyone is like that, and even those who earn – they have obligations. And when everything goes down and a shekel doesn't go in, it changes your picture completely."
Do you feel that there has been some recovery in the last few weeks?
"A bit of movement started. There is a demand for shows, and the market is loosening up a bit."
And when you come back to perform, will it be with a show that will be adapted to the period, or with the regular show?
"I could mention the war and laugh at the Houthis, but at the end of the day, my show is mostly about relationships, and that's where it will go. Yes, there will be a reference to the situation, but after all, the desire of those who come to the concert is to disconnect from what is happening, and that is the goal."
Is this also how your performances with the soldiers are conducted?
"When the war started, we went to visit evacuees and wounded, but we didn't sing to them, because we still didn't feel comfortable making them laugh, and rightly so. But for the soldiers, it's different – the soldiers are just waiting for you to come and make them laugh. These are a lot of soldiers who are entering the fighting in Gaza in a moment and they need it. They're on high adrenaline, and this momentary disconnection makes their hearts feel good. You feel they need it. Performing in front of them is sometimes more difficult for the artist himself than for the audience, but as soon as they laugh, you forget about everything and you are with them."
"Those who have not passed will not understand"
Like every Israeli, Asayag, 54, does not forget the difficult Shabbat, which since then has been associated mainly with the title "black." He, too, woke up to the sound of surprise sirens.
"We woke up from an alarm that went off in the Sharon, but there was no alarm here in Tel Mond," he recalls. "Of course, we didn't understand who was against whom, and we immediately opened the news to try to understand what was happening."
At what point did you realize the magnitude of the disaster?
"I remember at first they reported more than 100 dead and I said to myself: 'What a disaster!' I positioned myself in front of the TV and wanted to pull out my hair. You look at the pictures, you look for the army, and it doesn't come. Terrorists enter on a scooter, kidnap Israelis, return again and again, and no one stops them.
"You look and say, 'What's going on here? Where is the IDF?' You don't believe what you see with your eyes. As the dimensions were revealed, I realized what kind of Holocaust we were. Suddenly you hear about the person you know and the one you work with. Family members of editor Chen Avigdori, with whom I have worked for years, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri to Gaza, and Amit Lior's nephew, a script editor I know, was murdered at a party in Re'im. To this day, I can't believe the unbearable ease with which it all happened. Chen functioned and helped us with the agenda of the families of the abductees, and in the meantime I was happy to hear that his wife and daughter had returned home safely."
Chen Avigaduri (right) with his wife and daughter, who were liberated from Gaza, and their son. Asayag: "I was happy when they returned safely", photo: from the private album
How did the days after go for you?
"For the first two days, we sat at home in mourning. After that, I came to my senses and went back to work. I knew I had to go out and make people happy. These are our reserves, so we started hiking, trying to lift the mood. You meet evacuees and feel how much they need the hug and attention we gave them. We came to give to them, because it was the least we could do, but it was also uplifting and encouraging for us. We got caught up in the Holocaust, there's no other way to describe it."
There is a lot of talk about waves of disillusionment following the events. Is this something you've also experienced? Did the disaster cause you to change anything in your opinions?
"I'm not a leftist and I'm not a far-right person. I'm a middle-leaning person with a right-leaning streak. I did think that maybe there was hope of succeeding in creating something with the other side, the Palestinians. Don't know if peace, but maybe an agreement. I don't know if I got sober, but I was surprised by the level of cruelty. To come and slaughter children, rape women, murder like ducks people who came to dance, kidnap old people and babies - this is something I never imagined, I must admit. There have been cruel cases in the past, and evil exists, but these dimensions I never thought I would see in my life. It makes you have a good understanding of who you're dealing with."
Who, in your view, bears responsibility for what happened?
"Everyone in a relevant position is guilty, from top to bottom, and everyone should be held accountable. All the heads of state and all the army. It's not something you can go over on the agenda. But I really think it should happen after the war. The evil is theirs, the evil is in them, and we must not blame ourselves. They brought it from their home, and they found the right moment to do it. And because of the division that existed among the Israelis, they found a good time as far as they were concerned."
What one moment will you not forget about all the recent events?
"I was interviewed in the studio of Guy Zu-Eretz and Liron Weizman, and there was a resident of Be'eri. We met at the coffee stand and talked. He told me about what he had been through, and as he told me, he started shaking. I hugged him. He was 40 years old and he was shaking between my arms. I told him he was shaking, and he said, 'I can't stop shaking since.'
