Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: Freddie Roman Joins Jerry Lewis on the MDA Telethon in 1995

Today we're turning the clock and calendar back 30 years to 1995 when comedian Freddie Roman did a standup routine on the Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon.   

The MDA Labor Day Telethon was an enchanting yearly variety show that ran for half a century. Hosted for many years by Jerry Lewis, the telethon featured top stars from the world of music, comedy, and Broadway.

The telethon was created to help support the MDA, which is leading the fight against muscular dystrophy. 

The world of comedy lost Jerry in 2017 and Freddie in 2022 but their humor lives on in YouTube.

Enjoy!

Remembering Freddie Roman - Master of Standup Comedy and Borscht Belt Icon

The world of Jewish humor lost one of its shining lights this week with the death of Freddie Roman, a stand-up comedian whose career spanned the decades when comedy and the Catskills were synonymous.

Roman's career expanded to years of shows in Las Vegas and in Florida. He was the Dean of the Friars Club for more than 20 years.

Roman was born Fred Kirschenbaum in Jamaica Queens, New York in 1937. He got his start in the Borscht Belt after working in his father's shoe store and then sold life insurance for a few years before making comedy his full-time job.

Starting out as social director at the Homowack Lodge in Spring Glen, New York, he worked his way through the Catskill mountain resorts and got to know all of the comedians who performed in the hundreds of hotels situated 90 miles from New York City.

He created and co-starred in Catskills on Broadway, a revue which brought the comedy of the Borscht Belt to Broadway in 1991 and then toured the country.

We're remembering Freddie today with a video clip of one of his classic routines in which he touches on some of his favorite topics -- love and marriage, aging, retirement, and living in South Florida.

Enjoy!

Comedy Showcase: Freddie Roman at the Just For Laughs Festival

Freddie Roman has had a long successful career as a stand-up comedian in the Catskills and in Las Vegas. He has been the Dean of the Friars Club for more than 20 years.

Roman was born Fred Kirschenbaum in Jamaica Queens, New York in 1937. He got his start in the Borscht Belt after working in his father's shoe store and then sold life insurance for a few years before making comedy his full-time job.

Starting out as social director at the Homowack Lodge in Spring Glen, New York, worked his way through the Catskill mountain resorts and got to know all of the comedians who performed in the hundreds of hotels situated 90 miles from New York City.

He is still active and is now appearing in the Amazon Prime sitcom series Red Oaks, together with Jennifer Grey, Paul Reiser, and Richard Kind.

Here is an excerpt from a Freddie Roman performance at the Just for Laughs Festival some years ago.

Enjoy! 

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The Catskills Come Alive at Boca Raton JCC

If New York's Catskill Mountains were ever a part of your life, you should be spending this month at the Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton, Florida, where the Catskills are coming alive in a month-long series of programs centering on Catskills nostalgia.

With 15 lectures, four live performances, nine feature films, and a museum gallery exhibition, Greetings from the Catskills, now underway through March 1, is a nostalgic trip down memory lane that you will treasure.

You'll find all the details on pages 4 and 5 of the JCC brochure. If you can't be in Boca Raton this month you can join in the fun by watching the featured movies. You can find them on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or borrow them from your local library. Here's the list of Catskills movies:

Sweet Lorraine
Welcome to Kutsher's: The Last Catskills Resort
Marjorie Morningstar
When Comedy Went to School
A Walk on the Moon
Dirty Dancing
The Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt
Four Seasons Lodge
When Jews Were Funny

To get you started, here's the trailer for the 1987 film Sweet Lorraine, starring Freddie Roman, Maureen Stapleton, and Trini Alvarado. 

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.

Brooklyn's Brighton Beach Baths Evoke Memories of Catskills Comedy

The Borscht Belt era of comedy in the Catskill mountains ended in the 1980s, although Kutsher's, the last of the big hotels, managed to hold out until 2013. After the closing of most hotels, the comedy scene shifted to the Brighton Beach Baths until they also closed in 1995.

