Tovah Feldshuh's One Woman Show "Aging is Optional" Comes to Pompano Beach January 11-12

If you're spending January in South Florida, you'll have a unique opportunity to see the award-winning actress Tovah Feldshuh in her acclaimed one-woman show Aging is Optional at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center on January 11 and 12, 2024. If you're wintering elsewhere, we're sharing a 10 minute excerpt from the show right here. 

In this video clip, Feldshuh portrays a range of characters from Mama Lily and Grandma Ada to a French nightclub singer to Naomi Bunch in My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to broadcaster Sylvia Chronic and others.

Tovah Feldshuh is a six-time Emmy & Tony nominee and has been awarded three honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters. Additionally, for her theatre work, she has won four Drama Desks, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, three Dramalogues, the Obie, the Theatre World, and the Helen Hayes and Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Actress. 

She has recently been twice nominated as Best Actress in a Drama in Los Angeles for her work in the play Sisters-in-Law, in which she originated the role of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She recently starred in Funny Girl on Broadway as Rosie Brice. 

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.

Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: Mama Cass Elliot Singing Rogers & Hart on the Ed Sullivan Show

Mama Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen) early in her career was part of various folk bands, crossing paths with Zal Yanovsky, who would later form the Lovin’ Spoonful and Denny Doherty. Together, the group formed the short-lived Mugwumps. 

After the group’s breakup, Doherty joined the New Journeymen, with John and Michelle Phillips and convinced John to let Cass join and in 1965, The Mamas and The Papas were officially born. 

The group performed a total of three times on the Ed Sullivan Show with Cass making a solo final appearance on the show at the Hollywood Bowl in 1970 that was a tribute show to the genius of Richard Rodgers.

In this 1970 video clip from the show, Cass sang a medley from The Girlfriend, by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

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.

 

  #Throwback Thursday     #TBT

"Amerike - The Golden Land" - A Must See Musical Off-Broadway Now Through August 20

Last Wednesday we attended the best example of off-Broadway theatre in New York City. The musical play was Amerike - The Golden Land by Moishe Rosenfeld and Zalmen Mlotek, staged  by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at its new home at the Museum of Jewish Heritage at Manhattan's Battery Park.

Amerike is an expanded version of the play that was originally staged in 1982 and updated in 2012. The acting ensemble has grown from six to twelve, and the new play is entirely in Yiddish with English and Russian supertitles.

As the authors explain in the shows playbill,

We unearthed gems from Yiddish theater and the folklore that brought these experiences to life in a moving musical chronology. We interlaced the songs with dramatic moments that gave the program a theatrical context.

The show includes 41 songs and runs 90 minutes without an intermission. Originally scheduled to run from July 4 through August 6, it has just been extended through August 20. We recommend it highly.

As David Finkle wrote in The Huffington Post,

Before the hour-and-a-half has elapsed, 12 excellent cast members, directed by Brynna Wasserman (with Merete Muenter covering movement), 41 songs by any number of songwriters float by. There’s much pertinent dialogue written by Moishe Rosenfeld and the always-expert music director Zalmen Mlotek.

As the best Manhattan musicals on view these days are listed, Amerike The Golden Land should—and will be—among them.

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.

Monica Piper's "Not That Jewish" Brings New Comedy to Off-Broadway

Comedian Monica Piper, the Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe nominated writer and actress who we've featured doing stand-up comedy earlier this year, is starring in Not So Jewish, a hilarious and heartfelt autobiographical ride of a Jew-“ish” woman’s life. 

It's the one-woman show she wrote and performed for the Jewish Women's Theatre in Santa Monica, California.  It's playing now at the New World Stages on West 50th Street in New York City.

From her show business family in the Bronx, to a WASP wedding, to her first step on a comedy club stage and life as a single mom, Piper shares the milestones and moments that shaped her life with the same signature wit found in her writing on Roseanne, Mad About You, and Rugrats. 

The show is reminiscent of Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays with a peppering of Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers, Reviewers have called it 90 lightning fast minutes of funny, moving, intimate and inspirational theater.

Here's a video clip from the show. Enjoy!

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.)

Hershey Felder IS Leonard Bernstein in "Maestro" Through October 16

Last Tuesday we attended a performance of Maestro, a tribute to the music and life of Leonard Bernstein at the 59E59 theater in Manhattan. It's a one-man show by Hershey Felder, the Canadian pianist, actor, playwright, composer, producer, and director.
 
