Comedy Special: Comedian Gary Gulman's Report on Yom Kippur

 

Gary Gulman is a funny stand-up comedian whom we featured here previously. We got many requests to bring him back with other routines, so here he is again.

In an interview by the JDate editorial team published online, Gulman reflected on how he includes Jewish themes in his comedy. 

Judaism plays an enormous role in my life. It’s a great contributor to my identity. It’s common ground I share with many of my friends and a lot of the people I work with, partially by osmosis — being around people with certain values which my family shares, Jewish values and Jewish culture — as well as going to Hebrew school and reading and learning more about Judaism… going to Israel.

In this clip Gulman gives us his reaction to the Al Chet recitations on Yom Kippur and the relevance of the confessions to actual deeds done.

 

Enjoy! 

 

A Joke to Start the Week - "Late to Work Excuse"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this variation on a classic Myron Cohen joke. Here's the setup: Sam Shapiro, the best cutter in a dress manufacturing shop in Brooklyn, was also the most punctual. He was there every morning at 8 am.. And then...

Enjoy! 

A Joke to Start the Week - "Sharing a Meal"

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 shifted 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. 

It's an oldie but goodie that you've probably heard before, but like many of these, we find it interesting to see the same joke told in a slightly different way by a different joke teller.

Here's the setup: One evening an elderly couple go out to a McDonald's. The restaurant is packed. It's full of young couples and families. They look for a table and find a table. And then...

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Late to Work Excuse"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one. It's a variation on a classic Myron Cohen joke. Here's the setup: Sam Shapiro, the best cutter in a dress manufacturing shop in Brooklyn, was known for his punctuality. He showed up every day at 8 am. But one day...

Enjoy! 

A Joke to Start the Week - "The Cardiologist and the Mechanic"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one. Here's the setup: A mechanic was working on a car when he saw a friend of his, a cardiologist in the shop, evidently waiting for his car. And then...

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Flower Show"

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: Two old ladies are sitting on a park bench across from the town hall where a big flower show is going on. One of the old ladies says to the other "Boy, life is so boring. For five dollars I'd tear my clothes off and run through that flower show and streak them all" And then...

Enjoy!

Sunday Standup Comedy Showcase: Lenny Schultz "In The Beginning"

Some of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines by iconic comedians on Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central.   

Lenny Schultz was an American comedian who performed during the 1970s on television and at comedy clubs in New York City. His madcap style of improvisational comedy influenced other comedians such as Robin Williams, Gallagher, Carrot Top, and David Letterman. 

Throughout his comedy career he continued working as a high school gym teacher and was known to leave clubs early on school nights. Schultz said that both principals and fellow teachers would ask him for autographs after seeing him on TV the night before. Schultz was known among his fellow comedians as a "hard act to follow". 

In this routine from 1977 Schultz tells the story of how it all began--the planet, life, everything-- complete with realistic sound effects.  

Enjoy! 

A Joke to Start the Week - "The Commuter and the Cellphone"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's the setup: After a tiring day of work the commuter sat on the train, happy to close her eyes and get a few minutes of sleep. And then...

Enjoy! 

Sunday Standup Comedy Showcase: Andy Kaufman Sing-Along in 1976

Some of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines by iconic comedians on Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central.  

Andy Kaufman's career was taking off in the 1970s, from the stage of the Improv comedy club in New York to Saturday Night Live and appearances on several variety and talk shows. He introduced his foreign man character and his lip sync to the Mighty Mouse theme. As he deconstructed the idea of the stand-up comedian, his only hope, in his words, was to entertain.

A favorite piece of an Andy Kaufman performance was audience participation, whether it was singing along or going out for milk and cookies after the show. In this bit from 50 years ago, he invites the audience to join him in a sing-along. 

Enjoy!

The Borscht Belt Museum is Open for Business; Visit it in Ellenville, New York This Summer

The Borscht Belt Festival in Ellenville, New York, celebrated its fourth year last month. Catskills fans from all over descended on the festival at the Borscht Belt Museum for a dose of nostalgia, Jewish comedy, and classic Jewish food as it was served in the hotels of Sullivan and Ulster Counties.

The festival lasted only for a few days but the museum is open during the summer on Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. It's closed on Mondays.

The museum is currently featuring a new exhibit called Catskills Romance: Love and Desire in the Borscht Belt. 

