Yisrael Campbell

Yisrael Campbell lives in Jerusalem. The journey that led him to The Holy Land began a long time ago in a place far, far away: he was born "Christopher Campbell," raised Catholic and grew up in Philadelphia. He is currently starring in the comedy "Circumcise Me" at The Bleecker Street Theater in New York City that he also wrote.

Although he attended Catholic school as a boy (his aunt was a nun and his mother was in the convent for a while), Chris was destined to leave the Church. As a teenager, his recovery from substance abuse led him to a higher spiritual path, ultimately leading him to Judaism. Twenty five years later he remains sober.

Along the way, Chris studied theater in New York City at Circle in a Square Theater Company and began performing standup comedy. He studied with Nikos Psacharopoulos (Williamstown Theater Festival) and Terese Hayden & Jacqueline Brookes (Actors Studio). As he began telling the story of his recovery and discovery, a unique voice began to emerge in his talks that was at once both familiar and highly original: it was a mixture of traditional storytelling and 'spiritual' comedy.

Chris performed a series of one man shows including Bed Set by Gordy Hoffman, Einstein Was Right and It's Not In Heaven while undergoing his conversions (three in all) to Judaism: first from Catholic to reform, then from reform to conservative and finally from conservative to orthodox. Chris changed his name to Yisrael and moved to Israel.

Yisrael also tours with The Palestinian-Israeli Comedy Tour, a group of comedians bringing awareness to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and seeking peace through comedy. Most recently, a documentary film has captured Yisrael's unique story and chronicles his life in the soon-to-be released film "Circumcise Me."