A Wendy's Shabbat for Seniors in Palm Desert

A short documentary film, Wendy's Shabbat, has been drawing attention at Jewish film festivals around the USA.

It's about a group of Jewish senior citizens in Palm Desert, California who celebrate the weekly Shabbat at the local Wendy’s fast food restaurant with Hebrew blessings over burgers and fries.

The friends usher in the Sabbath by candlelight, with challah bread and grape juice (no wine at Wendy's) to complement their chicken nuggets and fries. Shabbat is typically observed at home with family, but here these seniors share in the celebration of their religion at Wendy’s. The Wendy’s staff, somewhat tickled and honored to be the site of such ritual, arrange the restaurant tables into a long row and prepare milkshakes for each attendee.

This is a story of rediscovering the joys of community again in older age, and in the longing for ritual, however unorthodox and non-kosher it may be. There are themes of love, of ritual and of community -- all within the context of an adorable scene at Wendy’s.

The film will be shown at nine Jewish film festivals in 2018.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom.

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Sid Caesar in "The Fur Coat"

When Your Show of Shows was canceled in 1954, Sid Caesar started a new show called Caesar's Hour. The popular series of sketches called The Hickenloopers, about a bickering married couple, was recast as The Commuters, with Nanette Fabray playing Sid's wife as Imogene Coca had played in The Hickenloopers.

In this 1956 episode of The Commuters, "The Fur Coat," Nanette finds a real bargain in a beautiful beaver fur coat and can't resist buying it. Sid's reaction and the confrontation about money give us a hilarious 17 minute episode. Sid's sidekicks Carl Reiner and Howard Morris are also in the sketch.

Enjoy!

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#TBT    #Throwback Thursday

Remembering Marty Allen, Standup Comedian and Half of Allen & Rossi

Marty Allen, the stand-up comedian and funny half of the Allen & Rossi duo, who died Monday in Las Vegas at the age of 95, worked with his first comedy partner, Mitch DeWood, as an opening act for such stars as Sarah Vaughan, Eydie Gormé, and Nat King Cole in the 1950s. 

When the duo split up, he achieved fame with his partner Steve Rossi as the comedy team of Allen and Rossi.

As  Marvin Glassman wrote last year in the Florida Jewish Journal,

Allen may be one of the oldest Jewish comedians still on stage to have performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show," a popular television variety show in the 1950s and 60s.
Allen and his late partner Steve Rossi became a comedy duo hit from the "Sullivan" appearances. Known as "Allen & Rossi," the duo appeared 44 times on "Ed Sullivan" and had 700 other television appearances in their heyday from 1957-68, before breaking up as a duo.

Allen was the pudgy, wild-haired short, affable Jewish man who would play funny characters while being asked questions by Rossi. Allen's quick wit made audiences laugh as Rossi would ask him questions after beginning the routines by saying "Hello Dere."

Born as Morton Alpern in Pittsburgh, he went into show business after serving in the U.S. Air Forces in World War II while stationed in Italy. Allen earned a Soldier's Medal for his bravery getting fellow soldiers out of a plane that was caught on fire while being refueled.

"I was shocked when I was in Italy to later learn about the Holocaust and care deeply about being Jewish and being a supporter of Israel. Growing up, our family celebrated all the Jewish holidays and I still celebrate the Jewish holidays," said Allen.

Today we're sharing a rare clip of Marty Allen performing a solo stand-up routine.

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Jerry Seinfeld on Donut Holes, Buffets, and TV Dinners

In January 2016 Jerry Seinfeld dropped in on The Late Night Show with Steven Colbert for a comedy set on America's weight problem.

In the 7-minute set, he expounds on the logic of selling donut holes vs. donut plugs, and the marketing strategy behind restaurant buffets and TV dinners.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Watching the Neighbors"

Its 80 degrees and sunny in South Florida where we're on our annual Jewish humor lecture tour. We hope the weather where you are is as pleasant as can be. Since today's another Monday, here's another new old joke that we recorded in our mobile studio.

Here's the setup: Sheldon sees his wife Marlene looking out of their bedroom window. "What are you staring at, Marlene?" he asks. And then...

Enjoy!

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Israel at the Olympics: Alexei Bychenko Wins Second Place Skating to Hava Nagila

Israeli figure skater Alexei Bychenko captured second place in the men's figure skating competition at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea this week. 

The Ukrainian-born flag bearer for the Israeli team performed his routine to an instrumental version of Hava Nagila that started with Sh'ma Yisrael.

As Jenny Singer wrote in The Forward,

As the opening strains of “Hava Nagila” rang out, a nod to his Judaism and the country he now skates for, Bychenko exuded the confidence of a bar mitzvah party motivator, the exuberance of a schnapps-drunk uncle, and the technique of a world class figure skater. With a flawless series of triple lutzes, laybacks, and a perfectly executed quad jumps, Bychenko crushed his season’s best, attaining an 88.49. He ended the night in second place, just behind Japan and far ahead of Nathan Chen, the 18 year-old American champion.

Enjoy!

Read more: https://forward.com/schmooze/394053/israeli-skaters-flawless-hava-nagila-vaults-him-to-second-place-in-mens-fig/

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Welcoming Shabbat with Adon Olam by the Alon High School Choir

In Jewish Humor Central's eight years of existence we have brought you more than 30 versions of Adon Olam, the song that ends the Shabbat morning service.

We keep finding new versions, and today we're sharing an Adon Olam by David de Sola, sung by the Alon High School choir of Ramat Hasharon, Israel.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Stiller and Meara on Nixon's Visit to China

Stiller and Meara (Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara) were a husband-and-wife comedy duo that was popular primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. They made frequent appearances on television variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show.

A lot of their humor focused on their different religious backgrounds, but actually Meara converted to Reform Judaism six years after marrying Stiller.