It traces the relationships — both conventional and otherwise — that unfolded across the grand hotels and humble bungalow colonies. It celebrates the resort owners, maitre d’s, social directors (tummlers), dance instructors, and staff who masterminded countless successful matches, and explores the beautiful rituals of courtship that defined Catskills summer. The exhibit highlights the essential spaces, activities, and ingredients that sparked connection:  the poolside scene, the Mambo nights and Champagne Hour competitions, and the world-class entertainment that made the resorts irresistible to singles and couples alike.

Beyond the nostalgia, the exhibition uncovers more complex narratives: tales of hidden desire, lost innocence, and the enduring memories guests carried home long after the season ended. Drawing on rare artifacts, vintage photography, oral histories, and the iconic popular culture the era inspired, Catskills Romance offers an intimate, elegant look at a world where tradition and transgression mingled poolside — and a single dance could change a life forever.

The exhibition contains mature content and is not suitable for all ages. Parental discretion is advised.

Here is a the 3-min film that the museum is showing that describes the history of the Catskills resort era. 

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Honda"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing an oldie but goodie that we recently rediscovered in a rich treasure trove from Old Jews Telling Jokes.

Old Jews Telling Jokes started out as a website created in 2009 by Sam Hoffman and Eric Spiegelman. The website and subsequent book, CD, and DVD were the result of their renting a storefront in Highland Park, New Jersey, and videotaping the old jokes told by their parents and friends.

The jokes, told by Jews 65 and older, have been widely reprinted and reposted on the Internet. At Jewish Humor Central, we have used some of the video clips in our Joke to Start the Week on Mondays. Now that we've found a new collection of these jokes, we will be posting them in the coming weeks as our Monday offering.

Here's one joke told by gynecological surgeon Michael Goldberg.

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Generosity"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing an oldie but goodie that we recently rediscovered in a rich treasure trove from Old Jews Telling Jokes.

Old Jews Telling Jokes started out as a website created in 2009 by Sam Hoffman and Eric Spiegelman. The website and subsequent book, CD, and DVD were the result of their renting a storefront in Highland Park, New Jersey, and videotaping the old jokes told by their parents and friends.

The jokes, told by Jews 65 and older, have been widely reprinted and reposted on the Internet. At Jewish Humor Central, we have used some of the video clips in our Joke to Start the Week on Mondays. Now that we've found a new collection of these jokes, we will be posting them in the coming weeks as our Monday offering.

Here's one joke told by NYU professor Larry Zicklin.

Enjoy!

Comedy Showcase: Jackie Mason Toasts His Brother at Chabad Gala in 1987

In 1987 Comedian Jackie Mason made an appearance at the annual gala for Tzivos Hashem, the international children's organization inspired by the Lubavitcher Rebbe.  

The honoree was Mason's older brother Rabbi Bernard Maza. Mason used his classic observational humor to poke fun at cultural quirks, assimilation, and traditional Jewish life, while praising the vital work of instilling Jewish identity in youth. 

His unique background as an ordained rabbi allowed him to connect deeply with the crowd, delivering rapid-fire punchlines that kept the room laughing. 

Here is Mason's speech at the event honoring his brother. Enjoy! 

 

Israeli Standup Comedy in English With Yohay Sponder - "Comedy in the War"

With over 20 years of experience, Yohay Sponder brings his unique outlook on life to the stage.  Throughout his career he has starred in multiple TV and radio shows. He produces and headlines in 'Funny Monday - Israeli Comedy in English' and has performed all over the world. 

Having gained a massive following on social media, Sponder most recently finished up a sold-out tour in Europe with his new show "Self Loving Jew". 

In June Sponder toured the USA with shows in Boston, Philadelphia, and Fort Lauderdale.

In this video clip from a recent performance, Sponder reflects on Jewish attitudes toward comedy in a time of war.

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Gittel the Nag"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one. Here's the setup: Gittel would nag her husband Moshe all the time. The only relief he would get was when he would go away with the mule and be a buyer and seller of scrap metal. From this he made a living. And then...

Enjoy! 

Sunday Standup Comedy Showcase: Andy Kaufman Sings a Song From the Islands of the Caspian Sea

It's hard to believe, but Andy Kaufman has been gone for 42 years. Kaufman, for all the funny characters he portrayed, insisted on being known as a song-and-dance man. 

