Years active 1997–present | Name Yoel Lebovits | |
Born July , 1979 ( 1979-07-00 ) Harris, New York, U.S. Occupation actor, comedian, singer Website | ||
Yoel "Yoely" Lebovits (יואל לעבאוויטש) is an American Hasidic entertainer, comedian, singer, and actor. Lebovits is the son of the Nikolsburger Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yechiel Mechel Lebovits, and lives in Monsey, New York. He is a popular figure in Hasidic Jewish communities, specifically the Yiddish-speaking communities. Yoel is known to be the first baby named after the Late Satmar Rebbe, Reb Joel Teitelbaum 1887-1979.
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Career history
Lebovits started as a badchen in 1997, performing Comedy at friends' weddings. He gained popularity after acting the comedic role in the Yiddish play "Hamaloch Hagoel" in 1998.
He became known as the "Pester Rebbe" because of his talent of imitating the Hungarian Language, implying that he is from Budapest.
In 1999 Lebovits debuted his first comedy album "Purim Y2K" (produced by Yochi Briskman). This was followed by "Purim Station" in 2004.
As his popularity grew, Lebovits was hired to entertain at parties, dinners, Weddings and Sheva Brochos in the USA, Europe, Africa and Israel.
Lebovits has performed with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Lipa Schmeltzer, Mordechai ben David and Avraham Fried among others in various places as well as "The Prudential Center" in New Jersey.
On September 2, 2015, on the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov of whom the Lebovits family is descended, Yoely Lebovits founded a Jewish-music kumzits-style band named "Ohr Choizer" (meaning "Reflecting Light"), with Yoely Doubleyou Halevi, and the Levin Brothers, Tzvi, Betzalel and Matisyahu, as group members.
Performance style
While Lebovits is mainly a comic, he sings kumzitsen around the globe as well as at hospitals, or for the homebound and for people with special needs.
Recent activity
Video clips posted on YouTube received a record breaking amount of hits in the Hasidic clips category. The clips include: "Pester Rebbe Inauguration", "Mayn Geller Bus" (My Yellow Bus), which is a parody of the "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles, "Thruway" and "Ad Deloy Yooda".
Lebovits has been featured on the cover of popular Jewish magazines as Yediot Achronot, Hamodia, Ami, Jewish Lifestyle, Di Shtern, Der Blick, and more, as well in Israeli Hebrew magazines.
He often performs with fellow badchen R' Yankel Miller, and comedian Hilly Hill (son of Steven Hill) as well as with other badchonim.
On the album Boondash, he features other famous performers, such as Chatzatzker Rebbe and Menashe Lustig, in the hit track "Where is the cover of the Grape juice". The album sold out in less than a week.
in 2013 Yoely and his wife Toby were featured in the National Geographic Channel on the Inside Hasidim "Only for God" episode, which has been broadcast world-wide in many languages.
Yoel is the official comedian on the Kol Mevaser show, the largest Yiddish-speaking news hot line since 2004.