Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Rude Computer - A Candid Camera Classic

Candid Camera was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. 

The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

This classic episode first aired in 2001. Clerks were hired to type business letters and they were told that a new program called Vocal Wizard was installed on their computer, providing the voice of the computer. None of the clerks knew that a Candid Camera staffer was in the room next door, providing the voice of the computer. She was able to see what was on each person's computer screen. Let's see how each clerk dealt with the rude and annoying computer.

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.

Today is Lag BaOmer. Watch the Bonfires as They Burned Last Night on Mount Meron

Today is the festival of Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the period between Pesach and Shavuot. Around the world, the day is celebrated mainly in Jewish schools with children going on picnics and hikes and playing with toy bows and arrows in the field.

In Meron, in northern Israel, about 500,000 chasidim make an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi) to sing, dance, and light bonfires.  Rashbi's tomb is the epicenter of the Lag B'Omer celebrations because he was one of the students of Rabbi Akiva who survived a terrible plague that killed thousands of them, and he went on to write the Zohar, the book of Kabbalah.

The bonfires are meant to commemorate the immense light that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai introduced into the world via his mystical teachings. Two years ago, 45 people were killed in a stampede on the mountain when celebrants poured out of one section of the mountainside compound, down a passageway with a sloping metal floor wet with spilled drinks, leading to a staircase continuing down. Witnesses say that people tripped and slipped near the top of the stairs. Those behind, unaware of the blockage ahead, continued. The people further down were trampled.

 

This year, drastic changes have been implemented to prevent a recurrence of the stampede. Attendance will be limited to 200,000 people.

In this video from last night, thousands of chassidim mill about while their rebbe sets a mound of flammable material on fire. Once the fire is lit, the rebbe, dressed in his finest caftan, goes into a wild jumping dance, looking as if he is jumping rope with an invisible rope. 

That's the signal for all of his chassidim to join in the jumping and singing a refrain that consists mainly of the name of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. 

 

Enjoy the day but don't play with fire!

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 Triple Diagnosis"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. This week we're posting another joke from Dr. Jay Orlikoff, a retired dentist from Centereach, New York, a community on Long Island in Suffolk County.

After a distinguished and meritorious dental career, he is shifting his focus to telling and posting jokes on YouTube. We were fortunate to find some of his jokes and we're sharing one of the family-friendly ones with you today. 

Here's the setup: A doctor comes in to his patient and says "I'm sorry, I've got bad news for you. The tests came back and you've got Covid, TB, and leprosy. 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.

Remembering Harry Belafonte - Singing Hinei Ma Tov with the Israeli Army Choir

Singer Harry Belafonte, who died on April 25 at the age of 96, had many Jewish connections.

As Lisa Keys wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA),

A New York City native, Belafonte, an acolyte of singers Paul Robeson and Josh White, was the one of the first Black artists to achieve widespread commercial success in the United States. While he was raised a Catholic, his life frequently dovetailed with Jewish causes, values and individuals.

Among Belafonte’s many Jewish connections — which included brokering a meeting between Nelson Mandela and Jewish leaders in 1989 — was his marriage to his Jewish second wife, dancer Julie Robinson. The couple, who were married from 1958 to 2004, raised two children, Gina and David.

In 2011, Belafonte revealed in his autobiography, “My Song: A Memoir,” that his paternal grandfather was Jewish. Belafonte’s parents were both Jamaican immigrants: his mother, Melvine, was the child of a white mother from Scotland and a Black father, and his father, Harold George Bellanfanti, who later changed the family surname, was the son of a Black mother and white Dutch-Jewish father.

In England in 1995, Belafonte sang Hinei Ma Tov with the Israeli Army Choir.

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.

Welcoming Shabbat with Yismechu by the Zurich Synagogue Choir

Today we're sharing a version of Yismechu by the Zurich Synagogue Choir, a singing group in Switzerland that includes about two dozen singers under the direction of conductor Robert Braunschweig. The choir sings once a month at the Löwenstrasse synagogue in the service on Shabbat morning and on the High Holidays. In addition, the choir sings at interdenominational events and gives concerts in Germany and abroad. 

Yismechu is part of the Mussaf Amida on Shabbat. 

Yism'chu v'malchut'cha shom'rei shabbat v'kor'ei oneg. Am m'kadshei shv'ii kulam yisb'u v'yitan'gu mituvecha, uvash'vii ratzita bo v'kidashto, chemdat yamim oto karata, zecher l'ma'ase v'reshit.

יִשְׂמְחוּ בְמַלְכוּתְךָ, שׁוֹמְרֵי שַׁבָּת וְקֽוֹרְאֵי עֹֽנֶג, עַם מְקַדְּשֵׁי שְׁבִיעִי, כֻּלָּם יִשְׂבְּעוּ וְיִתְעַנְּגוּ מִטּוּבֶֽךָ, וּבַשְּׁבִיעִי רָצִֽיתָ בּוֹ וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ, חֶמְדַּת יָמִים אוֹתוֹ קָרָֽאתָ, זֵֽכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית:

The choir in the Löwenstrasse synagogue has existed – in various forms – for over 100 years. Its members have a wide variety of religious orientations. What they all have in common is the joy of singing in the cultural and religious environment of the Zurich Jewish community. The choir's repertoire includes around 60 mostly synagogue songs and chazzan accompaniments by German, French, Polish and Russian composers of the 19th century. 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 Musical Showcase: Buddy Rich Plays "Norwegian Wood" on the Ed Sullivan Show

It's another Throwback Thursday and today we're turning the clock back 56 years to 1967 when Buddy Rich and his orchestra played Norwegian Wood on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Born Bernard Rich in Brooklyn to Jewish American vaudevillian parents, he was part of his parents' act before he turned two, but on breaks he would sneak into the orchestra pit and try to get the drummer's sticks. 

Rich would often sneak into jazz clubs at an age when he looked old enough to sit on the drum set. He was on Broadway as Baby Traps the Drum Wonder at age four, playing The Stars and Stripes Forever on a drum. He was a singer and tap dancer. In his teens he led a band and toured in the U.S. and Australia. At 15 he became the second highest paid child entertainer behind Jackie Coogan during the 1930s.

In this video clip from 1967, the Buddy Rich Orchestra performs a jazzy rendition of The Beatles' hit song Norwegian Wood on The Ed Sullivan Show. Led by legendary drummer Buddy Rich, the band showcases their impressive skills with a lively and energetic performance that combines swing and rock elements. The performance is a testament to the enduring appeal of jazz music and the talent of the musicians who played it.

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.

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Stolen Poetry - A Candid Camera Classic

Candid Camera was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. 

The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

In this classic episode a Candid Camera staffer posed as a poetry student asking passers-by to listen to a poem that she was going to read to her class. But the poems weren't original. They were classics written by William Shakespeare, Robert Frost, and the Beatles.

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.