Comedy For Koby Comes to New Jersey For the First Time

Regular readers of Jewish Humor Central know all about Comedy For Koby. During the seven years that we've been blogging here, we've posted seven videos about the show that comedian Avi Liberman brings to Israel twice a year.

Liberman has been bringing groups of American comedians to Israel since 2002 to raise money for multiple charities, most recently for the Koby Mandell Foundation, which works on behalf of terror victims' families.
 
The foundation is named after the 13-year-old who was murdered by terrorists near his Tekoa home on May 8, 2001.

This week Comedy For Koby is coming to Bergen County, New Jersey. The show will be held on Saturday Night, November 12, 2016, at 8pm, at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck. The outstanding lineup features some of America's top comedians: Butch Bradley, Ryan Hamilton and Dan Naturman, and hosted by Avi Liberman. The event will be preceded by a wine and dessert reception. 

In December Liberman is bringing the show to six cities in Israel. 

In this video, The Big Falafel's Molly Livingstone interviews Avi Liberman before the show that he produced in Israel earlier this year.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Spare Spoons"

Today is the Monday before Election Day, and some of our readers just can't wait to get the week started with a good old joke. So we did a deep dive into the Old Jews Telling Jokes archives to find this gem told by Bernie Leibowitz, who retired from the carpet business.

Here's the setup for the joke: My wife and I were in this famous restaurant in Philadelphia. All of the waiters wore tuxedos, and I noticed that they all had a spoon in their pocket. And then...

Enjoy!

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Children Tell Old Jewish Jokes in Promo Video for Joke Collection

William Novak, the co-creator of the classic Big Book of Jewish Humor, has just written a new book called Die Laughing: Killer Jokes for Newly Old Folks. It's chock full of jokes about growing older that makes fun of memory loss, marriages, medicine, sex, the afterlife, and much more.

They're not explicitly Jewish, but like most jokes told by old Jews, they clearly have a Jewish inflection.

You won't find many new jokes here, as most of them have been retold for generations and make up the majority of jokes circulating in the Old Jews Telling Jokes web posts, book, CD, DVD, and off-Broadway shows. But Novak has aggregated the 290 pages of jokes into nine categories and made them convenient to access and retell. 

To promote the book, Simon and Schuster made a video featuring four young joke tellers to read seven of the jokes out loud. We're sharing it with you today. It's a quick way to start your day with seven laughs.

Enjoy!

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Black Comedians Celebrate Shabbat for the First Time

The majority of people who celebrate Shabbat are white and Jewish. However, black comedians Teddy Ray and Slink Johnson try to get into the Shabbat mood. It's part of a series called "For the First Time."

Other episodes in the series are "Black People Celebrate Hanukkah For the First Time",  "Black People Try Jewish Food For the First Time.", and "White People Go to a Black BBQ For the First Time."

In this video the comedians join Rabbi-in-Training Lee Epstein and Hebrew tutor Jamie Mittleman in encountering a kippah, kiddush, and challah as they celebrate Shabbat for the first time.

Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom.

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Mal Z. Lawrence on Atlantic City, Florida, and the Catskills

Mal Z. Lawrence probably holds the record for most stand-up comedy routines performed in Catskills hotels. When the hotels started to disappear, Mal simply moved his shtick to the casino hotels of Atlantic City and the playhouses of Century Village and other residential communities in Florida.

And as old as the jokes are, and no matter how many times the audiences heard them, they still laugh their heads off when Mal strides onto the stage and starts his delivery.

We featured Mal back in 2010 doing a few minutes of his routine on a stage in Florida and in a 2013 performance in Los Angeles. We think it's time to bring him back in a longer version of his act for our readers who have been asking for more of him and for our newer and younger readers who are not familiar with his humor. This video is a 25 minute performance on stage in Atlantic City. 

The secret of Mal's popularity is his uncanny sense of timing, irony, and exaggeration. The subjects covered in this routine include hotels and buses in Atlantic City, and the bountiful food of the Catskill hotels.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday #TBT  

Fyvush Finkel Tells His Grandfather's Favorite Joke - In Yiddish

Since 2010, the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project has recorded more than 600 in-depth video interviews that provide a deeper understanding of the Jewish experience and the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture. 

The interviews in the growing collection are conducted in Yiddish and/or English with narrators of all ages from a variety of backgrounds. 

Fyvush Finkel, the beloved comedian, actor, and singer who died in August, was interviewed by Christa Whitney on October 23, 2014 in New York. Finkel reminisced about how he inherited his grandfather's sense of humor and retold his grandfather's favorite joke -- all in Yiddish (with English subtitles).

