He’s been Aladdin, he’s been Harry Potter, and he’s even been a bearded Miley Cyrus cruising through the streets of Tel Aviv on a longboard-mounted wrecking ball.
Aviram Carmeli is the king of Purim costumes, and each year his outlandish outfits are more elaborate than the last.
For the past nine years, the 43-year-old bar owner has collaborated with costume makers to create stunning and hilarious renditions of beloved characters that have repeatedly gone viral on social media and featured on news outlets around the world.
Last year, he dressed as Aang, the titular hero from “The Last Airbender” series, gliding through Tel Aviv on a longboard disguised as Aang’s trusty giant flying buffalo steed, Appa.
This year, even with Purim just around the corner (March 14), Carmeli still hasn’t settled on an idea for his costume, which will likely be highly detailed and require hours of preparation.
“ I must tell you: I don’t like it, but apparently the process works better under pressure, because it’s like this almost every year,” he says.
”[My collaborator] Orgad Edery and his assistant, Galia, have proven that they can work fairly quickly. Think about Appa: it’s like three and a half meters long and around a meter width. It’s the biggest thing we’ve done, size-wise, and it still only took him three days to create. So he’s like magic.”
We had a few questions for this Israeli costume wizard.
ISRAEL21c: They say pressure makes diamonds; I guess that’s the case here?
Aviram Carmeli: I didn’t know that phrase — yeah, exactly. I like it.
I21c: When did this yearly tradition begin for you? What set it all in motion?
AC: In 2016 I saw a video of this guy from New York [doing Aladdin], and decided to do it for Purim. I didn’t intend it to go viral. We were riding around the city, and my friend shot it on his phone, and boom — I didn’t even manage to get home that same day and it had already gotten like 2 million views, and eventually that video got to 200 million views. It exploded like crazy.
And then it’s like a cycle, like a snowball: you can’t get out of it! Now people on the street are always asking me, “Okay, what are you planning this year?” It’s like, I have to do another one. There’s an expectation.
I21c: With nearly a decade of experience under your belt, what is it about the art of costuming that really excites you?
AC: I like to get stupid. [laughs]
I think every year on Purim, I would get stupid. I always like to exaggerate, and Purim is the exact holiday to do that, right?
Really, though, I think it’s the feeling you have once you’re done creating something that was in your mind and everything is perfect. And the interactions and reactions from the people on the street to that thing that you’ve created. I think all of this gives a certain energy that you can’t quite get with a lot of other things.
I21c: What’s the wildest reaction you’ve had to one of your costumes on the street?
AC: For Halloween 2018, I went to London and did Harry Potter. I was riding with the costume and suddenly I see this huge police van with like 10 police officers inside it.
And I’m thinking, “Are they going to stop me? We’ve barely even started!” And then the driver grabs the microphone for the van’s loudspeaker and he’s like, “You’re a wizard, Harry.” [laughs]
And all the cops were amazed. They loved it. And I just continued riding. I f—ing loved it, you know? I went from thinking “It’s done” to understanding, “Okay, you may carry on and you got authorization from the cops.”
I21c: What advice would you give to somebody who wants to get into elaborate costuming, but doesn’t know how to start?
AC: Something I see sometimes in my comments is people saying things like, “Next year Halloween, we’re doing this or that” — so I just immediately respond “Do it, do it, do it.”
I’m trying to push people to, yeah, go do something stupid.
Need some inspiration? See more about Aviram Carmeli here.
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