Guri Alfi-Aharon (Hebrew: גורי אלפי-אהרון; born 18 September 1976) is an Israeli actor, director, screenwriter, producer, stand-up comedian, voice actor, comedian and television host.
Alfi was born, raised and educated in Ramat Gan. He is the son of the writer Yosi Alfi who immigrated to Israel from Iraq, and Sue Alfi (née Platt) who immigrated from United kingdom and volunteered in a kibbutz. His sister is the actress Sherry Alfi.[1]
He studied at the Arnon elementary school in his hometown and at the Blich High School's drama department. At age 16 he began performing at the Domino Gross stand-up club. He did his military service in the IDF Education Corps ensemble, alongside Yael Poliakov and Noa Tishby.[2] [3]
In 1994 he was a partner in creating the comedy TV show "Platfoos" and participated in its first season. In 1998 he co-founded the band "Funkinstein" with Elran Dekel, and at that time he also began appearing on Educational TV alongside Rotem Abuhab in the children's game show "Calculated Risk" hosted by Hanan Liderman.[4]
In 1999 he appeared on the humor TV show "Domino", alongside comedians Rotem Abuhab, Assi Cohen, Adir Miller, Tali Orr, Shagit Sol and Roy Bar-Natan. Alfi and Cohen began performing as a comic duo in the stand-up show "The Assi and Guri Show". In 2000 the two appeared in a humorous segment on the entertainment show "Only in Israel", and received the Entertainment Persons of the Year award. Due to his TV success, Alfi left the Funkinstein band that year.[5]
In 2002 he played his first dramatic role in the series "101" by Hagai Levi. That year, he also created, wrote and starred in the comedy series "Broadcasts of the Revolution", alongside Assi Cohen.[6]
In 2003 he edited the entertainment show "The Main Show", featuring Rotem Abuhab and the Prozac Trio. That year "Assi and Guri" announced the end of their joint show and the breakup of the duo.[7]
In 2004 he began appearing on the satirical entertainment show "Mishak Makhur" alongside Einav Galili and Lior Shlain.
In 2005 he starred in the comedy film "Ricky Ricky" alongside Tal Friedman, played a lead role in the HOT3 drama series “In the Sign of Venus” alongside Yehuda Levi, began hosting the radio show “Black Business” on Galei Zahal, and appeared in the solo docu-comic series “That’s Not How You Behave” which aired on Channel 2 (Reshet) which Alfi also helped create.
In 2006 he played in the opening film of the 11th International Student Film Festival, the short film “G.G. Islamond’s Story”, alongside Sharon Alexander, Guy Shami, Lior Miller, Lucy Dubinchik and Gila Almagor. Towards the end of that year he began starring alongside Danny Geva and Eli Finish in the series “I Didn’t Promise You” which aired on Yes.
In 2007 he appeared in Avi Nesher’s film The Secrets and in the TV series “Custody” by Irit Linor on Keshet's Channel 2 broadcasts. That year he also hosted the AMI Awards ceremony on Channel 24 twice in a row.
From January 2008 he hosted the docu-comic series “Laugh or Die”, which he also created and developed, exploring humor, and hosted the game show “The Truth Results”. Both shows aired for one season on Channel 2, as part of the Reshet franchise. That year he also created along with Shahar Segal and Roi Bar Natan the comedy show “Schultz” which aired on Yes.
In July–September 2008 he hosted the light midday show “Ejection Program” on Galei Zahal. The show was co-hosted by Liyad Modrik, who edited “Laugh or Die”. In Spring 2009, Alfi and Einav Galili hosted the humorous midday show “Warm Relationship” on Galei Zahal. “Warm Relationship” returned to Galei Zahal for an additional season in June 2010, for the summer months, and once again in February 2012.[8]
In 2009, on the 30th anniversary of the band “Gazoz”'s breakup, Alfi put on a tribute show to the band alongside Roy Bar Natan and Tali Orr, and the three performed with it for several years, including during a performance tour in the summer of 2011 called “In Honor of Summer” which also featured the band's founder, Danny Sanderson. In 2009 he played in the series “What a Bachelor Needs” which aired on Hot 3.
He wrote a humor column alongside Einav Galili in “Israel Sheshavta”, the weekend supplement of the Israel Hayom newspaper from when it was first published in November 2009 until February 2013.[9]
Alfi voiced Runt the pig in “Chicken Little”, Rami the mouse in “Ratatouille”, Beyonce in the internet comedy film “Movie Zero” and himself in “Celeb’s”. He served as narrator in the first season of “The Link” which dealt with internet culture on Channel 8 (2010) and in its second season in 2014 (as “The Link+”) on Educational TV.
In 2010 he began regularly participating in the satire show “The State of the Nation” on the Reshet franchise on Channel 2, alongside Lior Shlein, Orna Banai and Einav Galili. Alfi participated in the show for 8 seasons that aired on Channel 2 as well as the first season in 2015 that aired on Channel 10 under the name “Nation’s Back”.
In 2010 he directed the documentary film “It’s the Same Love” for the DVD release of the film “Cables”, in which he brought together for a joint interview the film's stars and creators Erik Einstein, Moni Moshonov and Zvika Shissl. The documentary was included as a DVD bonus feature and also aired as part of Keshet's Channel 2 broadcasts.
That October, the film “The Human Resources Manager” was released, in which Alfi played his first dramatic film role. The film won Best Film at the Ophir Awards and Alfi was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role.
Alfi is married to Hila Aharon (whose family name he added to his own[10]) and father of four daughters,[11] the oldest of whom is the actress Emma Alfi.