Comedy Showcase: Actor/Director B. J. Novak in Early Standup Set

Born and raised in the Jewish community of Newton, Massachusetts, B. J. Novak has built a career as an actor, writer, comedian, producer and director.

Novak is one of the writers and executive producers of The Office (2005–2013), in which he also played Ryan Howard, one of the regular characters in that sitcom. His father is William Novak, who co-edited the best-selling Big Book of Jewish Humor.

Before getting into acting and producing, Novak worked in clubs as a stand-up comedian. Here is a video of one of his performances on The David Letterman Show. Enjoy!                                                                                                                                                          
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A Joke to Start the Week - " A Walk on the Promenade"

Happy Monday to all our readers. Are you ready for a joke to start the week? Well, ready or not, here it comes. Here's another one from the treasure chest that is Old Jews Telling Jokes.

The joke that we're posting today is by retired businessman Marty Dusig. 

Here's the setup: I was walking on the promenade in Santa Monica about a week ago with my wife and a young couple come up to us and the girl says "Sir, can I ask you how long are you married?" And then...

Enjoy!

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‘One Love’ Video Released from Koolulam Singdown at Tower of David

On June 14th, in honor of the historical visit to Israel by Indonesia’s religious leader Sheikh Haji Yahya Cholil Staquf, Koolulam invited 1000 people who had never met before to a special event at the Tower of David in Jerusalem, to sing one song, in three languages and in three-part vocal harmony. 

The event was produced in conjunction with the Tower of David museum and Jerusalem.Com.

The song was Bob Marley’s iconic “One Love,” in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.

We previously posted the Koolulam performance of Al Kol Eleh to celebrate Israel's 70th anniversary in April. 

The musical engine behind Koolulam is Ben Yefet, a gifted music educator and conductor. He creates arrangements for the songs, teaches them in about 45 minutes, and then conducts the humongous ad-hoc choirs for the recordings. As the events have grown in size, Yefet has been joined by co-conductors and musicians.

Koolulam was established with the goal of bringing together people from all walks of life by means of a collaborative musical creation. In each event, a new rendition of a well-known song is taught to participants and is immediately thereafter performed.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Adon Olam by Yossi Azulay

Yossi Azulay is best known for his songs such as El Ha'or and Heya Heya. He is well known in Israel for collaborations with Shlomi Shabbat, Rita, and Moshe Datz, as well as for his solo career.

He was awarded second place in the 2004 Eurovision Contest for his song, Don't Worry Baby.

Yossi did his military service in an IDF performing troupe. Since completing his service he pursued a career in music. Besides multiple appearances on television as a soloist he has recorded with Shlomi Shabbat - their duet of the song Ima reached the top of the popularity charts. 

In 2016 Yossi performed in a concert in Paris to benefit an Israeli children's organization. This rendition of Adon Olam (the 41st one that we've posted on Jewish Humor Central) is from that Paris concert.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Rita Rudner on The Tonight Show in 1986

 

One of the hallmarks of Rita Rudner's comedy is that it's clean, free from the vulgarity and shouting that many stand-up comics find necessary.  Sure, there's usually some sexual innuendo but her delivery is demure, tasteful, full of wry observations, and very funny.

Rudner started her career as a dancer, then switched to stand-up comedy about her dating experiences.  She married British producer Martin Bergman and now they have a daughter.  She is fond of Jewish humor but generally reserves it for when she performs for Jewish audiences.

 

For this Throwback Thursday we're going back 32 years to 1986 (gosh, has she been performing that long?) when she made an appearance on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show.

Enjoy!


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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

BREAKING NEWS! Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof Extended Through Oct. 25; May Move to Broadway

We've gotten a lot of positive reaction to our post about the new Yiddish production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Folksbiene theatre in lower Manhattan. We reported that the show was sold out for all performances through its planned end date of September 2. 