A few months ago we saw him at Town Hall in a one-man show portraying the music and life of Irving Berlin. Both performances were sold out and Felder received a well-deserved standing ovation. In both productions, for an hour and forty-five minutes, without an intermission, Felder transformed himself into these musical legends with a sense of humor and respect for their musical achievements.

We later learned that he has also performed similar shows as Chopin, Beethoven, and Gershwin.

In Maestro, Felder emphasized Bernstein's strong Jewish background and its influence on his works. This included his father's attempts to steer him away from music and toward study of Talmud, and his composing the Jeremiah Symphony, excerpts of which he played onstage with a backdrop of the Hebrew text of Eicha (Lamentations), the book which is read in the synagogue on Tisha B'Av.

In the production, Felder shows the many sides of Leonard Bernstein and expresses his sadness that despite his desire to be known as a composer of classical music, his work in the popular sphere insured that he is remembered most as a conductor and the composer of West Side Story.

Below is a video clip of Felder as Bernstein reflecting on the composition of Maria from West Side Story.

We highly recommend this production if you're in New York now through October 16.
Tickets are available online, by phone, and in person.

Enjoy!

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Five Jokes to Start the Week from the Chicago Production of Old Jews Telling Jokes

Today is Monday and it's also Tu B'Shvat, the new year of the trees. We posted our Tu B'Shvat post yesterday so we wouldn't miss starting the week with a joke today.

Since it's a holiday, we're giving you a bonus -- not just one joke, but five in rapid succession. They come from a Chicago production of Old Jews Telling Jokes, and we're thankful to the Chicago Tribune for posting them on YouTube.

The performance was in 2013 when the off-Broadway show went on a national tour. Alex Goodrich, Tim Kazurinsky, Renee Matthews and Gene Weygandt are the performers at the Royal George Theatre.

Enjoy!

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"Old Jews Telling Jokes" Comes to New Brunswick, New Jersey

The popular off-Broadway show Old Jews Telling Jokes, which played in New York, Chicago, Palm Beach, Coral Springs and other venues, is now playing at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey through Sunday, January 3.

The show is based on the Old Jews Telling Jokes website created in 2008 by Sam Hoffman and Eric Spiegelman. The website and subsequent book, CD, and DVD are the result of their renting a storefront in Highland Park, New Jersey, and videotaping the old jokes told by their parents and friends.

In this video interview from NJTV News, Hoffman and his father, professor and retired judge Barnett Hoffman, reflect on the experience of creating the website and watching it come to life on the stage.

If you're anywhere near New Brunswick, Old Jews Telling Jokes will have you laughing long after you leave the theater. Tickets are available online at the George Street Playhouse website.

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.)

Meet the Cast of the New "Fiddler on the Roof" Returning to Broadway November 20

Fiddler is back! The fifth revival of the classic award-winning musical will be opening in New York at the Broadway Theatre on November 20.

Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher and the team behind South Pacific and The King and I are bringing a fresh and authentic vision to this beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

Fiddler on the Roof is the timeless story of Tevye, who dreams of being a rich man far from the troubles of his village. As his cherished daughters fall in love one by one, he must decide between letting them grow and holding his family near.

Featuring the Broadway classics “To Life (L’Chaim!),” “If I Were A Rich Man,”Sunrise Sunset,”"Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Tradition,” Fiddler On the Roof will introduce a new generation to this uplifting celebration that raises its cup to joy! To love! To life!
The original production won 10 Tony Awards including a special Tony for becoming the longest-running Broadway musical of all time. The new production stars Tony nominees Danny Burstein and Jessica Hecht with stunning movement and dance from acclaimed Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter based on the original staging by Jerome Robbins. 

A wonderful cast and a lavish orchestra tell this heart-warming story of fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the timeless traditions that define faith and family. 

Today's video clips introduce you to the principal actors in this new production and give you a flavor of their interaction in a rehearsal. 

Enjoy!

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Di Goldene Kale, Lost Yiddish Operetta, to Get Full Staging in New York in December

Di Goldene Kale in Concert at Rutgers University (Photo: Jody Somers)

In August we attended a concert version of Di Goldene Kale (The Golden Bride), a Yiddish operetta from the glory days of the Second Avenue Yiddish theatre. (Kale is pronounced kalleh - rhymes with challah, not kale, the leafy green vegetable.)

