skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Catskills comedy lovers lost another one of their favorites last Friday when comedian Van Harris died at the age of 88.
Harris, who performed at many Borscht Belt hotels, was social director and resident comedian at the Pine View Hotel in Fallsburg for many years.
As Jay Levin reported in The Record,
Manuel Harris was born in Brooklyn
to Yiddish-speaking parents, a housewife and a beverage deliveryman. He
graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and entered show business
around 1945. By then he was set to marry Shirley Vinitzky. They met as
youngsters and had their first date in Coney Island, on the Cyclone roller coaster.
His
family said Mr. Harris' decision to put family before career cost him a
wider audience. But that decision kept the family close. Every summer,
Van and Shirley and their four children relocated to the Catskills from
their home on Merrison Street in Teaneck, New Jersey.
"He was one of the last guys working the Catskills," said the couple's son, Andrew.
Mr. Harris found new venues after the Borscht Belt dried up. His last gig was two years ago at an adult community in Florida.
Besides his work in the Catskills, Harris appeared in nightclubs, hotels, and cabarets in New York City, Miami Beach, Atlantic City, Lakewood and elsewhere, and benefit performances in North Jersey and beyond.
He also performed on The Ed Sullvan Show and Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Here is the only video clip we could find of his comedy, in an appearance on the Tonight Show in the early 1960s.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
We always enjoy attending beautiful weddings, even if we're not there in person but peeking in through the Internet.
In the last four years we've shared many with you, including Hasidic, Black, Mock, and ceremonies taking place in South Africa and Thailand.
Today we have another one to share -- a collaboration of Tal Vaknin and Yossi Azulay, top Israeli singers and the Musikids, a children's choir conducted by Vaknin. The wedding was at Havat Ronit (The Ronit Farm) in Israel.
The song accompanying the wedding procession is a beautiful rendition of Bo'i B'shalom, a Hebrew version of Time to Say Goodbye, a modern Italian-English classic made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, one of our favorite duets which we include just below the wedding video.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman - Time to Say Goodbye
(A tip of the kippah to Dan Englander for bringing this video to our attention.)
It's Adar, and the fun has begun. What better way to usher in the Purim season than with a flash mob invading Jerusalem?
The laughing flash mob gathered outside the old city of Jerusalem on
Thursday February 13, 2014 to get on the Jerusalem light rail and
spontaneously burst into fits of extreme laughter.
The unsuspecting
passengers of the Jerusalem light rail did not know what was going on
and the laughing flash mob caused smiles, laughs, and even some
involuntary participants. Let's keep the laughter going from this month
of happiness and joy to the rest of the year and to the rest of the
world.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Frozen, Toy Story, Brave, The Lego Movie, Monsters Inc., and other animated movies have shown how animated feature films can achieve a new high level of quality.
Films with Jewish content have not been able to match the realistic animation of characters with the motion capture technology used in these Hollywood productions. Until now.
Now the Jewish world has its own Pixar-like production company. Yesterday they launched their first feature animated film, Megillas Lester, just in time for Purim.
As Alona Ferber wrote in Haaretz,
With Purim
only a few weeks away, a new full-length feature animation takes the
Book of Esther, Megillat Esther, and gives it a Back to the
Future-meets-Pixar twist.
Megillas Lester,
which will be out on iTunes, DVD and Blu-ray on March 3, tells the
story of Doniel Lesterovitch or Lester, who gets knocked out while
directing his school’s Purim play, and wakes up in the story that is
traditionally read by Jews every year on the Purim holiday.
The Book of
Esther tells the story of the Jewish queen of the Persian empire
thwarting the plan of Haman, one of the king’s top advisers, to kill all
the empire’s Jews. Lester puts a spanner in the works and alters the
course of the story - it is up to him to get everything back on track so
Esther can save the Jews.
