Yigal Shilon is a screenwriter, director, and TV creator and presenter. In the 1980s, his name, right up there with Yehuda Barkan’s was synonymous with prank films that were extremely popular in Israel at the time. Indeed, Shilon and Barkan would go on to collaborate and co-direct some of the genre’s most successful films including Smile, you’re Busted (‘hayah ahaltah otah’, 1980) and The Big Tease: Here Comes Another One (1984), each of which drew an audience of 600,000 to cinemas; See you Around (‘nipagesh basivuv’, 1986) which smashed that record with 750,000 ticket sales and the follow up, See you at the Beach (‘nipagesh bachof’, 1987). In 1989, Shilon directed the film The Con Job (‘avoda b’enayim’) featuring comedy duo (and 1987 Eurovision Song Contest finalists) Avi Kushnir and Nathan Dattner, aka The Bums (‘Habatlanim’). That same year, he also appeared in Menahem Zilberman’s film, April Fools’ (aka April Fool).
In the late eighties, Shilon started working in television, hosting several dedicated blooper segments on a number of programmes including Gabi Gazit’s late night chat show At Last (‘sof sof’), and the much-loved children’s and teen summer programme, 20/20 Vision (‘roim 6/6’). Between 1986-1990, he directed a series of adverts for the popular Israeli chocolate pudding, Milky (known as The Milky Wars), starring Chelli Goldenberg and Aviva Paz that have since become cult classics. In 1994, Shilon created the monster hit blooper and prank programme, Bloopers (‘fisfusim’) for Israeli broadcaster Channel Two. The programme enjoyed a hugely successful 14-year run until 2008. In 2022, Bloopers Revisited (‘hozrim lefisfusim’) premiered on TV, in which Shilon resumes his ‘Prankster Supreme’ role and later interviews his ‘victims’.
Following a life-changing head injury in 2019, Shilon was left paralysed and is now a wheelchair user. The story of his injury and the aftermath was at the heart of the TV documentary, My Greatest Blooper (‘hafisfus shel hayay’), which he co-directed with Erez Tal.
Shilon is the sibling of journalist, presenter, and TV personality Dan Shilon.