The performance was at the Nicholas Music Center on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The audience was enthralled by the beautiful music and funny dialogue, which was projected on a huge screen in English translation.

When the cast and orchestra took their bows, Zalmen Mlotek, the musical director of the Folksbiene - National Yiddish Theatre addressed the audience which gave them a standing ovation. He told the audience that with the theatre group taking up permanent residence at the Museum of Jewish History in downtown Manhattan, he was hoping get support to stage a full production with professionally designed sets and costumes. 

Apparently support came quickly, because Folksbiene announced last week that they are selling tickets for the full production which will be staged from December 2 through December 27 at the Edmond J. Safra Hall at Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place in Manhattan.  

This is a must-see production which will have you humming the melodies and laughing at the funny lines as you leave the theatre.

As Joshua Barone wrote in the New York Times,

“Di Goldene Kale” — with music by Joseph Rumshinsky, lyrics by Louis Gilrod and a book by Frieda Freiman — had its premiere in 1923 at Kessler’s Second Avenue Theater, where it filled the 2,000-seat house and ran for 18 weeks.

In the operetta, a beautiful young woman named Goldele, who was abandoned as a child, receives an unexpected inheritance and sets off on a journey to claim her estate, find her mother and offer her hand to the man who can help.

Here's a video clip of the cast rehearsing for the August performance of the concert version followed by an earlier recording of one of the main songs of the operetta, My Goldele.

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah to Debbie Drachman for bringing this story to our attention.)

Adaptation of "The Rothschilds" Coming to Off-Broadway in October

 

Hal Linden as Mayer Rothschild in the Original Cast

If there was a Tony Award for Best Musical on a Jewish Theme, we would have given it to The Rothschilds, a 1970 Broadway show that ran for 505 performances. 

The words and music were written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, who wrote the words and music for Fiddler on the Roof. Hal Linden had the leading role as Mayer Rothschild. The musical was revived in an off-Broadway version featuring Mike Burstyn in 1980. But it hasn't been heard from since.

Now, 35 years later, it's returning in an adaptation called Rothschild and Sons. It will be performed at The York Theatre from October 6 through November 1 and tickets are already on sale for all performances.

As Andrew R. Chow wrote in The New York Times,

The new adaptation is being directed by Jeffrey Moss and was created with the involvement of Mr. Harnick, who wrote the lyrics, Sherman Yellen, who wrote the book, and the estate of Mr. Bock, who wrote the songs. The reconstructed story centers on the relationship between the Jewish banker Mayer Rothschild, played by Robert Cuccioli (“Jekyll and Hyde”), and his family. Mr. Cuccioli appeared in the 1990 revival of “The Rothschilds” as Mayer’s son, Nathan.

According to Mr. Moss, the idea to restructure the story stemmed from a comment made by Mr. Bock’s 12-year-old son after seeing the original for the first time. “I think there’s a story buried in this show that hasn’t been told yet,” Mr. Moss said. “This is a love story between a father and his sons.”

Songs from the original cast are hard to find today, but here is Sons, one of the best songs in the original show.

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah to Eita Latkin for bringing this news to our attention.)

Brad Zimmerman's Show, My Son the Waiter, Gets New Life Off-Broadway

Earlier this year, we posted a clip of Brad Zimmerman performing a short excerpt from his off-Broadway show My Son the Waiter. 

The show, a funny review of his life as a comic actor and waiter, was supposed to close at the end of December, but has been extended through March 2, 2015.

Written and directed by Zimmerman, who also stars, My Son the Waiter tells the story of how Zimmerman, now pushing 60, waited tables in New York for a mind-numbing 29 years, before finally taking himself seriously enough to study stand-up comedy, and write a one-man show about waiting until his mid-50s to perform onstage.

Zimmerman is an actor and comedian who has opened for George Carlin and Joan Rivers. He is also known for appearing on HBO's The Sopranos.

Here's a longer (8 minute) look at Zimmerman on stage telling his funny life story.

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.) 

 

"Oliver!" (The West End and Broadway Musical) Comes to Jerusalem

One of the delightful features of Jerusalem is its emergence as a showcase for American and British musical theatre. 

