A Seven Week Online Series "Is Anything Okay? The History of Jewish Comedy in America" Launches on Thursday

From the earliest jokes told on the Lower East Side to the comedy routines honed in the Catskills, Ashkenazi Jews developed radically new forms of comedic output in the 20th century. On film and television, pioneering Jewish comics broke norms and challenged taboos of American culture.

In the newest online course from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, we can delve into the history of Jewish comedy and its explosive development in the United States. We will see hundreds of unique archival objects, including vintage jokebooks, early comedy records, film, television, and radio clips, photographs, and posters, along with interviews and discussions with leading scholars and personalities from the world of Jewish comedy.

The 7-week course, just in time for Purim and co-sponsored by the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum will launch on Thursday, March 20 online, with a new episode coming every week. The course is free but registration is required.

As Alan Zeitlin wrote in The Jewish Journal,

The first of seven episodes will be “Roots: Jewish Humor in Traditional Ashkenazi Jewish Life” and the last one will be “Contemporary Jewish Comedy” while others will explore the Catskills’ and internal Jewish conflict. The course will continue with a new episode dropping every week.

There will be lectures given by scholars and academics; Jewish comedians, writers and producers will also share their insights,. While it will focus on Ashkenazi Jewish humor, there will be some detours to the humor of Sephardic Jews. 

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.

3 Livestream Jewish Comedy Programs for Christmas Eve - Order Kosher Chinese Takeout and You're All Set

The clouds of coronavirus lockdowns, isolations, and quarantines this year have revealed a silver lining -- the annual Christmas eve Jewish comedy nights at clubs and restaurants in cities with large Jewish populations are now accessible everywhere through Zoom and YouTube.

Today we're sharing links to three live streaming celebrations that will bring comedy and entertainment into your home on Thursday night. One is free and the other two have fees of $20 and $25 to participate.

A Very Jewish Christmas Eve

MyJewishLearning.com is sponsoring A Very Jewish Christmas Eve, a free fun evening of activities, including Jewish trivia, stand-up comedy, and everyone's favorite Jewish Christmas tradition: Chinese food!

The site, originally started by Canadian philanthropist Edgar Bronfman and now funded by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, is offering four sessions, starting at 7 pm and ending at 11 pm. Here is the schedule:

7 p.m. ET: Learn how Jews have dealt with Christmas throughout the decades, with Rabbi Joshua Plaut, author of "A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to be Jewish."

8 p.m. ET: Chinese Food Cooking Demo: Learn to Make Dumplings, with chef and author Kian Lam Kho.

9:15 p.m. ET: Trivia Night! Test your Jewish knowledge in an interactive game led by Rabbi Benjamin Resnick.

10:15 p.m. ET: Laugh the night away with Jewish stand-up comic Talia Reese. 

To join in the fun, just submit your name and email address on this form.

 Christmas Eve for the Jews 

Comedian Joel Chasnoff hosts the 8th annual CHRISTMAS EVE FOR THE JEWS at 8 pm -- this time, virtually!

Joel welcomes stand-up comedian Mark Normand (The Tonight Show, Conan, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), Ophira Eisenberg (Host of NPR's quiz show "Ask Me Another"), Jessica Kirson (The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The View, The Comedian), sketch comedy from Canadian troupe Comedies Never Win, and more. Click on this link to purchase tickets for a night of laughter:

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.

28th Annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy Night

Every year comedy is king at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco when Jewish comedians perform their stand-up acts on Christmas Eve. This year is no exception, but the comedy will be virtual. Below is a preview, and you can buy tickets right here.

Old Time Yiddish Comedy with Henrietta Jacobson and Julius Adler

Henrietta Jacobson was one of the most venerable actresses and comedians of the Yiddish theater, which flourished on the Lower East Side during the first half of the century. The daughter, wife and mother of Yiddish actors, she made her stage debut at age 3 in Chicago, where she was born.

Her husband, Julius Adler, was almost always her co-star in New York and on the road. They produced and directed at the Downtown National Theater and other Lower East Side playhouses, with Henrietta often designing the sets and doing the choreography.

Their son, Bruce Adler, whom we profiled as a performer in Jewish humor and song in 2014, made a name for himself in the Yiddish theatre.

Here is a 1939 Yiddish comedy routine performed by Henrietta Jacobson and Julius Adler. 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.

Origins of Jewish Comedy Explored on PBS by Professor Jeremy Dauber

In a TV interview on the PBS show Metro Focus, host Jack Ford has a conversation with Jeremy Dauber, Columbia professor and author of the book Jewish Comedy: A Serious History.

