Revisiting the Borscht Belt - A Nostalgic Return to the Cradle of Jewish Humor

(A note to our readers: We were invited to submit a guest post about the Borscht Belt on the website of the Israel Forever Foundation. It's an engagement organization that develops and promotes experiential learning opportunities to celebrate and strengthen the personal connection to Israel as an integral part of Jewish life and identity. Here's the complete article, including two video clips, that was posted yesterday at Israel Forever.) 
 

Have You Ever Visited the Borscht Belt?

by Al Kustanowitz

Just as Israel has been called the cradle of world civilization, Sullivan County, a quiet rural area in upstate New York, has earned its reputation as the cradle of Jewish humor.

Sullivan County (and part of Ulster County) are the location of the Catskill Mountains, in whose rolling hills and valleys scores of resort hotels were built in the first half of the twentieth century.

These hotels, catering to Northeastern Jews hungry for fresh, cool air and bountiful portions of traditional Jewish cuisine, flocked to the hotels for recreation, entertainment, comedy, and unlimited portions of brisket, kugel, herring, gefilte fish, and borscht. This classic soup, served hot or cold, with sour cream at dairy meals or with meatballs at meat meals, is the source of the name that describes the summer scene in the mountains – The Borscht Belt.

The names of the hotels are now legendary – Grossingers, The Concord, Kutsher’s, The Granit, The Pines, Homowack Lodge, The Nevele, Brickman’s, Brown’s, The Fallsview, and others too numerous to mention. Kutsher’s was the longest lasting of the group, succumbing to a lack of interest by a younger generation more inclined to travel abroad. It lasted until its 100th anniversary year, and was the subject of a nostalgic film about it and its peers. Welcome to Kutsher’s was released last year. Here is the trailer for the film, which is still being shown at Jewish film festivals:


 
The food served at all of the Catskills hotels was legendary. At breakfast, lunch, dinner, and between meals in the tea room, guests would order everything on the menu and the waiters would accommodate every request. Guests, sometimes embarrassed at ordering so many portions of food would ask for multiple main courses as “a side of stuffed cabbage” or “a side of brisket” and the waiter would bring trays loaded with full main courses for each of the “sides” requested. Since all food was included in the cost of the room, the cost of each dish was never a concern.

Here are breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus from The Concord, Grossinger’s, and Kutsher’s to give you an idea of how many dishes were consumed on a typical day. Just note the five different types of herring and two types of sardines offered as breakfast appetizers.

Most of the hotels are gone now, along with most of the generation that clogged the highways all summer long en route to the resort hotels. But what remains is the comedy and the comedians who started out as waiters, busboys, and tummlers (slapstick entertainers) and made their way to become the most famous funny men and women of films and television. Almost all of them were Jewish.

The list is very long: Milton Berle, George Burns, Sid Caesar, Red Buttons, Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, Joey Adams, Shelley Berman, Joey Bishop, Fanny Brice, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Eddie Cantor, Jack Carter, Myron Cohen, Irwin Corey, Billy Crystal, Bill Dana, Rodney Dangerfield, Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Katz, George Jessel, Alan King, Alan Sherman, Phil Silvers, Henny Youngman, Jonathan Winters, Freddie Roman, etc, etc, etc.

The rise and fall of the Borscht Belt hotels was chronicled in a CBS Sunday morning segment that you can watch below:


 
The Catskills are trying to make a comeback as a resort destination with the old hotel sites being rebuilt as spas, golf clubs, and casino resorts, but without the kosher food and amenities that attracted a generation of Jewish guests.

If you visit the Borscht Belt today, you’ll find two of the old hotels that have been converted to corporate retreats, a few spas under construction, and many bungalow colonies populated by Orthodox and Haredi families.

But if you’re nostalgic for an all-inclusive vacation with unlimited food, you’ll find it in the hotels all over Israel. Instead of ordering lots of “side dishes” from a menu and being served by a waiter, you’ll have to serve yourself from the bountiful buffets served around the clock. It may not be the Borscht Belt, but the Shakshuka Belt can be just as delightful.

Al Kustanowitz founded Jewish Humor Central in 2009, to bring a daily dose of fun and merriment to readers who would otherwise start the day reading news that is often drab, dreary, and depressing. In 2012, Al wrote a series of seven interactive books with the series title Jewish Humor on Your Desktop. Israel is a Funny Country, now in an expanded second edition, is one of the books in the series. For more info, click HERE or send an email by clicking HERE.