"I hugged him again and said to myself: 'What have these people been through?' This guy doesn't get out of my head. A man who looks strong is shaking in front of you. These are things that those who haven't gone through won't understand."
"We will remember that we are all one people"
At the 75th Independence Day ceremony held last April on Mount Herzl, Asayag was chosen to light a torch. He dedicated his impassioned speech, among other things, to Israeli culture and to the people of towns and neighborhoods in the periphery. "Our most important role, especially today, is to unite and connect our hearts," he said on stage at the ceremony. "Who would do that if not us? In honor of the humor that has brought me this far, which heals pain with love. Don't be angry, don't hate – laugh, even at yourself, it will do you good."
What do you think the next ceremony should look like? Who should light a torch this year?
"This year they will have to light 100 beacons, because ten will not be enough. There are so many stories of heroism and so many people who deserve this honor. People from the envelope who fought, United Hatzalah and MDA volunteers who rescued the wounded, people who entered the nature party and gathered survivors, people who opened their businesses and homes to evacuees, and many more people. I really think there are so many stories of heroism and kindness that are a light in all this darkness, and not as a slogan."
Lighting a torch on Mount Herzl, at the last ceremony. "The stories of heroism are a light in all the darkness", photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Do you also have an optimistic side?
"Yes, it is important to say a word about our unity. When the war started, we all came together and felt it everywhere. It really was the only happy thing about this whole garbage period. But now we feel buds against each other again, they curse each other again, and they blame each other, and this is the real test for all of us.
"This war is a war of existence for all of us: rightists, leftists, secular and religious. We must remember that we are all one people, and if we forget this after what we went through, the next disaster will come much sooner than we think."
In the spirit of unity and the desire to stay away from division, Asayag prefers not to address the high-profile family feud that erupted over the past year between him and his brother, Manny Asayag, with whom he created the series "The '80s." Manny is considered one of the most prominent hawkish voices in the judicial reform controversy, and even lashed out against the Kaplan protesters. "We keep it for the Shabbat table," Shalom says.
The film imitated reality
Next week (Network 13, Sundays and Thursdays) the new season of "The '90s," the series Asayag created and stars in, will premiere. Now he's revealing that this season, the second (after five seasons of "The '80s"), will also be his last. His son, Daniel Asayag, is the head screenwriter this time, and for the first time Asayag Sr. also directed himself, alongside Yariv Horowitz.
In the "'90s." "Bringing those whose voices are not heard", photo: courtesy of Reshet 13
"We shot 130 episodes, which is a lot for one series," he explains. "I know the show is cult in a lot of homes, but I feel like I've exhausted it and it's time to move on to the next thing. As far as I'm concerned, I already have the next thing."
Wasn't there a debate about whether to air the new season in wartime?
"The original plan was to upload it in February, but the network decided to bring it forward, and obviously there were deliberations. Every day starts with the phrase 'allowed to be published,' and it breaks our hearts, but like I said, we feel that people need comfort. This war is long, and we have been in it for more than 90 days. It's not zbang and we're done. People need to laugh and let go. When we watch the series it won't make us any less sad, our hearts continue to ache from every publicity and every soldier killed, and of course the abductees who only God knows where they are."
How were the reactions to your decision to get ahead of the season?
"I looked at the reactions from the moment the news broke that the season was coming back, and 90 percent were positive, 'How much do we need this?' There are ten percent who said that this is not yet the time, and I understand them too at the moment. I understand those who want very much, and also those who say it's not the right time. I can't argue with their feelings. I still think that this war story is not going to end, and without slogans - our strength, among other things, is to try to maintain some kind of routine. And part of the routine is laughing."
חלק מצילומי העונה החדשה התקיימו אחרי 7 באוקטובר, ולפי אסייג הם לוו באתגרים מקצועיים ונפשיים לא פשוטים. "מייד אחרי מה שקרה ביטלנו את הצילומים המתוכננים, אבל בשלב מסוים חזרנו. הנוהל היה שהיינו עושים מדי פעם הפסקה, ואז כולם היו רצים להתעדכן בחדשות או רצים לממ"ד במקרים של אזעקה. אתה חוזר לצילומים אחרי שהרגע היו יירוטים מעל הראש שלך, ואתה צריך להיכנס לדמות של פרוספר שמדבר שטויות ולהצחיק. זה מוזר וזה קשה, אבל זה מסוג הדברים שרק המציאות הישראלית יכולה ללמד אותך".