In this video clip from The Carol Burnett Show, Stiller and Meara reflect on President Richard Nixon's trip to China. They observe that the press reported widely on the Nixons' view of China and the Chinese, but didn't write about how the Americans were seen by China's Premier Chou En-lai and his wife.  So the comedy duo speculate on conversations between them after the Americans returned home.

Enjoy! 

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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

Comedy Showcase: Jerry Seinfeld on Men, Women, and Flowers

The Comic Strip, renamed Comic Strip Live, is the oldest stand-up comedy showcase club in New York City and the world, located at 1568 Second Avenue. Lots of stand-up comics got their start there and many alumni still return to perform their sets.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld made an appearance at The Comic Strip with a short routine about men, women, and flowers. With Valentine's Day approaching next week, many men will be buying flowers for their wives and girlfriends. Here is Jerry's funny commentary about the relationship between men, women, and flowers.

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Yakov Smirnoff at Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal

Yakov Smirnoff was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1951 and brought his comedy to America when he immigrated with his family in 1977. 

Prior to his latest two-year tour, Yakov had spent 20 seasons entertaining audiences in his own 2,000 seat theater in Branson, Missouri, making them come alive with laughter. 

His comparisons with life in Russia and life in America, along with his philosophy and insights about how “Love and Laughter” go hand in hand are funny, interesting, and entertaining.
Smirnoff spent a portion of his early days in the United States working as a busboy and bartender at Grossingers Hotel in the Catskill Mountains of New York and living in the employee dormitory. He only learned that he was Jewish when he was 15 years old.

Here is a video clip from a Smirnoff performance at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal in 1993, where he focuses on marriage and fatherhood.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "The Rabbi's Financial Advice"

Punxsutawney Phil, the world's most famous groundhog, has seen his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter. 

Well, maybe up north, but here in sunny South Florida, where we're taking a working vacation, it's 78 degrees, with temperatures in the high 70s forecast for the next 10 days.

In addition to soaking up the sun and giving ten lectures on Jewish humor on Florida's East Coast, we're busy recording some new old jokes for the upcoming Mondays. 

Here's the setup for today's joke to start the week: Sheldon goes to see Rabbi Goldberg. "Rabbi," he says, "my life is in ruins. My wife has left me and she's taken our children and our dog with her." And then...

Enjoy!

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Israeli Comedians Take a New Direction: Weekly Standup Comedy in English

Comedians Yohay Sponder and Shahar Hason got their start as comedians in Israel catering exclusively to Hebrew-speaking audiences. As the two became more and more well-known to Hebrew speakers throughout Israel, they noticed a huge demographic in the country that was missing out on the laughs. 

Sponder and Hason took the risk of crafting and re-writing their material from Hebrew to English (and from Israeli humor to American humor), all the while unsure whether or not they would even get a laugh out of an English speaking crowd. Their hard work and dedication to broadening the audience of one of Israel’s most unique cultural elements has launched the growing scene of Israeli Stand-up in English.

As Ashley O'Brien wrote in the Jerusalem Post, 

Every week Sponder and Hason, along with an impressive list of other Israeli and international comedians, take to the stage in Tel Aviv to deliver fresh material to Israel’s English speakers. No topic (or audience member) is off-limits on a Funny Monday, and locals, Olim (immigrants to Israel), and tourists fill the seats of the Chelsea Hotel for a chance to cut loose with some of Israel’s funniest people.  

We're starting a new series, bringing you some of the stand-up routines from the Chelsea Hotel in Tel Aviv. We're asking you to comment and let us know if you want to see more of these videos. We know that the language that these comics use it a bit raw and uncensored, but it is typical of Israeli humor. This video clip includes comedy by American comedian Elon Gold and Israeli-American comedian Benji Lovitt.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with a Rock Version of Yigdal by Eden

Today we're welcoming Shabbat with a traditional song usually sung at the completion of the Friday evening service. But if you're familiar with Yigdal, it's unlikely that you've heard it the way it's played by Eden.

Comprised of three childhood friends growing up with a love for music, Eden is a Jewish Rock trio from Brooklyn, New York that has been an explosive musical force from its inception. 

Having performed before audiences numbered from hundreds to thousands, Eden’s powerful message of spirituality and joy has spread to people all over the world. Their musical influences cover the gamut of rock, ranging from the earliest roots of folk to the most modern explosive metal and everything in between.

So get ready to rock into Shabbat with a most unusual version of Yigdal.

Enjoy! 

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Danny Kaye & Beverly Sills - Just Two Jewish Kids From Brooklyn

Danny Kaye (David Daniel Kaminsky) and Beverly Sills (Belle Miriam Silverman) were two of the greatest entertainers of their time. Danny Kaye as the great comedian and actor in many films, and Beverly Sills as a great opera star.

Kaye was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, on January 18, 1911 to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants Jacob and Clara Nemerovsky Kaminsky. He was the youngest of three sons. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs.

His films were popular, especially his performances of patter songs and favorites such as "Inchworm" and "The Ugly Duckling." He was the first ambassador-at-large of UNICEF in 1954 and received the French Legion of Honour in 1986 for his years of work with the organization.

Sills' parents were Jewish immigrants from Odessa, Ukraine (then part of Russia) and Bucharest, Romania. She was raised in Brooklyn, where she was known, among friends, as "Bubbles" Silverman. As a child, she spoke Yiddish, Russian, Romanian, French and English. 

Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was known for her performances in coloratura soprano roles in live opera and recordings. 

Kaye and Sills never hid their origins and were proud of where they came from. In this duet, they identify themselves as two kids from Brooklyn who could speak Brooklynese. 

This video shows them at their funniest in a hilarious opera parody.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday    #TBT