Kutsher's Film Goes From Limited Showings to National Release -- on DVD and VOD

Last February we wrote about the South Florida debut of the film Welcome to Kutsher's -- the award-winning film documenting the Borscht Belt experience at the last surviving Catskills hotel. We were in and around Delray Beach, the town where the film played for a week before it moved to California for another week of showings. 

We saw the film and got a lot of nachas from reliving our days of vacationing in the Catskills. But unless you happened to be in the few cities where it was shown, you missed out on the fun and the nostalgia.

The film was released last week on DVD and it's available to purchase as a DVD or rent as Video On Demand, thanks to film makers Caroline Laskow and Ian Rosenberg, and the 154 Kickstarter backers who pledged $12,105 to help bring the project to life.

During its debut week at Movies of Delray, Rosenberg and Larry Strickler, Kutsher's social director for 26 years, reminisced about life in the Catskills while they were interviewed by Peter Wein.

Enjoy!

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Clean Kosher Comedy: A Mid-week Dose to Lighten the Load of Passover Preparation

The supermarket aisles are loaded with Passover products and paraphernalia, new Haggadot are being released, homes are being cleaned, and travel arrangements are being made. 

Have you heard? It's Passover time. Only 15 days until the seder. With all the pressure to make everything perfect for the seder and beyond, we thought that a dose of clean kosher comedy would be helpful to lighten the load and brighten the rest of the week.

We found a video clip on YouTube that we think will do the trick. We think that the comedian is funny and right on the mark. But we don't know who he is. That's right, he's not identified other than that he's available for bookings at Perfect Pitch Entertainment.

So here's a challenge to all you lovers of stand-up comedy, and especially readers who keep asking for more jokes. If you recognize this mystery stand-up comedian, let us know in your comments below.

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.)   

"Welcome to Kutsher's" Updated Documentary Film to Open in South Florida on Feb. 20

Welcome to Kutsher's, an award-winning film documenting the Borscht Belt experience at the last surviving Catskills hotel, has been shown in limited engagements at Jewish film festivals for the last few years.

Now that Kutsher's has been sold and demolished to make way for a new health resort, the film has been updated to include scenes of its last days.

We have a special fondness for Kutsher's because we delivered seven hours of Jewish humor lectures at the hotel during its last full year of operation in 2013.

The newly updated theatrical release will make its debut in South Florida at the Movies of Delray theatre in Delray Beach, and Movies of Lake Worth on Friday, February 20, and will play there for only one week. Its next showing will be at the Cinemas Palme d'Or in Palm Desert, California on March 6 before its general release to select theatres nationwide.

During the 73-minute-long film, you'll laugh with appreciation at Freddie Roman as his classic Borscht Belt routine still brings down the house, and wonder in amazement as Andy Kaufman wrestles a female Kutsher’s guest for $50.  Marvel at the abundance of hearty kosher feasts where no one can get away with ordering just one main dish, and the non-stop whirl of recreational activities.

And as the Catskills decline, this film provides unprecedented eye-witness documentation of Kutsher's from its 100th anniversary season through the next seven years until the hotel is sold and demolished in 2014. The story of Kutsher’s is uniquely American, unexpectedly moving and a vital chapter – previously unexplored – of the modern Jewish experience.

Ian Rosenberg (director/producer of Welcome to Kutsher's) and Larry Strickler (Activities Director at Kutsher's Country Club for 22 years) will speak to audiences following all Friday & Saturday shows at Movies of Delray.

Here's a short preview of Welcome to Kutsher's. 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.)

Kutsher's Comedians Revisited: Sid Caesar Eats at a Health Food Restaurant

Last month we wrote about the sale of Kutsher's Country Club in the Catskills, and lamented its decline as a center of Jewish comedy. 
We promised to feature a series of nostalgic videos of the many comedians who either got their start there or visited repeatedly after achieving comedic fame on radio and television. 

Sid Caesar, who later became famous for his weekly Your Show of Shows, and who recently celebrated his 91st birthday, made his first Catskills appearance on the stage at Kutsher's.

Caesar is a master of comedy and together with his colleagues Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, and Howard Morris, produced and acted in some of the funniest skits shown on TV.

Here's a gem from the old days, in which Caesar and his wife, played by Coca, enter a health food restaurant. Caesar, a meat eater, is perplexed by the vegetarian choices suggested by Reiner in the role of the waiter. This sketch was shown in the days when vegetarian restaurants were uncommon, and the encounter between carnivore and flower patch gets funnier every minute.

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.) 


 

Kutsher's Comedians Revisited: More Buddy Hackett on the Johnny Carson Show

Last month we posted a video of Buddy Hackett being interviewed and telling jokes on the Johnny Carson show. We discovered that it was part one of a two part segment broadcast on a Thanksgiving Day long ago, and that part two was also available.