The interview touches on an analysis of Jewish humor -- its nature, its development, and its vital role throughout Jewish history. Dauber's book contains plenty of jokes to illustrate the rich tradition of Jewish humor.

Dauber explains how humor has sustained the Jewish people, even through the harshest of times. Jewish comedy is not just an American phenomenon -- it goes all the way back to the Bible.

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.

Jewish Comedy from Australia: Meet Rabbi Mendel Goornisht at the Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival

Jewish Humor Central has subscribers all over the world, and Australia always places in the top ten countries. We haven't given much attention to Australian Jewish humor lately, so today we're sharing a performance by "Rabbi Mendel Goornisht" at the Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival a few years back.

We laughed at his portrayal of his life as a rabbi in Melbourne. We're still trying to track down his real name and find some more of his backstory. If any of our Australian readers are more familiar with his comedy, we hope they will share information about him with us.

In the meantime, just 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.

Funniest Jewish Film Moments (A Tu B'Shvat Treat): The Tree Planting Scene from Sallah Shabati

One of the funniest films to come out of Israel is Sallah Shabati סאלח שבתי))

It's a 1964 comedy about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and producer Menahem Golan among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success. It also introduced actor Chaim Topol (Fiddler on the Roof) to audiences worldwide.

The film's name, Sallah Shabati, is a play on words; ostensibly a Yemenite Jewish name, it is also intended to evoke the phrase סליחה שבאתי, "sorry that I came". In earlier print versions of Kishon's short stories which were revised for the film, the character was known as Saadia Shabtai.

The film begins with Sallah Shabati, a Mizrahi Jewish immigrant, arriving with his family in Israel. Upon arrival he is brought to live in a ma'abara, or transit camp. He is given a broken down, one room shack in which to live with his family and spends the rest of the movie attempting to make enough money to purchase adequate housing. His money-making schemes are often comical and frequently satirize the political and social stereotypes in Israel of the time.

In this scene, appropriate for tomorrow's holiday of Tu B'Shvat, the new year of the trees, Sallah is  working in a tree planting detail on a hillside in Israel. A government official plants a sign announcing the naming of a forest for an American donor couple just as they arrive in a taxi.  After they take a few photos of  their new tree and depart, the official plants a new sign with the name of another donor pair just as they arrive at the same spot.

The movie is in Hebrew and there are no English subtitles, but the story line is obvious and easy to follow.

Enjoy, and have a happy Tu B'Shvat! 

(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: The Liberal Jewish Political Comedy of Scott Blakeman

 

Scott Blakeman is a stand-up comic who specializes in Jewish liberal political comedy.

Scott is an original member of Laughing Liberally, New York's longest running political comedy show. He was featured on MSNBC's live coverage of the 2015 White House Correspondents Dinner. 

He appears frequently on CNN and MSNBC, and for more than three years, Scott was the most frequently booked liberal pundit on FoxNews.com Live.

Blakeman co-hosted a celebration of James Thurber at the 92nd St Y, where he has also interviewed Robert Klein, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara and Lewis Black.

Here's Scott in a stand-up routine that touches on his single life, online dating, and Jewish-style food.

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.)

"The Jury" - A Classic Comedy Gem From Our Favorite Record Album

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 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 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. You Don't Have To Be Jewish is a fine sampling of classic Borscht Belt humor performed by a top-notch cast.
 
We previously posted two tracks from the album: The Reading of the Will and The Housewarming.

Today we're sharing another classic track: The Jury. Stay tuned for more tracks from the album in the weeks to come.

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: Jackie Mason on Smothers Brothers TV Show

Jackie Mason has been featured on Jewish Humor Central many times over the years and we always get a lot of likes whenever we post some of his shtick.

Today we're sharing a video clip of one of his performances on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour back sometime between 1967 and 1969.

In this video Jackie focuses on topics that were in the news at that time, such as the Vietnam War, President Nixon, Brotherhood, race and color.

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: Early Jerry Seinfeld Stand-Up on Why People Have Pets

Before Jerry Seinfeld scored big with his long-running TV series Seinfeld, he was a regular on the New York stand-up comedy circuit.

In this undated video clip of an early stand-up performance, Jerry explains his theory of why people have children, and then follows up with the reasons why people acquire dogs as pets.

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.)

The New Comedians: Meet Ronn Blitzer, Jewish Week Comedy Contest Winner

Ronn Blitzer was the winner of The Jewish Week competition for Funniest Comedian in New York in June 2013. 

Two months later, at the premiere of When Comedy Went to School at the JCC in Manhattan, Ronn delivered a stand-up set to warm up the audience for the film, which we previewed on Jewish Humor Central with three video clips.