היו דברים רגישים שהייתם צריכים להוציא החוצה בעקבות המצב, או לערוך מחדש?
"הסדרה שלנו היא תקופתית, והיא בכל מקרה לא מדברת על עכשיו. משום כך לא היה חומר שהיה צריך לערוך אחרת, או לעשות לו התאמות".
בין לבין הוקפצת להגיש את "חזקים ביחד" ברשת 13. איך התאמת את תוכנית האירוח הלילית לתקופה?
"כשרשת פנו אלי, זה היה מעכשיו לעכשיו, ותוך כדי ריצה הבנו מה עובד יותר ומה לא. כאג'נדה, החלטנו שבכל תוכנית נארח משפחה של אחד מהחטופים, כדי להשאיר את העניין על סדר היום. הכל נעשה ברמת האינטואיציה. אתה מבין במה אתה יכול לגעת ובמה לא. מצד אחד אתה רוצה להצחיק, ומנגד יש לך אמא שהבן שלה נחטף.
"היתה תוכנית אחת שאירחתי בה חבר שהבת שלו חטופה, והוא התחיל לבכות - וגם אני לא הצלחתי לעצור את הדמעות. יש אנשים שלא יודעים מה עלה בגורל יקיריהם, וזה לא נתפס. אלה אנשים שאין להם יום ואין להם לילה, ובין לבין אתה צריך גם לנסות להצחיק".
"ארץ נהדרת" בקשת 12 חזרה כבר מזמן, ולדעת רבים היא הצליחה לפצח את נוסחת ההומור בתקופת המלחמה. מה חשבת עליה?
"On their first show (two and a half weeks after October 7; It seemed premature to me, and they weren't doing hardcore entertainment either, groping their way back to the screen. But today they are completely back, and they give the spectators an escape. Their ratings are also high."
"A channel that was dormant"
Along with "The '90s," Asayag will also return to the screen in the new season of the police drama series "Manayak," which will premiere on Kan 11 (Sundays and Wednesdays, from January 24). In it, he plays retired PIU investigator and Superintendent Yitzhak "Izzy" Behar, a role that brought him two wins of the Player of the Year award at the TV Awards, along with recognition and appreciation that he worked very hard to achieve.
"Until the offer came from 'Manaik,' I avoided dramatic roles for many years," he says. "I had other offers, but I felt like I was on screen enough and didn't need it. Producer Yoav Gross insisted, and when I read the script I flew away. It was a great decision for my career, because I opened up another path for myself that had been dormant for many, many years."
In "Manaik". "You leave the series with a different baggage", photo: courtesy of Kan 11
The series also attracted a lot of appreciation from places where you didn't always get a paragon.
"Yes, suddenly the awards came and there was recognition of my dramatic abilities. Since then, I've received many more offers for dramas, and I've developed a desire to do more. That's where my new role in Patrick was born, in which I'm going to play the lead role. It's a series about a crime family, the opposite of the police in Manaik."
Just after the trauma of October 7, "Manaik" actress and Ophir Award winner Muna Hua, who plays attorney Heba al-Nasser in the series, managed to anger Asayag. This happened after she denied some of Hamas' atrocities in Israel, claiming that there was no proof of beheadings and that the rape of the women was "propaganda."
In correspondence the actress had with a classmate from Beit Zvi acting school, which was exposed in Israel Hayom, Hua wrote: "A. They did not rape or behead... There is no proof that this is what it was. This is propaganda so that the world will identify with you. 2) Hamas is not the Palestinian people who have just been murdered. C. The audacity is indescribable! The Palestinian people have been murdered for years and suddenly you woke up? Where have you been all these years? Or does it not touch you when Palestinians have been murdered all these years? Is it stupid that you are not aware that this whole situation is a direct result of the occupation? Of imprisoning people? Or what? Do me a favor and don't write to me if you don't like it."
"It's very disappointing to read these things that she wrote," Asayag says. "You live in the State of Israel, you make a living in the State of Israel, and that's what you have to say? I saw her every day during filming, and we're all family and friends on set. And suddenly, at a time like this, when we get one of the cruelest and most humiliating blows in our history, to see people you know and work with supporting the other side is unthinkable."
