YidLife Crisis explain why they translated their very Jewish humour into Chinese (and French, too!)

YidLife Crisis
Leizer (Eli Batalion, left) and Chaimie (Jamie Elman, right) of YidLife Crisis eat Chinese food on Christmas Eve at a Montreal restaurant in an episode from their 2015 web series YidLife Crisis entitled 'Yingle Belz', now available with Chinese subtitles. (YouTube)

The popular Montreal comedy duo YidLife Crisis is betting that their humour could have even greater worldwide appeal if what they’re saying was more widely understood. That’s why a 2015 episode explaining how some Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas Eve, has now been translated… into Mandarin.

The re-vamped episode was recently released on YouTube, and also on a Chinese social media platform, Bilibili. The creators are also hoping to expand their reach in Quebec and beyond—with French subtitles on their show––now available through Radio-Canada’s streaming service Tou.tv.

But does the YidLife Crisis shtick really translate to other languages? Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion join The CJN Daily to explain their motivations in giving it a try.

What we talked about:

  • Watch the episode of “Yingle Belz“ with Chinese subtitles on YidLife Crisis’ YouTube channel.
  • Learn more about the translation of YidLife Crisis’ materiel into multple languages on The CJN.ca
  • Watch the French version of their poutine episode on Radio-Canada’s Tou.tv.

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here. Subscribe to the podcast by watching this short video.