Here is Ronn's eight minute comedy routine.

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.)

Remembering Mike Nichols: First of a Series - The $65 Funeral

Mike Nichols, film, theatre and television director, producer and comedian, died yesterday at the age of 83. He is mostly being remembered as a celebrated director and one of a very few who won an Oscar, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy.

From 1961 to this year, he was widely acclaimed for his more than 20 successful films and more than 20 successful Broadway shows, but our recollections of him are mostly of his appearances on television shows in the 1950s with his comedy partner Elaine May.

The comedy skits of Nichols and May were never slapstick, but they were clever pieces of social satire. 

Born in Berlin in 1931 as Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky, Nichols attended a segregated school for Jewish children. His father, a doctor, fled the Nazis by moving the family to New York City when Nichols was still a child. May was born in 1932 in Philadelphia, the daughter of the director, writer, and principal actor of a traveling Jewish theatrical company. She caught the thespian bug early, appearing on stage in the roles of little boys.

In 2012 we posted one of their funniest skits, a phone call between Nichols as the son and May as his mother. Just click on the line above to see it again.

Today we're posting another of their classics, The $65 Funeral, a skit they performed on the Jack Paar show. As an extended tribute, we'll be posting a few more Nichols and May routines in the coming days.

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.) 

Hasidic Comedian Yisrael (formerly Christopher) Campbell on Why He Was Circumcised Three Times

Back in October 2009 when we started blogging at Jewish Humor Central, one of our first posts was about Christopher Campbell, a former Catholic who converted to Judaism, changed his name to Yisrael, and went into the stand-up comedy business. We have been following his career and met him briefly while doing research on Jewish humor in Jerusalem last year.

He turned the story of his conversion, especially the three circumsicisons that he underwent, into a one-man show and a documentary which have been performed and shown around the world at Jewish Film Festivals and most recently this month at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

When we attended and reported on the Jewish Week's Funniest Comedian contest last month, we were delighted to see that Yisrael was on the program as a guest comedian. With his permission, we will be running a few excerpts from that show over the next few months, starting with today's video clip in which he explains just why he had three circumcisions.

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.)

Comedy Showcase: Meet Marion Oxenhorn, America's Funniest Grandma

Marion Oxenhorn, a mother and grandmother from Morris County, New Jersey, pursued her dream of becoming a stand-up comedian after she watched stand-up comics and thought to herself, “I could do that.” 

She blends topical humor with wry observations about domestic life. “At a time when most people are retiring, I’ve started this comedy career.” 

Marion is upfront with her audience. “I’m about as small as you can get in the comedy field. No one’s ever heard of me. On the other hand, Jerry Seinfeld is about as BIG as you can get in comedy. Everybody’s heard of Jerry. In fact, Jerry is so famous that when he had a child it was all over the news. But I’m not jealous because I KNOW that if I have a child it’ll be all over the news too!" 

This from a senior citizen who found her funny bone late in life – among other body parts that issued her a wake up call. “When you get older, you develop a relationship with every part of your body. You get a personal pain report every morning.” 

Marion holds her 55 year marriage responsible for fueling much of her material as well as her “unconventional” kids and the aging process. “As you get older food becomes a substitute for sex. Oh, that’s so good , mmmm… You might think we’re having sex, but we’re just eating banana cream pie.” 

Marion performs her stand-up routines at comedy clubs and at senior communities in the metro New York-New Jersey area. Here's a recent performance at Caroline's in Manhattan. 

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.)
 

Comedy Showcase Flashback: Stand-up With Gabe Kaplan (1976)

If you're old enough to remember the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter, which ran from 1975 to 1979, you're old enough to remember the comedy of Gabe Kaplan. After the show's run ended, he became a professional poker player. Now, at 69, he's doing stand-up comedy again.

Kaplan started out as a bellman at a hotel in Lakewood, New Jersey. Touring comedians would sometimes perform at the hotel, and Kaplan began to work toward his own career as a stand-up comedian. Gabe honed his standup routine in 1964 in places such as the Cafe Tel Aviv at 250 West 72nd Street, New York City.

Kaplan's comedy was successful, and he toured the country with his act based on his childhood experiences in Brooklyn. He appeared five times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from May 1973 to December 1974. During this period he also recorded the comedy album Holes and Mello-Rolls, which included long routines about his high-school days, among other topics; the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, whose central characters he helped Eric Cohen and Alan Sacks create and whose core format he helped them to develop, was in part based on his comedy act. 

In the sitcom, Kaplan played Gabe Kotter, who returns as a teacher to the dysfunctional high school where he had himself been a student. The series ran from 1975 to 1979.