Whenever we post Buddy Hackett videos, we get an enthusiastic response, so having found part two of this  segment, we're not going to keep it from you.

On this show, Carson was reviewing a list of Hackett routines with the comedian, and whenever he came to one that made him laugh, Hackett obliged by launching into the routine.

In this segment, Hackett deals with divorce (including the Jewish Get), naked baths in Tokyo, and a story about the time he was talked into a match with a sumo wrestler in Japan.

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.)

Kutsher's Comedians Revisited: Buddy Hackett Cracks Up Johnny Carson

Continuing our nostalgic series of famous comedians who got their start or performed at Kutsher's Country Club, the Catskills resort that was sold last month, we found a funny clip of Buddy Hackett on the Johnny Carson show some years back. 

While this is not strictly speaking a stand-up comedy routine, Hackett gets some good laughs from Carson and his audience from their conversation about turkeys, his mother's cooking, what his mother considered treyf, skiing in Colorado, and a variation of an old Jewish joke about a lady with a Yiddish accent and a photofinisher and a hat. We ran another version of the joke last year as told by Old Jews Telling Jokes actress Suzanne Shepherd.

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.)
 

Kutsher's Comedians Revisited: Henny Youngman Roasts Don Rickles at Friars Club

Yesterday we wrote about the sale of Kutsher's Country Club in the Catskills, and lamented its decline as a center of Jewish comedy. 

We promised to feature a series of nostalgic videos of the many comedians who either got their start there or visited repeatedly after achieving comedic fame on radio and television. One of the first and most famous was Henny Youngman. 

The year was 1968, and Don Rickles was being roasted at a Friars Club gala that included funny, insulting speeches about Rickles. Hosted by Johnny Carson, the evening included roasts by an all-star cast including Henny Youngman, Milton Berle and Alan King.

When Youngman stepped up to the microphone, everyone expected him to poke fun at Rickles, the honoree. But in typical Youngman style, he put the spotlight on himself and his family, reeling off a series of one-liners that had the professional comedian audience howling. We hope you'll like this look back at a funny era as much as we do.

Enjoy!

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Goodbye Blintzes and Knishes - Kutsher's Sold to Indian Magnate, to be Rebuilt as Wellness Center

It's the end of an era, the decades of Jewish food and Jewish comedy filling the resorts nestled in the Catskill Mountains just 90 minutes from New York City.

Late last month, while we were getting ready to light the first Chanukah candle, ownership of Kutsher's, the last of the full-service kosher Catskill resorts, passed from the Kutsher family to an Indian company that will transform the 1,325 acre property into a world-class health and wellness center.

Indian media mogul Subhash Chandra plans to spend some $90 million to completely remodel the facilities. He paid $9 million for the historic Sullivan County resort. The healthy living resort will feature "yoga sciences," "ayurvedic medical treatment," "biodynamic restaurants," golf, tennis and "a wide range of health-driven activities." 

Since this is the first we heard of biodynamic restaurants, we did a Google search and found that  biodynamic dining involves the process from farm to table consisting of complete chemical free manufacturing. From the vegetables or the livestock used to provide succulent dishes in restaurants the entire process is done with organic care and consideration. To further promote the concept restaurants produce their own organic green gardens for ultimate freshness and use local suppliers to ensure meat products are both organic and chemical free for true biodynamic authencity.

The plans for the new resort made no mention of blintzes, knishes, kishke, schmaltz, or any kosher food.

If you think that this is the end of Passover holidays in the Catskill Mountains, it isn't. While the ink was drying on the Kutsher's sale agreement, two other famed hotels have been reborn as Kosher for Passover destinations. The Fallsview, in Ellenville has been renamed Honor's Haven Resort, and the Granit, in Kerhonkson, is now the Hudson Valley Resort. Both hotels have announced programs for the full eight days of Passover in April 2014.

In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing memorable video clips of the famous comedians who performed on the stage of Kutsher's Stardust Room. Today, let's look at a new video reflecting on the sale of this landmark hotel.

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 Mynah Bird for Mother"

Another Monday. Another Joke to Start the Week. Another trip back to Kutsher's Resort in Monticello, New York, the Borscht Belt, the Catskills, where we recorded a lot of Jews telling their favorite jokes in the lobby between meals this summer.

We could use some more jokes and jokers for the coming months, so if you're interesting in bringing our shows to your synagogue or club, just invite us for a comedy evening or comedy brunch. We'll be there with one or more of our hour-long romps through the funniest Jewish videos on the Internet, and bring along a video camera and tripod to record your funniest jokes. For more information, use the contact form in the left column of this page.

