I know that in a certain sense I am seen as a potential superstar, but I have a feeling that this will no longer happen,” says Tomer Sharon (Tomesh). “I have followed very strange paths in the last decade, and I am weak at many things: acting, dubbing, narration, singing, but because What I got out of television for adults. It’s not something I wanted to happen, but it happened, and I mainly participate in children’s programs. I would be happy to return to television, because what I am given to do in the theater, in addition to comedic roles, are also dramatic roles. I would really like to play a dramatic role on television. I did it here and there, but not really. I didn’t get many roles I wanted.”
aren’t you going to the auditions?
“Of course he’s going. I’m not that good at auditions. Now there is talk of a main role in the series, but I don’t want to do anything to myself, so I won’t elaborate.”
These days, along with his acting in the plays “Perfect Strangers” at the Hebimah Theater and “Room 201” of the Elad Theater in Eilat, Tomesh is starring in the lead role in the play “The Mother-in-Law” by the Hebrew Theater, by Andrew Bergman, translated by Rashef and Regev Levy and directed by Shmuel Wilojni. Alongside him, Anat Magen Shabo, Sandra Sade, Tovia Tzafir and more are playing in the play. “It’s a very funny comedy,” he says. “I play a rich and snob art dealer, whose sister-in-law arrives one day and announces that the mother-in-law is moving in with him and his wife. From here begins a comedy of complications.”
How is the cast?
“Wonderful. They are all great. I enjoy Tovia Tzipir, every moment with him is a blessing, and we have a long history. Immediately after my release from the army, the first show I acted in was ‘The Closed Wing’ in which he participated, and then of course we both dubbed ‘The Cheeks’.”
Could a satire like “The Cheeks” catch on today?
“It was huge. They tried to do something similar in Israel recently called ‘The State of the Dwarves’, but it didn’t catch on that much in my opinion. Maybe it was appropriate for that time, it was satire to the face. Today the satire is more moderate. ‘A wonderful country’ is insanely funny, but the sections that really kick are few. The only satire that is really daring is ‘The Jews are coming’. I’m really sorry that I don’t appear in it.”
At the time of “The Cheeks”, Yair Lapid, the current Prime Minister, was a TV star. Did you get to know him then?
“Of course it is, I also once revealed that I smoked a joint with him when he said in an interview that he didn’t smoke. He doesn’t like me that much.”
Yair Lapid (Photo: Yossi Aloni, Flash 90)From tragedy to comedy
Tomesh (52) was born and raised in Tel Aviv. Upon his release from the Nahal band, he began acting in TV shows such as “A Matter of Time” and “The Closed Wing” as mentioned. He broke into consciousness as a comedian in the nineties in the nonsense show “Platform”, as well as in the follow-up show “Domino”. Also, as mentioned, he voiced characters in the poignant satire “The Insolent”.
He later acted in a variety of TV series and programs (“Whose line is this?”, “Danny Hollywood”, “Addicted Game”), in films (“Turkish March”, “Volcan Junction”, “The Institution”) and in theater plays. In recent years, he appeared on the small screen mainly in roles in children’s and youth shows, including “Hatzoya”, “The Pencils” and “Rescue Team”.
During the Corona period, he started working on a new stand-up show, “Tomesh Sheba’alfa”, based on his life story and currently running. “It’s a show that was born in Corona and consists of stories that really happened to me”, he says. “I realized that the stories that happen to me in real life are much funnier than anything I can come up with.
In Corona, I realized that the children grew on me and their parents also grew on me in the nineties. In the show I joke about being one of the few artists that people older than him grew up on. I started telling these stories in performances in the yards of houses, on rooftops and in living rooms, and slowly I formulated it in the old school way, testing materials in the field. I enjoy every moment.”
Give an example of a story from the show.
“I had a phone call with Eric Einstein. I tell in the show about how I could meet him many times and I was ashamed and afraid every time. They always told me: ‘Go meet him, he loves you and said he was dying for you’, but I was unable to. Then I talked to him on the phone, and the conversation turned from a good and happy conversation to a bit depressing. I found myself in a reversal of roles: instead of him hugging me, I found myself hugging him and the not so good situation he was in at that time. In short, I found myself doing psychology for him. It was pretty amazing.”
Eric Einstein (Photo: Shmuel Rahmani)Did working on the show make you do some soul-searching?
