Comedy Showcase: Iliza Shlesinger Tells About Her Texas Jewish Upbringing

Originally from Dallas, Iliza Shlesinger moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Emerson College. She is the only female and youngest comedian to hold the title of NBC'S Last Comic Standing. She was the host of CBS's syndicated comedy dating show Excused, in which she filmed 230 episodes.

Iliza's TV credits include her own half-hour Comedy Central Presents special, as well as NBC'S Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, E! Network's Chelsea Lately and The Soup, NBC'S Last Call with Carson Daily, TBS’ Who Gets the Last Laugh?, and Showtime's Pauly Shore and Friends and Bridging the Gap Comedy Festival.

In this standup comedy video clip, Iliza tells about her Jewish upbringing and how much Jews and Muslims have in common.

Enjoy! 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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. 

Welcoming Shabbat in Sydney with Adon Olam (Scarborough Fair)

Adon Olam is the closing hymn of the Shabbat morning service in most synagogues, This song is sung to many different tunes, and can be sung to virtually any due to its meter. 

Many synagogues like to use "seasonal" tunes, for instance, on the Shabbat before Hanukkah, they might do it to Ma'oz Tzur. In Hebrew schools and Jewish summer camps, the Adon Olam hymn is sometimes set, for fun, to secular tunes like Yankee Doodle or Jamaica Farewell.

This year Jewish musicians in Sydney, Australia collaborated to create this magnificent cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Scarborough Fair with the timeless Hebrew words of Adon Olam. The collaboration is in support of Kesser Torah College, an Orthodox Day School in Sydney that offers education from pre-school through 12th grade.

Enjoy, and 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.

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca in "The Violin Recital"

Pantomime was always one of Sid Caesar's specialties, and so was satirizing classical performances of all kinds.

With Imogene Coca as his partner in pantomime, In this clip, Sid went through all of the paces in giving a violin recital while Imogene accompanied him on her virtual piano. 

The musical composition was Czardas by Vittorio Monti. During the pantomime performance everything that could go wrong did go wrong, including a few broken violins and Sid stabbing himself with the bow. 

This video is a very rare one and we don't have an exact date, but it was performed on Your Show of Shows which ran from 1950 to 1954, so it's a Thursday throwback of at least 65 years.

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.



#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

EXCLUSIVE On-Site Report! Best In Show and Unusual New Products From Kosherfest 2019

Meatless BBQ brisket, burgers and bacon, kosher charcuterie, adult alcohol flavored push pops, and Korean rice noodles.
  
These are some of the prize winning and unusual products on display yesterday and today for the thousands of visitors representing all aspects of the food industry at Kosherfest 2019 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey.
 
More than 400 exhibitors lining both sides of seven aisles are vying for the attention of visitors (trade only -- but some kiddush aficionados seem to have found their way into the hall) who try to manage noshing and stuffing literature into the bags provided by some vendors (and rolling suitcases brought by attendees).  And there's plenty to nosh and to stuff.

Some of the samples are meat, some are dairy, and some are pareve.  But all three types are scattered around the show floor, so anyone trying to keep kosher has to make careful choices.

The vendors are hoping that visitors will make bulk purchases, and some of the newer, smaller, and foreign companies exhibiting for the first time are hoping to find distributors who will bring their wares to your local supermarket.

If you love kiddush, can make a case for being in some kind of food-related business, have a few hours to spare and don't mind walking a a quarter mile to a parking lot, this is the place for you.  It's still open all day today, Wednesday, from 10 am to 4 pm.  The on-site registration fee is $110.

We interviewed a few of the exhibitors and got closeups of some of the more unusual delicacies in this video for you to savor. 

We apologize for the loud background noise from the 6,000 attendees milling about the exhibit space while we were conducting the interviews. Listening with earbuds or headphones is recommended.

For more information about the products in this video, be sure to visit their websites:
Meatless Nation
Emes Charcuterie
Buzz Pop Cocktails
Kosher Korean

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.

Mayim Bialik Explains the Difference Between Nerd and Geek

Do you know the difference between a nerd and a geek? Did you think they were synonyms or do they mean different things?