The Purim story ends with Haman and his ten sons being put to death,
and the reveling Jews massacring thousands of Persians. Although the
real story is violent, given that the film portrays a ‘dream’ version,
and the perceptions of a young boy, says its creator Chananya Kramer
“the story is only exciting and fun, never scary or violent. We were
quite selective as to which parts of the story we portrayed.”
The
42-year-old wrote, produced and directed the movie, which is primarily
aimed at the Orthodox Jewish community. He came up with the story some
15 years ago, when he first got into the multi-media and video business
with his Baltimore-based company, Kolrom.
The video will be available through iTunes, and the DVD will be sold by ArtScroll.com and other Judaica sources. It costs about $25.
Here is the movie trailer, followed by a video about how the characters were created and animated.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Another Monday, another joke to start the week. Today's joke teller is Harry Macklowe, a 77-year-old New York real estate developer.
Like most of our Monday jokes, it's from the Old Jews Telling Jokes collection, a website started more than four years ago by Sam Hoffman, a project that also turned into a book, CD, DVD, and inspiration for the off-Broadway show of the same name.
Here's the setup for today's joke that takes place at the Fontainebleau pool in Miami Beach:
She's sitting on a chaise lounge, looking at the pool and looking at the sky, and she sees a very, very handsome man. He comes over, takes off his bathrobe, and she sees a figure physique fantastic. And then...
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Today is Rosh Hodesh Adar II, the first day of the month about which it's been said Mishenichnat Adar Marbim B'Simcha - When Adar begins, we increase our joy. The primary expression of joy is the fun and laughter that are part of the holiday of Purim, which this year arrives on Sunday March 16.
As promised, from today through Purim we'll be featuring Purim-related content, including some new videos, skits, and whatever we find suitable. We can't give you any more details, because we never know until midnight what will appear on Jewish Humor Central the next day.
Today's post, the first Purim video of this year, comes with a warning. If you watch and listen to it a few times, it's likely to become an "earworm" and get stuck in your head for at least the whole day.
The song is called Miracles and it's a collaboration of three young artists: Naftali Kalfa,
Gad Elbaz, and Ari Lesser. It starts with the Al Hanisim prayer that we say on Purim and also on Hanukkah. It recounts the miracles that God performed for our ancestors in Biblical days, and also gives thanks for the miracles that we experience each day in our own lives.
Ari Lesser is a singer,
songwriter, rapper, and spoken word artist from Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated
from the University of Oregon and more recently
spent time in Israel studying at Yeshivot in Tzfat and Jerusalem. He has
performed all over the world, and written hundreds of songs on a wide range of
subjects.
Naftali Kalfa was
born in Toronto, Canada. He is the proud eldest of 11
siblings, two of whom are serving in elite combat units in the IDF. Music has
always been in his soul and from a very young age he would sing in synagogues and
for community events. Naftali’s musical talent and inclination comes from his
mother who is a talented singer and musician who plays both flute and guitar.
His first musical production, a Album titled Yihyu Liratzon was
done in collaboration with the Piamenta brothers.
Gad Elbaz, an
Israeli Jewish singer, already achieved international success by the age of
26 with three number one hit songs, Halayla Zeh Hazman, Or and Al Neharot Bavel. All of his CD's have
climbed high on the charts and sold over 100,000 copies in Israel alone.
Gad began to sing
and write music at age four. He first appeared with his father Benny Elbaz, a
popular Israeli singer, accompanying him on the hit song Father I Love
You.
Gad's music intentionally
captures both the observant and secular listener by mixing original and
biblical texts with ballads, harmonies, middle-eastern rhythms and modern pop.
Many of the songs are a collaboration between him and his wife Moran, where he
composes the music and she writes the lyrics.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
(A tip of the kippah to Yonina Rosenbluth for bringing this video to our attention.)
We never seem to run out of new interpretations of Hava Nagila. It's played all over the world in every vocal, instrumental, and dance version you can imagine.