Today we're bringing back 80-year-old Sheldon Horowitz, the retired attorney and adjunct professor, to tell his joke for this week.

Here's the setup: There are three Jewish brothers. One of them is a successful doctor, one of them is a successful lawyer, and the third guy runs a delicatessen. He's not so successful. Their mother is down in Florida and her birthday is coming up. So...

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.)

A Joke to Start the Week - "The Bullfight"

A month of holidays is rapidly coming to an end with Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on Thursday and Friday. OK, in Israel they're one day -- Thursday. After that, we're holiday-free until Chanukah and Thanksgiving collide on November 28. 

But with all the holiday traditions, we haven't forgotten another weekly tradition -- Monday, the day that we start the week with a joke.

So it's back to the Catskills and Kutsher's for another episode of Jews at Kutsher's Telling Jokes. Today we're bringing back Sheldon Horowitz, the 80-year-old retired attorney and adjunct professor who started the Kutsher's series with us back in July.

Here's the setup: This Jewish couple goes to Seville, Spain to tour, and they decide they're going to go to the bullfights. So they go to the arena, 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.)

A Joke to Start the Week - "What Do You Want to Be?"

It's Monday morning -- time for another Joke to Start the Week, and another trip back to  Kutsher's Resort in New York's Catskill mountains.
 
During our last set of performances we had the pleasure of meeting some very interesting and funny guests with whom we shared good food, stories and jokes in the dining room.

Friday morning we found a quiet corner in the spacious lobby and recorded a few of the guests telling some of their favorite jokes, which we have been posting over the past few Mondays.

Today's joke teller is Yaffa Lown, a retired Hebrew teacher.

Here's the setup for today's joke:  This story happened in Russia, many years ago, when the Communist Party was really strong. So the head of the Communist Party walks into the classroom, 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.) 

A Joke to Start the Week - "Yiddish Voodoo"

Just two weeks ago we were back at Kutsher's Resort in New York's Catskill mountains, performing our sixth and seventh shows there this season. 

We also had the pleasure of meeting some very interesting and funny guests with whom we shared good food, stories and jokes in the dining room.

Friday morning we found a quiet corner in the spacious lobby and recorded a few of the guests telling some of their favorite jokes, which we will be posting over the next few Mondays.

 Today's joke teller is Bernette Rudolph, an 84-year-old artist from Brooklyn. She has been exhibiting her art for over fifty years in galleries and museums throughout the United States with patrons worldwide. Her work, mainly using wood, relates to her life in Brooklyn where where she has her Park Slope studio. The wide range of her colorful works can be seen on her web site, www.Bernette Rudolph.com.

Here's the setup for today's joke:  Two men travel to the deepest, darkest jungles of Africa. They come to an opening. 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.)

A Joke to Start the Week - "The Conversion"

Rosh Hashanah is only a few days away, but today is Monday, and that means it's time for another joke to start the week. These Monday jokes have been the most watched of our posts at Jewish Humor Central, and you can count on us to keep them coming.

Last week we were back at Kutsher's Resort in New York's Catskill mountains, performing our fifth and sixth shows there this season. We also had the pleasure of meeting some very interesting and funny guests with whom we shared good food, stories and jokes in the dining room.

Friday morning we found a quiet corner in the spacious lobby and recorded a few of the guests telling some of their favorite jokes, which we will be posting over the next few Mondays.

Today's joke teller is Rena Wilen, a 77-year-old retired social worker. Here's the setup:

Count Pataki was a very prosperous landowner. He had orchards, he had farms, he had fields, and his overseer was Moish. 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.)

Live, From the Catskills...It's Jeff Krolick at the Keyboard

The Catskills may not be as active as they were in their heyday, but that's not stopping the surviving hotel from entertaining its guests with lively shows. We're talking about Kutsher's Resort, which seems to be the only hotel left still operating as it did years ago, although on a somewhat smaller scale.

On Wednesday night we performed our sixth show of the summer at Kutsher's, bringing the jokes and funny videos of Jewish Humor Central to the audience in the Stardust nightclub. We shared the big stage with Jeff Krolick, a veteran performer with many years of Catskills entertainment behind him.

In addition to the 9pm to midnight entertainment, the daily activities sheet for Wednesday included Aerobics, Arts & Crafts, Pilates, Line and Folk Dancing, Tai Chi, Musical Quiz, Jewelry Making, Chair Yoga, lectures on parenting and Jewish topics, as well as Daf Yomi, Shacharit, Mincha, Maariv, and of course, three meals.