In 2017, when Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik was on a book tour promoting her book Girling Up, she was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The interview covered a range of topics but zeroed in on Colbert's pressing the neuroscientist actress on the difference between the terms nerd and geek. Watch the video below and you'll become an expert on the proper use of the two terms.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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 Joke to Start the Week - "The Art Collector"

It's another Monday, and it's time for another joke to start the week. Here comes another one from Toronto's Jewish Folks Telling Jokes, a night of comedy to benefit Jewish Family and Child, one of the foremost Jewish service agencies in North America.

We previously posted a few jokes that were told at the event, a Canadian contribution to the world of Jewish humor, probably inspired by the off-Broadway show Old Jews Telling Jokes, still touring around the USA.
 
We'll be posting more of these jokes on upcoming Mondays. Here's another oldie but goodie, told by Marvin Yontef.

Here's the setup: Schwartz has made a little money. Now he needs a new interest that's consistent with having a few dollars in his pocket. And then...

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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. 

(From the Yiddish dictionary: Ongepotchket = Messed up, slapped together without form, excessively and unesthetically decorated.)

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Mezinke Wedding Dance in Bulgarian Swimming Pool

The Mezinke dance is a dance done at Ashkenazi weddings when a youngest child is married off, after all of the elder siblings are already married.

The parents, siblings and their spouses take part (there are both mixed and separate versions). Each dancer is armed with an ornate tinsel-decorated broom and dustpan. With these festive implements, they mime sweeping the youngest child out of the door as the dance music rises to a joyous, frenzied tempo.

The origins of the Mezinke dance are obscure, but it appears to be a Chasidic custom. There are obviously a number of politically correct reasons not to do the Mezinke dance - it may hurt the feelings of guests who have older, unmarried children, and it suggests that the parents are, heaven forbid, delighted to be offloading their youngest child.

We never expected to see the dance performed, minus the broom and dustpan, in a swimming pool in Bulgaria. But that's exactly where the video below was recorded and posted by folk dance teacher Ira Weisburd.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem by Andrew Susman and the Megiddo Project

Today we welcome Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem sung by Andrew Susman and his band. Andy is a Song Leader, Cantorial Soloist, and founder of The Megiddo Project, a band that performs at Shabbat Journey and Sound Healing, a Yoga center in Coral Springs, Florida. 

The service announcement invites attendees to "Inhale Peace, Exhale Release. Nurture Your Soul with Music, Movement, Mantra and Meditation."

Andy has more than 25 years of experience as a song leader and been affiliated with numerous synagogues in both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.  He was a member of JNF’s National Performing Artists’ Troupe, on staff for over 20 years at various JCC and BBYO Summer Camp programs, and twice attended HAVA NASHIRA, the National Song Leaders Institute sponsored by the Reform Movement.  He is also a member of the Folk Club of South Florida ( Dade ) and Broward Folk Club.

Andrew started playing in college as a hobby, later evolving into a song leader and cantorial soloist, using the guitar as a vehicle to tell stories whether through words or melody alone.

Andy considers himself to be an eclectic Jew, gleaning from all movements and ‘Schools of Thought.’ His goal is the creation of a meaningful service that speaks to the heart, mind and soul of the congregation.  His repertoire includes a blend of Traditional Hazzanut, Israeli Folk, Traditional American Folk  & Contemporary  “Pop”/American Jewish Folk melodies. 

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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.

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Gilda Radner as Roseanne Roseannadanna on King Tut

Today's throwback skit goes back 40 years to 1979 when the late, great Gilda Radner was riding high on Saturday Night Live with her brilliant cast of invented characters. 

One of our favorites was Roseanne Roseannadanna, a character based on Rose Ann Scamardella, a former anchorwoman on WABC-TV's Eyewitness News in New York City. The character also appeared later in Radner's live one-woman shows.

Let's turn the clock back 40 years to 1979 when Gilda appeared as Roseanne Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update to report on the King Tut exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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.

Comedy Showcase: Meet Helaine Witt, Retired Schoolteacher and Standup Comic

Helaine Witt has been writing jokes and doing standup comedy for 32 years. She has written for Joan Rivers and other comedians, and has been touring the comedy club circuit. 

Her work includes one liners, current event jokes for presentations, speeches, and comedy roasts.

A retired schoolteacher, she includes anecdotes from her teaching days in her routines.

Here's an appearance by Helaine at New York City's Gotham Comedy Club.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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.