Ivor Dembina
| Ivor Dembina | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Birth name | Ivor Joseph Dembina |
| Born |
14 April 1951 London, England |
| Medium | Stand up, writer, Comedy Club Curator |
| Nationality | British |
| Genres | Alternative comedy |
| Subject(s) | Jewish culture, Current events, Sex, Human interaction, Racism |
| Spouse | Joan Mary Badcock 1979-1990, Judith Hilda Dimant 1994-1996 |
| Children | Anja Mary, Luis George |
| Website | [1] |
Ivor Joseph Dembina (born 14 April 1951) is a British stand-up comedian and writer in the alternative tradition from London.
Dembina runs the Hampstead Comedy Club in North London, which he founded in 1994. He is cited as an early influence by Stewart Lee. He wrote for the first season of the Omid Djalili Show on BBC1. He appeared in the first season of Eye Spy as 'Jewish Dad' on Channel 4. He was the first stand-up comedian to perform a solo comedy show at the UK Houses of Parliament. Ivor's comedy focuses on his Jewish background and his political outlook. He toured his show about the Israel-Palestine conflict, 'This is Not a Subject For Comedy', in Israel and on the West Bank. In 1998 he wrote and performed a show entitled SadoJudaism in which he talked about the worlds of fetishism and prostitution through Jewish eyes.
Ivor has attracted attention for his outspoken anti-Zionist and socialist views.
In 2004, while on his way to perform stand-up comedy in Israel and the West Bank, Ivor was detained for several hours by Israeli police at Ben Gurion Airport after his name reportedly turned up on a list of "known radicals".
In 2008 Ivor organised a comedy event called "60 Years: What A State" on Israel's independence day, Yom Ha'atzmaut. Featuring Jeremy Hardy, Mark Steel, Reginald D Hunter and Shazia Mirza, it was on the same evening a gala event organised by the Zionist Federation at the Wembley Arena celebrated 60 years of the Israeli state. Ivor branded the gala's headliner, American comedian Jackie Mason, a "bad Jewish joke", citing Mason's support for Israel and the fact that comedian Ray Hanania, of Palestinian descent, had been dropped from supporting Mason on tour in 2002. Ivor said: "Never mind Israel not wanting to share Jerusalem with Palestinians—he won't even share a stage with one."
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