Jeff spent many years as the musical director and entertainment director at the Nevele Hotel in Ellenville, which closed its doors in 2009.

You may have seen him in Florida, in the Poconos, or performing with renowned singers. If not, you have probably heard his music performed by dozens of other talented artists for whom he has arranged and written unique works. Last night, he showed how to create a musical arrangement, and played his condensed version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and a medley of Yiddish and Hebrew songs.

Here is a sampling of what Jeff has been bringing to the Catskills.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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It's Catskills Week at Jewish Humor Central!

We're declaring this to be Catskills week at Jewish Humor Central. 

Yesterday we posted a joke that we captured at Kutsher's Resort last month as part of our new series, Jews at Kutsher's Telling Jokes, admittedly inspired by Sam Hoffman's Old Jews Telling Jokes web site, book, CD, DVD, and the off-Broadway show bearing the same name.

Tomorrow night we'll be at the JCC in Manhattan, attending the premiere of When Comedy Went to School, Robert Klein's new documentary reliving the good old days of stand-up comedians in the famed resorts in the Catskill mountains.

This coming weekend, we'll be on stage at Kutsher's Resort in Monticello and at Vacation Village in Loch Sheldrake, presenting our entertaining lecture, Jewish Humor on Your Desktop: A Whole Lot More Than Catskills Comedy.

We gave this same performance on Sunday at Encore Monroe, a 55+ gated community in Monroe Township, New Jersey. Including this weekend's acts, we will have given 17 performances so far this year and left a lot of people laughing at the many layers of Jewish Humor, as shown through the funniest Jewish video clips on the internet.

For the first time, we have video of the show, and in this post we're sharing the opening monologue that includes the first joke of the set.

If you're a rabbi, president of a synagogue, temple, Men's Club, Sisterhood, JCC, or in charge of programming for any organization, you may want to consider this presentation for an evening of laughs and good clean fun.

We're now accepting bookings for these entertaining lectures in 2013 and 2014 in Florida, California, and everywhere in between. For more information and more video clips, send email to Al at akustan@gmail.com or call him at 201-796-9273.

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.)

A Joke to Start the Week: "A Doctor's Suggestion"

When we lectured at Kutsher's resort in the Catskils two weeks ago, we were approached by some of the guests who had their own jokes to tell us. Since we happened to have a video camera in the trunk of our car we invited some of the joke tellers for a recording session in the Kutsher's lobby. 

The result: Jews at Kutsher's Telling Jokes. We've got enough to last a few months, and today we're running the second joke of this series.

Today's joke comes from Irwin Kahn, a retired teacher.

Here's the setup: So this gentleman goes to visit his doctor for his annual physical, and the doctor says...

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.)

Greetings From Kutsher's in the Catskills - Yes, It's Still There

The Catskills may not be what they used to be, and sitting in the vast lobbies of Kutsher's in Monticello, New York, we can't help seeing ghosts — of comedians, of singers and dancers, of waiters carrying impossible stacks of main dishes and side dishes that actually turn out to be main dishes.

That's where we are this week, performing on stage at Kutsher's Stardust nightclub and lecturing in their Sportsmen's and Deep End Lounges, showing and commenting on the funniest and best video clips from the first three years of Jewish Humor Central.

Guests are still coming to Kutsher's.  Camp Hazak, a group of 200 seniors from Conservative shuls around the USA just finished a week of lectures, entertainment, and lots of food. Individual families and groups continue to arrive for the Fourth of July weekend as we compose this blog post and prepare for another lecture on Jewish humor later today.

The way it was in the dining room

The carpeting is faded, and the tea room is closed. But new management is trying to stage a revival with veteran tummlers providing daytime entertainment and programs planned to fit the clientele of the day. Simon Says, the old standby, and movie and music quiz games are still run by resident tummler Larry Strickler. When fervently Orthodox guests visit, the indoor and outdoor pools have hours reserved for men only, women only, and family swim time.

A Summer KlezKamp at Kutsher's — an intensive week-long immersion in Yiddish music and culture—  will be in full swing here from August 27– September 2. And we'll be lecturing again on Jewish humor on August 2 and August 4.

And there's air conditioning, and free wi-fi service in all of the lobbies.

Nostalgia is the word of the day. If you remember the old days of vacationing at Kutsher's, Grossinger's, the Concord, and other Catskill Mountain Hotels, you'll like Welcome to Kutsher's -The Last Catskills Resort, a new film about Kutsher's, past and present. It's been shown at Jewish Film Festivals, the latest coming up on July 22 in Rochester, New York. We'll keep an eye out for other screenings and let you know what we find.

Enjoy the trailer!

(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.)