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Hava Nagila Rings Out With the Trio Balkan Strings in Sarajevo

Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a compact city on the Miljacka River, surrounded by the Dinaric Alps. Its center has museums commemorating local history, including Sarajevo 1878–1918, which covers the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, an event that sparked World War I.

This week it was also the location of Guitartfest, a festival of guitar music, with a program that included Trio Balkan Strings playing Hava Nagila. We have posted more than 50 versions of Hava Nagila, but this is the first Sarajevo version that we have encountered. 

Living in a country once marred by sectarian conflict, Jewish leader Jakob Finci says his 1,000-strong community ‘feels safe’ 20 years after the end of the Bosnian War.

As Anne Joseph wrote in The Times of Israel,

Although the small Jewish community currently only numbers approximately 1,000, Finci said that Jews are also equal partners amid a majority Sunni Muslim population because of their long tradition and presence in the region.

“I think this is very important, especially taking into account all the activities during the last war when we were able to help non-Jews,” he said. “We really did our best to help everyone without questioning who they were, what was their religion or anything else.”Finci’s office is located in Sarajevo’s Jewish community center. Unusual for a Jewish institutional building in Europe, it has no security.“Here, [in Sarajevo] we feel very safe,” he remarked.

Enjoy!


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A Joke to Start the Week - "Good Genes"

During our week of Jewish humor lectures and comedy programs at the Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Adult Vacation Center, we shared the role of guest lecturer with Mark Levy, a California-based performer and teacher of Jewish music for 30 years at temples, synagogues, JCCs, elder hostels and other Jewish groups.

Mark's classes and lecture topics include Fiddlers on the Stage! - Ten Jewish Violinists, Music of the Bible, Klezmer 101, The Classics from Rossi to Bernstein, Songs of the Jewish Labor Movement, and A Century of Jewish Humor in America.

We got Mark to sit on the lawn next to Lake Copake and tell us some of his favorite jokes. We captured a few and we've been sharing them with you.

Here's the setup for today's joke: A guy goes to the doctor and gets some tests done. The doctor comes out with a chart in about 45 minutes. And then...

Enjoy!

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"Soon By You" Orthodox Singles Comedy Releases Third Episode - "The Shabbat Meal"

Back in May we posted the pilot episode of Soon By You, a new web comedy series that depicts the joys and challenges of Orthodox Jewish dating for young professional singles in New York City. In July we posted the second episode.

Your reactions to the comedy were very positive, and so we have been watching for new episodes to show up. This week the third episode, The Shabbat Meal, was released, and we're sharing it with you today.

In the pilot episode titled The Setup, a rabbinical student named David accepts a blind date at a restaurant in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. While there he accidentally sits down across from Sarah Feldman, a free-spirited artist with whom he instantly connects, but that's not his date. Through a series of different events he’s eventually led to the “right” girl, also named Sarah, a larger than life superficial-type character, who is so caught up with ordering food and herself to actually catch the nuances and humor of his excuses that led him to be late.

This situation leads to a not-so-typical romantic encounter with David and Sarah F, who take short breaks from their respective dates to meet at the back of the restaurant, where they dream up mural ideas and finish each other’s sentences. It’s an example of a matchmakers' worst nightmare and how chemistry leads the way to a potential match. Get ready to cry, laugh, be amused, and, watch the "fun" filled life of Orthodox dating.

In the second episode, The Follow Up, David loses Sarah F's phone number. With the help of his roommate, Z, he is willing to do anything to find her. Two new characters are introduced and we spend more time with the original four characters.

In the third and latest episode, David goes to great lengths to see Sarah F again. Meanwhile Ben faces his first conflict between work and faith.

Our guess is that we will be following these characters through a series of romantic adventures, that is if the filmmakers find sources of funds to continue producing the series.

Enjoy!

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A Taste of Jerusalem: Shalom Aleichem and Lecha Dodi During Kabbalat Shabbat at the First Station

We're heading into our first Shabbat back home after spending a month of holidays in Jerusalem. It's been a great month and we've enjoyed sharing some tastes of this great city with you. 

We're working our way back to our mix of jokes, music, fun, unusual news items, Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places and Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places, but with Shabbat starting tonight, we'll share just one more Taste of Jerusalem.

This is a taste of Kabbalat Shabbat, not the usual Friday night evening service, but a bonus afternoon musical pre-Shabbat service that's been taking place each week at First Station Jerusalem, the outdoor mall, event and dining center that opened in 2013.

Residents and tourists alike come here to celebrate a musical welcome to Shabbat. For the secular population, it's their Shabbat experience, and for the observant it's a pleasant way to set the stage for traditional services and Shabbat dinner at nightfall.