Yes, you heard right. Full stage productions of the most popular shows from New York's Broadway and London's West End are being produced in English with Hebrew supertitles a few times a year, mostly by the Encore! Educational Theatre Company.

This week the familiar sounds of Food, Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, Where is Love?, I'd Do Anything, As Long as He Needs Me, It's a Fine Life, and many other songs are resounding in the modern Hirsch Theatre in Beit Shmuel, just behind the King David Hotel in downtown Jerusalem.

Even though Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist, the book on which the musical is based, was rumored to be anti-semitic because of his description of the Fagin character, he later apologized to the London Jewish community and changed parts of the book when it was republished in a newer edition. The musical version was the work of British Jewish lyricist and composer Lionel Bart, who made Fagin into a lovable rogue.

The Encore! troupe, under the artistic and musical direction of Robert Binder and Paul Salter, and established in Jerusalem in 2006, presents the classics of the musical stage as well as lesser-known and original works, in order to expose audiences to this repertoire and, in particular, encourage young people to be the theatre-going public of the future.

Encore! has produced full stage productions of Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic operas including The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and Trial by Jury. In the last two years, they have performed My Fair Lady, A Chorus Line, Oklahoma, Carousel, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, and Hairspray.

The casts include children and adults with and without acting experience who come out for auditions and rehearse for months until the curtain comes up on opening night. 

For Oliver!, opening night was this Tuesday. Seven more performances remain -- two today and five more next week. (Full disclosure: we're taking special pride and shepping nachas from our 8-year-old grandson Gil who is playing the leading role of Oliver for the three matinee performances today, next Thursday, and next Sunday.)

For a taste of Oliver!, here's a video clip of last week's dress rehearsal. 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 Jokes from Second Avenue Embedded in Song by Bruce Adler

We hear a lot about how even before the Catskills, Jewish humor was born on Second Avenue in New York City. The era of Jewish theatre on Second Avenue came to an end before most of us were born and we missed out on a vibrant and funny entertainment form. 

Sometimes a search for Jewish humor on the internet yields an unexpected surprise, and we have a Second Avenue experience to share with you today.

Bruce Adler (1944-2008) was an American Broadway actor. He made his stage debut at an early age, appearing with his parents, Henrietta Jacobson and Julius Adler. The three Adlers played the London Palladium with Sophie Tucker in the 1950s. He continued to appear in Yiddish theatre throughout his teens, also appearing in mainstream American theatre as his parents made a similar "crossover," most notably appearing in productions of Neil Simon's Come Blow Your Horn.

After debuting on the Broadway stage as Ali Hakim, the peddler, in the 1979 revival of Oklahoma!, he went on to a career that saw him nominated for Tony Awards as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Those Were the Days (1991) and Crazy For You (1992). His film work was limited to voice work in animated films, notably providing the singing voice for the narrator of the 1992 Disney film Aladdin and 1996 film Aladdin and the King of Thieves.


In this video gem, Adler bursts onto the stage with Hootsasa, a classic song from Second Avenue. Back in the day, he sang it in Yiddish, but this version is in English, "for the Yiddish-impaired." There's not much to the song itself, but it serves as a vehicle for a barrage of old Jewish jokes, most of which you've probably heard, but he tells them nonstop, and you can't help laughing out loud.

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 - "Fiddler"

Here comes another Monday, and another joke to start the week. 

Richard Levine, an 80-year-old retired label printer for clinical drug studies, is a prolific joke teller. He has participated in many joke telling competitions and is well represented in the Old Jews Telling Jokes collection.

Today Richard's joke takes us to the Broadway stage. Here's the setup: 

Murray takes his 90-year-old mother to see Fiddler on the Roof. She's never seen it before. She's from the old country. So he takes her in a limousine 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.)

Steve Solomon Plays 20 Roles in "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish, and I'm Home for the Holidays"

Steve Solomon is one of America's best story tellers and dialecticians. He delivers his comedy in the form of three shows built around the premise that his mother is Italian and his father is Jewish. That's the perfect setup for delivery of a barrage of nonstop jokes and situations involving multiple dialects.

His shows are all one-man shows, but he takes on the persona of 20 different characters, including his parents, his sister, his daughter, and his doctor. 

Solomon's first show was titled My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish, and I'm in Therapy. His second show continued the theme with ... and I'm Still in Therapy. His latest show, ... and I'm Home For the Holidays picks up where they other two left off and continues his hilarious impressions and stories.