How did you feel about her words?
"It's disappointing and annoying on a very difficult level. These are things I can't understand. How can a person who works with us, eats with us, knows who we are dealing with on the other side, support them? It's not a daily right-left debate, for or against – it's something much bigger."
Have you spoken to Mona since?
"I haven't seen her or spoken to her, and let's just say it's better that I didn't talk to her."
Will she still be part of the new season?
"This incident made a lot of people think about what to do, because her role is big and significant, and you can't throw the series in the trash and reshoot. It's impossible, and we got really into a problem. Eventually, her role will stay inside, and they'll broadcast it that way. This is the corporation's decision, because they won't throw NIS 10 million in the trash. I can tell you with certainty that if she had filmed another season, she would not have participated in it. I won't take her to work with me on anything."
The launch of the two series puts Asayag in competition against himself, and on Sundays they will be broadcast right at the same time. "This has happened to me before, but I don't want to be against myself. On the one hand, it's great fun and flattering, because these are two completely different roles, on two different channels, but I don't like it as much and prefer it to be at a different time."
What would you more recommend watching?
"My ambition is for them to watch both series, but if anything, then everyone will choose whether they want to laugh or be upset. ' Manaik is stunning, but you leave with a different baggage."
The ratings on Network 13 are more significant than the ratings on Kan 11.
"Destinies are determined by numbers and ratings, not how many watched you on VOD. On commercial channels, it's the number that comes in the morning that matters, and ultimately every show is judged by numbers. And it doesn't matter if she's the best in the world, if she hasn't put up good numbers, there won't be another season. In any case, '90s won't have another season. Like I said, I've exhausted it, and it's time to move on to the next thing."
"I feel like I've exhausted '90s, and as far as I'm concerned, it's time to move on to the next thing." Asayag, Photo: Micha Brickman
"Viewers cry and laugh"
Asayag is considered a diligent professional in the industry, the kind who doesn't wait for one project to finish to start the next, and if there are several at the same time, so be it. For example, he is currently working on a new television project as well as a sequel to "The Revelry," in which more than 800,80 Israelis watched the cinema. Ironically, the plot of the first film, which was released last July, dealt with the story of the well-known family from the "<>s" who travel to Baba Sali, but on the way stray and kidnapped to Gaza.
"If the film hadn't come out at the time it came out, it wouldn't have been able to come out after what we went through on October 7, and what we're still going through with the abductees in Gaza," Asayag clarifies. "Suddenly the whole script there takes on a different meaning."
And yet you uploaded it to VOD still.
"That's right, and I had a hesitation about that, too. On the one hand, when the war began, I received more than a thousand messages from people asking me to upload it, but I felt that it wasn't right yet and that it wasn't the time. Everything took on a jarring meaning. But it came up in the end, and today it's still being watched."
It was your film debut in a film you created. Did you believe you would succeed on this scale?
"The film is based on the series, and it was clear that its audience would also come to the cinema. Aside from "Free My Margin" (a comedy with the related trio, which was a huge hit in 2021), "The Revelry" broke 30-year film records. I think the film caught on because there's something about it that we no longer have: the innocence, the 'neighborhood,' the people we saw in the synagogue. These are all a disappearing generation.
"The adults were caught by the longing for something that is gone, and the children were caught by the colorful and exaggerated characters, so it became a family viewing. A lot of people who meet me tell me, 'I tell my childhood through your show,' and I also know of people who have watched the movie seven or eight times."
By the way, is that why there are no profanities and curses in the film and series?
"We keep the series clean, without swearing, profanity or sex, so that every parent can sit comfortably with their children and watch together. Today there are not many such options on television. Besides, I also think that the series brings the voices of those whose voices have not been heard before. You haven't seen many families from the periphery speaking Moroccan and Georgian on TV. Even the little things, like the sanctification with the traditional liturgical melody. The show and the movie make people cry, not just laugh."
Finally, how did you end 2023, and what do you wish all of us for next year?
"I performed in Petah Tikva before volunteer organizations. I wish for myself and all of us that the hostages will return home, and that the war will end after its goals are achieved. That's the only way to get back to dealing with the rest of the best wishes."
erans@israelhayom.co.il
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