In 2002, during the heart of the Second Palestinian Intifada, Israeli-born but Texas-raised stand up comedian Avi Liberman decided to produce a small comedy tour in Israel as a way to raise the morale of Israeli audiences and give them a chance to get out and laugh.
Throughout the intifada, and even in more recent years, many top entertainers refrained from performing in Israel due to security concerns or because of personal political considerations.
Koby Mandell was a 14-year-old resident of the settlement of Tekoa near Jerusalem who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist alongside his friend Yosef Ishran while exploring a cave near his home in May 2001.
The December 2009 Tour brought Marc Schiff, Steve White and Butch Bradley alongside Avi Liberman and had the addition of a sixth show in Haifa.
The lineup is designed to convey ethnic diversity in the world of comedy with Jewish, Irish, Italian, African American and Hispanic comics having already joined the Tour.