Here's a video clip fro 1976 showing Kaplan doing stand-up comedy with a pretty good imitation of Ed Sullivan, parodying the way Sullivan always had something on his TV show for every ethnic group, including Jews.

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: Modi Rosenfeld at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal

Modi Rosenfeld is one of our favorite young comedians and we've posted many of his stand-up comedy routines and skits. 

Last year he appeared at the Just for Laughs festival, an annual summer event in Montreal. In this clip, Modi reveals the number one way to pick up women...Astrology!

Modi has a wide range of funny persona. Sometimes he appears as a Chasid in full black dress, other times as a typical Jewish stand-up comic, and others as a non-denominational general comedian. This video shows him without any ethnic attributes. Any way we look at it, we think he's funny.

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.) 

Legendary Comedian Milton Berle Reflects on Jewish Humor

Legendary comedian Milton Berle (1908-2002) was known as Mr. Television, Uncle Milty, and was widely acclaimed as the first television superstar.

While Jewish Audiences reacted to his seemingly Jewish shtick, Berle never made a practice of telling specifically Jewish jokes. 

He relied on the audience to categorize him as a Jewish comedian. But he was just as likely to perform in a church as in a synagogue.

So we were surprised and happy to find the video below showing Berle being interviewed and sharing his thoughts about the unique qualities of Jewish humor.

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 - "A Hole in One"

Another Monday, another Joke to Start the Week. Today's joke comes from the project "When Jews Were Funny," which became a documentary shown at Jewish Film Festivals this year.

Last month we posted a trailer of the 89 minute film, which includes a series of interviews with old and young Jewish comedians. It's available on Netflix for instant playing, and as a DVD from Amazon.com

This clip is identified as coming from the film, but we didn't see it there. We don't recognize the comedian, so if you can identify him, please share the information in the comments section below.

Here's the setup:  It's Yom Kippur, and this avid golfer decides that he's going to go out and shoot a quick nine holes before he has to go to shul. And then...

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.)

Billy Eichner and Rashida Jones Play "Whistle Blow that Jew" on New York Street

Billy on the Street is a comedy game show on the Fuse TV television network, hosted by Billy Eichner, an American Jewish comedian, where Billy goes out to the streets of New York and asks pedestrians questions about pop culture.

In this episode, Billy plays Whistle-Blow That Jew! with Rashida Jones, in which she has to call out celebrities who have changed their names from their original, Jewish-sounding name. If they did change their name, Rashida must yell, "Full of shame!" but if they didn't, she must yell, "Not that name!" You may be surprised by the correct answers.

Rashida didn't change her name. She was born Rashida Leah Jones in Los Angeles, the daughter of Quincy Jones, a musician who became a media mogul and producer, and Peggy Lipton, an actress noted for her role on the TV series The Mod Squad and Twin Peaks. Jones is widely known for her role as Ann Perkins on NBC's comedy Parks and Recreation.

Her mother is Ashkenazi Jewish (a descendant of immigrants from Russia and Latvia). Rashida and her sister were raised in Reform Judaism by their mother, She attended Hebrew school, though she left at the age of ten and did not have a Bat Mitzvah. As an adult, Jones practices Judaism.

(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.)

"High Powered Howard" Wins Jewish Week's Funniest Comedian Contest

(Left to right) Third place winner Saul Daiell, second place winner Miriam Borenstein, Producer Geoff Kole, and first place winner "High Powered Howard" Newman at the Jewish Week Funniest Comedian Finals in New York last night.

The Broadway Comedy Club in Manhattan was the scene last night of a hilarious evening of comedy entertainment that featured nine stand-up comics vying for the coveted title of Funniest Jewish Comedian of 2014.

The contest, sponsored for the 15th year by The Jewish Week, was hosted by David Finkelstein and produced by Geoff Kole, who also provided some comic relief during the show.

Besides the contestants, the audience was treated to comedy performances by established performers Corey Kahaney and Yisroel Campbell, and an opening routine by previous winner Stuart Rapoport.

At the end of the evening, "High Powered Howard" was declared the contest winner. So who is "High Powered Howard?" He's Howard Newman, the stand-up comic and fitness instructor who created Jokesercise, a comedy and exercise routine that combines laughs with bouts of stretching for seniors. 

Newman, who has been a comedian for over 15 years, visits nursing homes, senior centers and assisted living homes all around the five boroughs, encouraging seniors to get active with his unique routine. 

We've got some more video clips of the contest to share with you, so watch this space. We'll  be incorporating them into our Monday "Joke to Start the Week" feature for the next few weeks.

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.)