According to his Wikipedia biography, Kaufman "was a popular and eccentric American entertainer, actor and performance artist."

"Elaborate ruses and pranks were major elements of his career. His body of work maintains a cult following and he continues to be respected for his original material, performance style, and unflinching commitment to character."

Kaufman came to prominence with his "Mighty Mouse" routine on the first Saturday Night Live show. He portrayed a garage mechanic from an unidentified European country on the sitcom Taxi, which also starred Danny DeVito and Jewish actors Judd Hirsch (Alex) and Carol Kane (Simka) and featured Dr. Joyce Brothers as herself in this episode.

The character he played on Taxi, Latka Gravas, had a Jewish and Eastern European feel to it even though it was never specific. The dialect, language and rituals were all made up, but whatever your ethnicity, they made it seem that they captured some of the flavor of the "old country", whatever it was.

Kaufman was born in New York City and grew up in a middle-class Jewish family in Great Neck, Long Island. He died at the age of 35 from a rare form of lung cancer. For years his fans thought he was faking his death as another elaborate prank. 

Here is a video of Kaufman performing what he characterized as "A song which is sung every year at harvest time in the islands of the Caspian Sea." The performance is entirely in one of his "Foreign Man" dialects and the audience is only too happy to join him in his funny gibberish.

Enjoy!

Israeli Comedy Showcase: Shahar Hason Ridicules Lana Del Ray's Hit Song "Summertime Sadness"

Shahar Hasson is one of the leading stand-up comedians in Israel, appearing on Israeli stages for over 25 years, He is a graduate of Yoram Levinstein's acting school. 

Shahar is an entertainer who paved his way through the best entertainment programs in Israel: Eretz Nehederet, Zahirut TV, TV at its best, Laughter from Work, Limited Edition, Fun Night, Express Hearts and more.

In this performance before a live audience, Shahar takes a deep dive into singer Lana Del Ray's hit song Summertime Sadness and ridicules its premise.

He says "Summertime sadness? Summertime is the best time ever. The only time you have summertime sadness is if you order watermelon and it's not sweet enough. The only time you have summertime sadness is if you don't have air conditioning in your house."

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "IRS Asks About the Donation"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one. Here's the setup: Rabbi Mendel Kaplan is at home and the phone rings. He picks up the phone and says "Hello." And at the other end the man says "This is the Internal Revenue Service." And then...

Enjoy! 

Sunday Standup Comedy Showcase: Rita Rudner - "What Do You Think This Is?"

Some of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines by iconic comedians on Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central. 

We've been big fans of Rita Rudner ever since she started to appear on late night TV in the 1980s. One of the hallmarks of her comedy is that it's clean, free from the vulgarity and shouting that many stand-up comics find necessary.  Her delivery is demure, tasteful, full of wry observations, and very funny.

Rudner started her career as a dancer, then switched to stand-up comedy about her dating experiences.  She married British producer Martin Bergman 38 years ago and they have a daughter.  She is fond of Jewish humor but generally reserves it for when she performs for Jewish audiences.

Rita is 72 now and still performing in South Florida and other locations. We are looking forward to seeing her perform on Sunday, February 14, 2027 at the Kings Point Theatre in Delray Beach, Florida. 

 

Rita is at her best when observing the differences between men and women in life, relationships, and of course, sports. From her hit comedy special LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS, Rita hilariously takes on communication, her husband's hypochondriac tendencies, and their relationship to sports. 

 

Enjoy! 

 

A Joke to Start the Week - ""A Night With Twins"

It's another Monday, and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a joke by Rabbi Bob Alper.

Rabbi Bob Alper is the world's only practicing clergyman doing stand-up comedy... intentionally. His fresh, contemporary, and totally "unorthodox" style has been delighting audiences internationally, from the top NY comedy clubs to The World Bank and The National Comedy Center. And his unique brand of intelligent, 100% clean humor appeals to people of all faiths. 

Bob's a special favorite on the clean comedy channels of Sirius/XM Satellite radio, and he's appeared on Showtime, CNN, and Good Morning America.  

Here's the setup: A guy said to his friend "You know, I had one of the most exciting nights of my life last night. I went out on the town with my girlfriend and her twin."  And then...

Enjoy!