Enjoy!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Alan King Reminisces About His Son's Bar Mitzvah Haftorah

We hope you had a joyful month of holidays. Now that Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot are behind us, we're back to our usual mix of jokes and funny happenings around the world. 

Mondays are reserved for a Joke to Start the Week, Fridays for a Shabbat-related post, and Thursdays for reaching back in time for a classic comedy post. The other days? Whatever we think is funny or nachas-producing.

On this Throwback Thursday we're reaching back to an episode of The Johnny Carson Show when Johnny interviewed Alan King and Alan reminisced about the time his son had difficulty learning the Haftorah for his Bar Mitzvah.

Enjoy!

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Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: Nations March in Jerusalem to Support Israel

Every year, tens of thousands of Israelis and Christian believers from around the world participate in the annual Jerusalem March, a festive parade that takes place in the middle of the week-long Sukkot holiday (the Feast of Tabernacles).

It begins in the afternoon and participants include representative groups from different countries and organizations, dance ensembles, street artists, marching bands, IDF soldiers and others.

The Jerusalem March has evolved since its founding in 1955 when it was a four day march around the time of Passover that was attended by a small number of IDF soldiers and a few dozen local civilians.

Following the founding of the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem in 1980, Christian believers began joining the march and over time it has become a tradition for thousands of Christians from around the world to participate while holding banners showing their love for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, wishing locals a happy holiday and giving bystanders little trinkets, such as flags from their home countries, and candies.

We went to the finish line in Gan Sacher to record some of the marchers in their native costumes carrying the flags of their countries and singing songs in support of Israel.

Enjoy!

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A Taste of Jerusalem: Sukkot Oktoberfest at the First Station

Originating over 200 years ago in Munich, Germany, the annual Oktoberfest is best known as a celebration of beer, food, and music that’s gradually spread to all corners of the globe.

This year, Jerusalem had its first full-scale Oktoberfest celebration during Sukkot at the First Station, with everything from traditional beer tents and live music to Bavarian beer and food.

During Chol Hamoed Sukkot, Jerusalemites came out in large numbers to sit at the long, wooden, communal tables, to enjoy some giant beers, sausages and pretzels and listen to live music.

Join us for another in our series of video Tastes of Jerusalem as we shop, drink, enjoy the music, and mingle with the residents and visitors to this lively city during the holiday season.

Tonight is Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in Israel, both days wrapped into one. The diaspora observes two days of Yom Tov on Monday and Tuesday. We'll be back blogging again on Wednesday.

Enjoy and Chag Sameach!

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A Taste of Jerusalem on Sukkot: Adon Olam Becomes Street Theatre in Zion Square

When it comes to spontaneous street theatre in Jerusalem, Zion Square, at the bottom of Ben Yehuda Street is ground zero. And during the intermediate days (Chol Hamoed) of Sukkot and Pesach, Zion Square is where some of the best singers and performers show up to give the passing crowds a good show.

This week we have had quite a show, and we captured performances that we'll be happy to share with you in the coming days, even after the Sukkot holiday is over.

The video below of Adon Olam, the concluding song of the Shabbat morning service, turned into a spontaneous combination of music and dance this week. We know who the guitarist and violinist are, but the lady in gray who suddenly joined the duo with an unexpected dance routine remains a mystery to us.

The singer/guitarist and violinist, known as The Rabbi and Gypsy Lady, are regular performers in Kikar Zion (Zion Square) and also on stage in clubs and theaters around Israel. Rabbi Tomer Peretz's day job is as a teacher of Torah and Talmud, but he is also a singer, composer and guitarist. His musical partner is Alexandra Kanarit. This "Gypsy Lady" is a violinist and composer from the Ukraine.
 
Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!


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A Taste of Jerusalem: Music, Merchandise, and Giant Puppets at Sukkot Street Fair

Sukkot is an amazing time of year to be in Jerusalem, and that's where we are this week. With most schools closed for the entire week, the streets and parks are teeming with children and their parents attending the special events that have been planned to keep them in a happy holiday mood.

During this Sukkot week we'll be running a series of blog posts to share this mood with you and give you a taste of Jerusalem.

Today we'll start with a few minutes that we captured on the first intermediate day of Sukkot at an evening street fair in the German Colony. 

Every year the art fair, with street theater performances, exhibits, music concerts, central stages, art workshops, food stands, caricaturists, outdoor musicians, public dances, exhibitions and more is held all along Derech Beit Lechem.

You'll be with us as we walk past vendors of clothing, housewares, and gifts, food stands, and groups of performers including singers and giant papier mache puppets.

Enjoy!

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