Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Betty Walker and Valerie Harper in "My Shirley"

Of all the comedy albums produced in the era of LP records, our favorite has always been You Don't Have to be Jewish. The 1965 album is a collection of blackout bits and extended one-liners which poked fun at the absurdities of American Jewish culture.
 
It was recorded in a studio with a live audience in attendance, as a cast of actors performed scripted material much in the manner of a radio play.
 
Comedy writers Bob Booker and George Foster had the good judgment to assemble a superb cast for this recording, and they transform what could have been ordinary Catskills shtick into something memorable.
 
The performers include Lou Jacobi, Jack Gilford, Betty Walker and Arlene Golonka, and their expert timing and feel for their characters is impeccable. You Don't Have To Be Jewish is a fine sampling of classic Borscht Belt humor performed by a top-notch cast. The response to the album was so great that the same writers and cast produced a sequel called When You're in Love, the Whole World is Jewish. The two albums are now being sold together as a single CD.

We previously shared two of the funniest routines on the first album and one from the second album. Today we're posting another bit from the second album titled My Shirley featuring Betty Walker and Valerie Harper. It's as funny 55 years later as it was when the record was released in 1965.

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 Flashback: Greetings from Miami Beach

For the month of February, Jewish Humor Central is coming to you from Miami Beach, Florida. During the month, we'll continue our mix of jokes, funny happenings, musical fun, and unbelievable but true stories as they occur.

We're in Florida to deliver six jewish humor lectures and programs to audiences in Deerfield Beach, and also to escape from the harsh New Jersey winter.

Today we're bringing you another comedy flashback from the comedy album When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish, a collection of blackout bits and extended one-liners which poked fun at the absurdities of American Jewish culture.   

It was recorded in a studio with a live audience in attendance, as a cast of actors performed scripted material much in the manner of a radio play.

Comedy writers Bob Booker and George Foster had the good judgment to assemble a superb cast for this recording, and they transform what could have been ordinary Catskill shtick into something memorable.

The performers include Lou Jacobi, Jack Gilford, Betty Walker and Arlene Golonka, and their expert timing and feel for their characters is impeccable. When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish is a fine sampling of classic Borscht Belt humor performed by a top-notch cast.
 
The track we're sharing today is Miami Beach with Lou Jacobi and Phil Leeds.
 
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.)

 

Just Released - Rick Moranis' Hilarious Jewy CD - "My Mother's Brisket"

Remember Rick Moranis? The funny guy who made us laugh in Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? He retired from the film industry in 1997 but now, 16 years later, he's back in a very different role -- singer and songwriter.

Yesterday's New York Times featured an article by Neil Genzlinger about Moranis' latest venture, a new CD titled My Mother's Brisket & Other Love Songs. The CD contains 13 comic songs that explore his Jewish heritage in ridiculous ways.

With this album, Moranis goes back to where he started. He says "When I first began writing jokes and sketches with various Jewish partners one of us would inevitably stop at some point and announce, "Too Jewish!" Too Jewish for the star, the show, the network, or the audience. The songs on this album are all in that category. I grew up hearing the Allan Sherman and the You Don't Have To Be Jewish albums in the 60s. Now I m in my 60s." 

The album includes My Mother's Brisket, Pu-Pu-Pu, Parve, The Seven Days of Shiva, Kiss My Mezuzah, and Live Blogging the Himel Family Bris. If you link to the Times article, you'll be able to play the complete versions of My Mother's Brisket, Pu-Pu-Pu, and Belated Haftorah, a clip that we are also including below. It's a clever rendering of a soliloquy about his being called to recite a Haftarah many years after reaching the age of 13. He sings the song with a melody that approximates the cantillation with which the selection from the Prophets is read after the Torah reading in the synagogue.

Just below this video (it's really an audio, with a photo of the album cover) we're sharing Suddenly Seymour, Moranis' duet with Ellen Greene from Little Shop of Horrors, the film in which he played Seymour Krelborn, the shlemiel who gets in over his head with a man-eating plant.

Enjoy and share with your friends!

(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 alerting us to this story.)