“Yes, sometimes in my lectures I talk about how to turn a tragedy into a comedy. That’s why the show is quite a therapeutic process because I describe in it quite terrible things that happened to me: how I accidentally posted a pornographic image on the Internet, how I burned down in my house, how I was poisoned with spoiled drugs, there are terrible things, but that’s the whole point of comedy: it turns shit into gold, And then I feel far from the pain of the incident.”
What has changed in you as a stand-up artist since the beginning?
“Not much, I still do wild stand-up. Because I am also an actor and a musician, I come and go from stand-up. What has changed now is that I do more narrative stand-up and less stand-up that is based on diagnoses of things.”
And what has changed in stand-up since the “Platform” days?
“Obviously, the profession has grown, branched out and become much bigger and more professional than it used to be. On the other hand, what spirit there was in the nineties is a little less disturbed today, today everything is a little more politically correct and aimed at the mainstream. It’s hard to see people trying to break the boundaries of the genre. I was in a group that could be said to be groundbreaking back then.”
Do you miss that time?
“I’m not such a nostalgic person and I don’t look back that much. I am constantly reminded of this. Once I was sitting with Muni Moshunov near the stage theater, and two guys passed by and one said: “Here is Moshunov from ‘Zhu Zhu!”, and the other said: ‘There is that one from ‘Platfus’.” Muni told me: ‘Listen, if you did one really big thing in your youth, it will haunt you forever. I will always be the person from ‘This is it!’ No matter what I do.’ So I’m fine with that.”
Steam release
When he is not on TV or on stage, Tomesh spends time on social media, where he is known for posting poignant, humorous, cynical and satirical posts on a variety of topics. “I started expressing opinions on the networks in the social protest of 2011 because beyond the fact that I’m an artist, I’m also a citizen for whom it’s important to raise a voice about what’s happening here,” he says. “I know it hurts me and I know there’s a price for it.”
What is the price?
“Expressing an opinion in today’s Israel, certainly opinions associated with the left, is trouble for an artist. It got me into trouble with scary and violent people, and also with those who say: ‘He’s talented, but he’s too left-wing for us’, even though I also criticize the left. In general, the most terrible internet lynchings I experienced were from vaccine opponents and radical feminists.”
So are you willing to pay the price?
“The facts say yes, otherwise I would have stopped. In recent years I do think twice, also because I see that it is no longer so influential because the networks have grown and become such a monster that no one listens to anyone. It’s not really possible to have an impact today like when I started with it. Today it’s letting off steam and it’s less interesting. So I deal with it a little less.”
On the cost of living he says: “The state in some respects is becoming impossible. The system here deports the young people to other countries, and it is not related to one political camp or another. It is unbearable. Why the hell should we be the most expensive country in the world?”.
How was the corona period for you?
“Corona started as a nightmare. At first it was frightening, then I noticed that my profession had died. It was quite a nightmare until I found something to do. Even as an aging bachelor, the loneliness was quite difficult. But then I traveled all over the Land of Israel with a stack of books and read stories to all types of children everywhere in the country. It was romantic. I still do it. At first it was in the form of ‘give as much as you can’, and now it is paid.”
What else are you doing these days?
“Besides the plays and the stand-up show, I have a third music album that is ready for release since the corona virus. I’m waiting for the right moment to take it out. I am also soon putting on a musical show for children based on songs I wrote and composed during the Corona period. The premiere will be at the ‘Sounds of Childhood’ festival in Holon. It turns out to me late that I am a child star and no one marked me as such. At the same time, I am working on a new lecture on dubbing and other surprises.”
Is there a professional fantasy you want to fulfill?
“Dramatic roles in cinema and television. I’m sure I can. The rest of the fantasies are more in the personal sphere: family, a relationship that I haven’t had in a long time.”
Are you not on dating apps?
“No, I don’t have the strength for that. When you’re a known person, it’s embarrassing, all kinds of crazy people get attached to you. I hope it will come naturally.” d
Upcoming stand-up shows:
9.8, Goldmund Books in Haifa, 9:00 p.m
8/17, Migdal Tafen, Salon Malka, 9:00 p.m
Upcoming performances at the North Theater:
13.8, 21:30
14.8, 11:00, 20:30
18.8, 20:30