Remembering Gilbert Gottfried and His Shrill-Voiced Stand-up Comedy

The world of Jewish comedy lost one of its shining stars yesterday with the death of Gilbert Gottfried at the age of 67. Gottfried's specialty was crude humor and delivering punch lines in an annoying, grating voice.

His numerous roles in film and television included voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin animated films and series, Digit LeBoid on PBS Kids's long-running Cyberchase, and Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Gottfried was the voice of the Aflac Duck until 2011. He appeared in the critically panned but commercially successful Problem Child in 1990. 

He was a cast member of Saturday Night Live's 6th season. Gottfried's persona in SNL sketches was very different from his later characterization. He rarely (if ever) spoke in his trademark screeching, obnoxious voice and never squinted.

In this video clip from a Just for Laughs Festival appearance in Montreal, Gottfried tells the audience of how he was the inspiration for Herman Melville when he wrote his classic Moby Dick.

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. 

Comedian Robert Klein in Funny Routine About Ordering a Kosher Meal on an Airline

Last year the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research hosted an exhibition and panel discussion at the Center for Jewish History titled Professional Jokers: Jewish Jesters from the Golden Age of American Comedy.

The panel discussion on Jews and comedy featured comedian Robert Klein, comedy writer Alan Zweibel, Old Jewish Comedians artist Drew Friedman, The Comedians author Kliph Nesteroff, Jewish popular culture scholar Dr. Eddy Portnoy, and comedian Gilbert Gottfried. The panel was  moderated by comedy writer Frank Santopadre.

We found the complete panel discussion, running for an hour and 40 minutes, on YouTube. It was very funny, as you might expect. Also, as you might expect, the discussion covered a wide range of the panelists' recollections of their experiences with some of the great comedians of our time, some of which venture into territory that is clearly not family-friendly.

Because we try to post only clean comedy we're sharing a short excerpt from the program in which Robert Klein does a funny routine about the experience of ordering a kosher meal on an airplane. YouTube usage rules don't let us cut pieces from a video, but we're starting the video at the beginning of Klein's routine and ending it at the end. 

If you don't shy away from really funny adult Jewish humor, you can easily find the whole program 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.