Elisha Yaffe

Elisha Yaffe
Born August 13, 1983 [1]
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Occupation Actor and writer[2]
Nationality American
Education Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School, Emerson College[3]
Alma mater Emerson College
elishayaffe.com

Elisha Yaffe (born August 13, 1983) is a comedian, actor and producer. He has co-created several webseries, including Downers Grove, Minor Stars and Remember When: A Comedy Series which, according to Gigaom, was recently taken out to pitch as a television series.[5] Currently he can be seen in commercials for Mike's Hard Lemonade, Time Warner Cable and Nintendo.[6][7] In 2010, he was named to the Heeb 100, a yearly roundup of 100 creative Jews you need to know about.[8][9]

Life and career

Yaffe is from Amherst, Massachusetts, where he was a founding member of the Valley Arts Project, a non-profit dedicated to supporting the development of young artists. Yaffe organized the project's Valley Arts Festival, which featured performances by up and coming artists in the Pioneer Valley area, including a then-unknown Sonya Kitchell.[10] He is a graduate of Emerson College.[3] While at Emerson, he founded Zebro, a Boston-based sketch comedy group that drew national attention due to popular YouTube videos by the troupe.[11] The troupe put on a regular live show at the ImprovBoston. According to The Boston Herald, Zebro's live show featured sketches, stand up, videos, and even Yaffe's own grandmother crocheting live onstage.[12]

As a senior at Emerson he was asked to take part in the 30 Years of Comedy show that was held at the Majestic Theater in Downtown Boston. He shared the bill that included the likes of Steven Wright, Denis Leary, Bill Burr, Eddie Brill, and Bill Dana.[13] That same year, Yaffe was asked to perform a showcase in front of Emerson alumn and Comedy Central president Doug Herzog.[3]

After college, he formed Sorry, Dad Productions with Michael Blaiklock, Dave Horwitz, and Justin Becker. Together they produced the slacker comedy "Downers Grove" for Warner Brothers Studio 2.0. It eventually premiered on TheWB.com as part of a major site redesign and content launch. The project took nearly three years to launch. Within that time Michael Angelokas, the composer of the show's title track, became a household name with the success of his indie pop band Passion Pit. According to Yaffe, the delay of "Downers Grove" was due to the fact that Warner Brothers, like many big production houses at the time, was still trying to find the right strategy for web content production.[5]

He now resides in Los Angeles.

References

  1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3114820/
  2. ^ http://elishayaffe.com
  3. ^ a b c "The Boston Globe", November 12, 2006, Anupreeta Das, "Out of the Shadows"
  4. ^ "The Boston Globe", Evan Richman, "A&E Photo Gallery"
  5. ^ a b "Gigaom", June 15, 2010, Liz Shannon Miller, ["Downers Grove Waits Two Years for TheWB Premiere" http://gigaom.com/video/downers-grove-waits-two-years-for-thewb-premiere/]
  6. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEZUF7BARQo
  7. ^ http://www.elishayaffe.com/video
  8. ^ "Heeb Magazine", April 5, 2010, Jessie, "Heeb 100: Elisha Yaffe"
  9. ^ "DCist", January 12, 2010, Josh Novikoff, "Six & | Showcases Local Heeb 100 Honorees"
  10. ^ "The Daily Hampshire Gazette" August 21, 2004, Bonnie Wells "Arts Fest Shows Work of Young Artists"
  11. ^ "The Boston Globe", March 23, 2007, Nick A. Zaino III, "Zebro Sketch Team Rides Wave of Video Success"
  12. ^ The Boston Herald, March 31, 2006, Sean McCarthy, "Who's So Funny?" http://imgur.com/C3GP8
  13. ^ Loge, Peter (September, 2006) "Comedy Showcase Marked 30 Years of Emerson Comedy", "Expressions" 15(23)

External links