Israeli Nonsense: humor, globalization and vegetables during the early nineties

Abstract

Abstract Offering an inaugural analysis of Israeli Nonsense, this article explores humor, globalization, and Israeli identity since the early 1990s. Israeli Nonsense, a particular form of humor, emerged during Israel’s rapid shift towards neoliberal privatization and globalization. Influenced by the growing popularity of standup comedy and the rise of new commercial television channels, it became a distinctive humor style in an era marked by optimism and “normalization.” It quickly formed nostalgic classics, leaving a lasting impact on contemporary Israeli humor. Through interviews, newspaper excerpts, and sketch analysis, we identify five key attributes of Israeli Nonsense: (1) improvisation, (2) linguistic humor, (3) physical humor, (4) nostalgia, and (5) non-politicization. By challenging existing interpretations of 1990s Israeli culture and nonsense as “elitist” with anti-national and non-ideological tendencies, we highlight the popular manifestations of Israeli Nonsense to demonstrate that this distinct humor did not adopt a consciously critical and cynical stance towards society and culture but embodied an optimistic and empathetic attitude toward local identity in the age of globalization.