Now the great demand for tickets has resulted in an extension through October 25. A new batch of tickets have been added to the Folksbiene online box office. And on Sunday The Wall Street Journal reported that the producers are thinking about moving the show to another off-Broadway theatre or possibly on Broadway.

This is a must-see show and we highly recommend it. Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: A Yiddish Singer in Mongolia Talks About Her Roots

In May 2017 we posted a video of Amalia Rubin singing Der Rebbe Elimelech on Mongolian television, as reported by The Jewish Daily Forward.

Back then all we knew about Rubin was that she was an English teacher who lives in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, specializes in the music of Mongolia and Tibet, and also performs in Hindi, Thai, Ladino, Hebrew, and Chinese.

The Forward has since posted another video in which Rubin describes her fascinating life in the land of Genghis Khan. The Asian Studies major talks about her Eastern European roots and how she came to plant traces of Jewish life in this unexpected place.

Enjoy!

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The White Stuff: JTA's Andrew Silow-Carroll Analyzes a Woody Allen Joke

There's more to many Jewish jokes than meets the eye. Andrew Silow-Carroll, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has started a series of short YouTube videos in which he walks you through a classic Jewish joke and explains what it's all about.

A few weeks ago we shared a video in which Andrew analyzed the jokes (actually stories) about the Wise Men of Chelm and another one about the Jewish woman who treks to India to visit a guru on a mountaintop. 

Today we're sharing another of Andy's analyses, this one of a sequence from Woody Allen's movie Hannah and Her Sisters.

We'll bring you more of these analyses of classic Jewish jokes from time to time. We hope there will be more of them soon.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "A Shakespeare Audition"

It's another Monday, and time to share another Joke to Start the Week. Our July program at the Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Adult Vacation Center in Copake, New York, brought us back in touch with staff members and vacationers who shared jokes with us last year and who came prepared with a few more for us to share with you.

Bob Epstein, a retired assistant principal in the New York school system, is a recreation specialist at the Copake camp. He is also a veteran of other adult camps.

In today's post, Bob takes us to the rehearsal room at the New York Public Theatre where director Joseph Papp gives a veteran actor of the Yiddish theatre an opportunity to audition for a Shakespearean role.

Enjoy!

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The Jews are Coming - Joshua Circumcises the Israelites (Parody)

In 2014 Israeli satire on TV took a bold step forward with the airing of a new series of sketches called HaYehudim Ba'im (The Jews Are Coming).

Written by Natalie Marcus and Asaf Beiser, the show asks questions about everything, from the Bible to Ben Gurion to the Ashkenazi leadership. Their approach is to  go into the texts and make you think. They say that they give all their subjects a critical look, but they're not attacking, just giving the story a fresh, modern look.

The series ran for three seasons on Israeli TV, all in Hebrew. Some of the half-hour episodes were divided into video clips and published on YouTube with English subtitles. We found a few new ones and we'll continue to share them with you. Today we're posting a parody that reimagines the scene after crossing the Jordan river where God tells Joshua to circumcise the second generation of men who left Egypt, where circumcision could not be practiced.

This video clip, like all the others in the series, may offend some readers who are not open to satirical interpretations of the scriptures and satirical views of Jewish life through the ages, but we believe that there's a place for humor everywhere and we hope you'll find the satire amusing.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with a North African Version of Yigdal by Marlene Samoun

Most synagogues conclude the Friday evening service with the liturgical poem Yigdal. 

Yigdal (Hebrew: יִגְדָּל‬ means "Magnify [O Living God]") is a Jewish hymn which in various rituals shares with Adon Olam the place of honor at the opening of the morning and the close of the evening service. 

It is based on the 13 Articles of Faith formulated by Maimonides (The Rambam). A translation can be found in any bilingual siddur in the language of the country where it is sung.

Today we're welcoming Shabbat with a version from North Africa sung by Marlene Samoun, a French singer, accompanied by violinist Rachid Brahim-Djelloul. The lyrics alternate in Hebrew and French.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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