Catskill Comedy Special: "Ten Cents a Bagel" Yiddish Sketch From "Catskill Honeymoon"

Catskill Honeymoon is a raucous marriage ceremony between Yiddish-American cinema and the Borscht Belt. Billed as a “Yiddish-American Musical Revue,” it was one of the very last Yiddish-language films to premiere on Broadway. Its success demonstrated that by 1950 the center of Jewish-American entertainment had moved from New York City to the Catskill resorts of upstate New York . 

With its performers, emcee, and audience often filmed separately and awkwardly intercut, Catskill Honeymoon has the airless feel of “canned vaudeville,” as critic J. Hoberman put it. Nevertheless, it became one of the longest-running Yiddish films.

Up to the late 1970s, it was still a favorite in elderly and rehabilitation homes, having outlasted the Yiddish theatre scene and Young’s Gap Hotel, which closed in 1967. Increased social mobility and assimilation doomed the Catskills resorts, but not before they introduced performers such as Danny Kaye, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, and Jerry Lewis. Catskill Honeymoon preserves the performances of a grab-bag of entertainers from this tradition, allowing viewers to enjoy a night in the mountains.

Here is a classic sketch from the film set in a Catskills lunchroom in which the three actors, Max Bozyk, Henrietta Jacobson, and Julius Adler, standing on principle, gradually throw all their possessions out the window.

The black and white movie clip is in Yiddish with English subtitles. 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.

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.

Yiddish Web Comedy Series, YidLife Crisis, Features Food and Coarse Language

Two Montreal comedians, Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion, have created a series of web videos called YidLife Crisis in Yiddish with English subtitles. It's been characterized as comedy, culture, and religion on a plate. While it sometimes pokes fun at religious customs, Elman says that it comes from a place of love.

Elman and Batalion made an appearance last year at the Comedy for a Change Conference in Jerusalem, an event that we reported on a few weeks ago. So far there are 7 videos in their series. Food is a major part of their comedy, especially the ethnic food available in the close-knit Jewish communities of Montreal and New York.

They were recently the subjects of a report on Sunday Bite, a Montreal TV program. Their videos start with a warning: "The following contains adult situations and coarse language. In Yiddish."

We offer the same warning: If you're going to be offended by a few off-color words, then skip this one. Otherwise, enjoy (and laugh)!

(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.)