When you take three violinists and combine them with a trumpet and a set of drums, and throw in a trio of colorful dancers, you can predict that the results will be spectacular.
We're not exactly certain where this sequence was filmed, but we found clues that show a Portuguese influence. So we think this Avalon production came from either Portugal or Brazil, but that's about as close as we can get. If you find any other clues that will help to pinpoint the location, please add them to the comments below the video.
With Sunday being Rosh Chodesh Adar Sheni, we're heading into a Purim state of mind and will be sharing lots of Purim videos and skits during the next two weeks. So enjoy this Hava Nagila interpretation in the meantime. Monday will bring the usual Joke to Start the Week, and our Purim celebration will start Tuesday and run through Purim on Sunday, March 16.
Shabbat shalom!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Comedian/Actor/Writer Mark Schiff has headlined in all the major casinos and clubs across the country
and has appeared many times on both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman.
He has had both HBO and Showtime specials, and has been the featured act at the Montreal Comedy Festival. He has written for and guest starred on Mad About You, as well appearing on Empty Nest and serving as a writer on The Roseanne Show.
Over the last four years we have featured Mark on Jewish Humor Central as a stand-up comedian and in his roles as interviewer of Jewish day school children and asking UCLA students questions about Israel.
We lost track of him for awhile but rediscovered him in a YouTube stand-up routine that he performed at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Lovers of funny movies were saddened this week to learn of the passing of Harold Ramis, the actor, director, and writer.
Ramis tickled our funnybone with film comedies that included Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2, Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, Stripes, National Lampoon's Vacation and Animal House, Analyze This and Analyze That.
Although he was responsible for writing, producing, and directing all of these films, he only appeared in a few of them, notably the Ghostbusters series and Stripes.
We remember Ramis most as the bespectacled scientist Dr. Egon Spengler, one of the members of the Ghostbusters team that also included Bill Murray, Dan Ayckroyd, and Ernie Hudson. Here is the climactic scene from the film where Ramis, as Spengler, comes up with the solution of crossing streams to get rid of the ghostly menace threatening to destroy New York City.
In case you're wondering, yes, there is a Jewish angle to Ramis' work. (And a tip of the kippah to Yonina Rosenbluth for sharing this with us). Back in 2009 Ramis gave a talk to the Hudson Union Society where he reflected on the enduring quality of Groundhog Day, in which he played a minor role as a neurologist while directing it. It seems that religious groups of every denomination have adopted the story as a metaphor for their take on repeating the same actions day after day, which is the central point of the film.
In a video clip which we can't embed in this blog but can give you the YouTube link here, he comments on how a group of Hasidim outside the theatre picketed the theatre in which the film was being shown, not protesting, but holding signs asking "Are you living the same day over and over again?" He also compares the film with the Torah being read repeatedly year after year. The Torah doesn't change, but we are different each time we read it.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Aubrey Drake Graham, the singer, rapper, and actor who goes by the name Drake, hosted the first Saturday Night Live show of 2014 and opened with a monologue that recalled his Bar Mitzvah in Toronto in 1999, where he attended a Jewish day school.
The skit includes SNL regulars, with Vanessa Bayer, who usually plays Jacob the Bar Mitzvah boy on the show, in the role of his Jewish mother.
The skit, which is mostly a succession of predictable Jewish references, includes a funny line by Bayer that was probably missed by most of the audience. At 2:45 into the skit, he announces that from now on he will be called Drake. Bayer corrects him, telling him that he should be called Dracob. Or is it Draykop?
Dracob would be a simple and obvious reference to Bayer's role as the shy Bar Mitzvah boy that she has depicted. But Draykop is much funnier, if that was the SNL writers' intent. The Yiddish term is usually defined as a scatterbrain, or someone whose head is turned from talking so much or who turns your head around from listening to them. So which is it -- Dracob or Draykop? We'll let you decide.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY
FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON
SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT
THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR
CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE
PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE
VIDEO.)
Posts