Some years later, comedy veterans Freddie Roman, Stewie Stone, and Dick Capri were interviewed by the website thatsbrooklyn.com (now on Facebook) and they reminisced about the good old days. It's a great nostalgia piece and we think you'll enjoy hearing their stories about the long-gone hotels and entertainers.

Here's the video that we found on YouTube. 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.



Does your organization want to book Al for one of his 20 Jewish humor programs? Click here to check out all the details and program choices at www.JewishSpeakersBureau.com.

The Great Jewish Comedians: Freddie Roman, King of the Catskills

Freddie Roman has had a long successful career as a stand-up comedian in the Catskills and in Las Vegas. He has been the Dean of the Friars Club for more than 20 years.

Roman was born Fred Kirschenbaum in Jamaica Queens, New York in 1937. He got his start in the Borscht Belt after working in his father's shoe store and then sold life insurance for a few years before making comedy his full-time job.

Starting out as social director at the Homowack Lodge in Spring Glen, New York, worked his way through the Catskill mountain resorts and got to know all of the comedians who performed in the hundreds of hotels situated 90 miles from New York City.

We met Freddie last June at the finals for The Jewish Week's Funniest Comedian contest and had a delightful conversation about his stand-up routines and his role in the recent documentary Welcome to Kutsher's.

He is still active and is now appearing in the Amazon Prime sitcom series Red Oaks, together with Jennifer Grey, Paul Reiser, and Richard Kind.

Here's a great example of the stand-up comedy that Freddie Roman has been performing for more than 55 years.

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.)

"Red Oaks" Jewish Country Club Comedy Debuts on Amazon Prime Featuring Comic Actor Freddie Roman and "Dirty Dancing" Star Jennifer Grey

Craig Roberts and Jennifer Grey in "Red Oak", now streaming on Amazon

Jennifer Grey is back! Not as Baby Houseman in a sequel to Dirty Dancing, but in a new streaming series called Red Oaks. 

It's set in New Jersey, not the Catskill mountains of New York. This time Grey, hardly recognizable after facial surgery, is playing the mother of a young college student and assistant tennis pro at a Jewish country club called Red Oaks.

A word of warning to our readers who are sensitive to salty language and adult situations: This is not a PG movie, but hardly worth an R rating. It's, shall we say, realistic, about life in Jewish country clubs in the summer of 1985. It's very funny and worth watching. You can stream the entire series right now on Amazon, if you're an Amazon Prime member.

Besides Grey, the series stars Paul Reiser, Craig Roberts as the young assistant tennis pro, veteran standup comic Freddie Roman, and comic actor Richard Kind.

Here's a trailer to give you a flavor of the series. 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.)

Comedian Freddie Roman Headlines Finals of The Jewish Week's "Funniest Jewish Comic" Contest

For the past 17 years The Jewish Week, New York's foremost weekly with all the Jewish news that's fit to print, has been sponsoring a contest to find the funniest Jewish comedian.

We attended the finals last month and have video footage of some of the contestants that we'll bring to you in the next few weeks.

The only criteria that we're aware of is that each contestant be both funny and Jewish. The contest, held this year at the Broadway Comedy Club in Manhattan, is produced by comedian and comedy teacher Geoff Kole.

The contest preliminaries and the final contest were held on consecutive Sundays during the month of June. Before the first attendees walked onto the stage, Freddie Roman, the veteran Catskills comic, took the microphone to introduce the contesants.

Freddie told a few old Catskills jokes, including one that he says is his favorite story in the whole 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.)
   

Comedian Freddie Roman Reminisces About His Catskills Career

Comedian Freddie Roman has been a fixture in Catskill Mountains hotels and bungalow colonies for more than 55 years.

We caught up with Freddie last Sunday at the finals for The Jewish Week's Funniest Comedian contest and had a delightful conversation about his stand-up routines and his role in the recent documentary Welcome to Kutsher's. Freddie was the headliner for the contest at the Broadway Comedy Club and told some of his favorite jokes.

A year ago he reminisced about his life in the Catskills, traveling from hotel to hotel to bungalow colony, sometimes doing three shows in one night, and in one year doing 91 shows between July 4 and Labor Day. Here's the video, taped prior to his performance at Lansmans Bungalow Colony.

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.)