In this show, Steve’s headed home to celebrate the holidays with his wildly dysfunctional family but he’s stuck at the airport with all flights canceled due to a storm….the phone calls begin–the chaos begins. We get to attend holiday dinner at Uncle Paulie’s where, if you’re under 55 you get to sit at “the children’s table.”  Thirty five over-fed people and one toilet. Peace on Earth, Good will towards men and Where’s the plunger?

Here's a nine-minute clip with some of the funny bits from the show. It will be playing at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania from November 6 through November 17, and at the Smith Center in Las Vegas from December 5 through December 8.

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: "Old Jews" Audience Member Tells Joke to Celebrate Her 100th Birthday

This week's joke to start the week comes not from a member of the Old Jews Telling Jokes crew, but from a member of the audience at the off-Broadway show.

Last month Dorothy Carchman, a 100-year-old great-grandmother, celebrated her birthday with a trip to see the Old Jews Telling Jokes off-Broadway show that has been playing on West 43rd Street in New York for the last year. The cast invited her onstage to play a role in delivering the punch line of a joke that they set up for her.

The centenarian got rounds of applause not only for her delivery, but also for telling the audience that she has 6 delicious granddaughters and 13 great-grandchildren. When one of the actors said that he had googled her, she quickly responded "I always wanted to be googled" and got some more laughs.

Happy Birthday, Dorothy!

(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 Nostalgic Look Back at Jewish Comedy On Second Avenue

In 2005 the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre staged a tribute to the Jewish comedy performed in the early twentieth century on Second Avenue on the Lower East Side of New York City. The show included some classic skits from the Yiddish theatre.

On Second Avenue was created by Moishe Rosenfeld and Zalmen Mlotek. The bi-lingual English-Yiddish musical revue also starred Joanne Borts, Lisa Fishman and Robert Abelson. It featured the songs of Yiddish composers such as Abraham Goldfaden, Sholom Secunda, Alexander Olshanetzky and Yosef Rumshinsky, and excerpts from landmark shows.

Videos of these skits are rare, but we found one featuring Lisa Fishman as a friend visiting Mr. Blitz in the hospital. This is the hospital visit from hell, one that we don't wish on anybody. But it's funny.

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 Clips From "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish, and I'm in Therapy

Steve Solomon's one man comedy show My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish, and I'm in Therapy has been touring the US since at least 2006 and had an off-Broadway run last year. It's closed now, but we finally got a close look at his shtick in a series of segments from the show that were just posted on YouTube this week.

Solomon created the show and wrote the jokes, but the one man lead has been played by other actors during the show's run. The New York version, clips of which appear below, featured Peter Fogel in the lead (and only) role. 

We join the show in a first segment where Fogel is describing his experience on an El Al plane bound for Israel. 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.)   

Caesar's Writers: Another Tribute to Master Comedian Sid Caesar On His 90th

Last month we noted that master comedian Sid Caesar would be turning 90 years old soon, and posted a tribute in the form of a "Big Business" comedy sketch from Your Show of Shows.

Sid's birthday was last Saturday, and we're acknowledging it with another video clip, this time from Caesar's Writers, a classic DVD that has been unavailable for some time, but is now in re-release and available at Amazon.com.

On January 24, 1996 at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles, CA, legendary comic Sid Caesar was reunited with nine of his writers from Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. The event was taped, and later broadcast on PBS in the United States, and the BBC in the UK as a 1 hour special, with only select portions of the full two-hour event. The full event was previously available only as a VHS, offered as a pledge premium by local PBS stations. 

Now, the full two-hour special CAESAR'S WRITERS is available on DVD for the first time. It's a non-stop laugh riot as the panel, made up of head writer Mel Tolkin, Caesar, Carl Reiner, Aaron Ruben, Larry Gelbart, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Danny Simon, Sheldon Keller, and Gary Belkin share stories about their time working on Caesar's shows and offer their insights about writing comedy. If you have fond recollections of the high quality comedy that this group, celebrated in Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, created in the 1950s, you'll want to see this DVD.

The video clip below is from the DVD, and shows the whole group cracking up as they reminisce about a joke involving a magician who makes his finger disappear. Notice that there's no profanity, meanness, or insults among the group, just plain fun and love of comedy.

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.)