News
What the late Catherine O'Hara taught me about Purim and laughter
2+ hour, 31+ min ago (434+ words) A movie within the movie "For Your Consideration" is a reminder in perilous times that humor is a tool for resilience, writes a rabbinical student. After the actress Catherine O'Hara died, I decided to revisit some of her most vaunted…...
Judd Apatow grew up idolizing Mel Brooks. Now he’s telling Brooks' story in an HBO documentary.
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (1183+ words) The comedy director reflects on Brooks" Jewish identity, his influence on modern comedy and "Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!" When Judd Apatow was growing up on Long Island, there was no debate about who ruled the comedy world. "Nobody was…...
Before ‘SNL,’ there was Sid Caesar — and a roomful of Jewish writers
2+ mon, 1+ week ago (1342+ words) In television's early days, Caesar translated Jewish humor into a language America didn't yet know it understood. And yet, as David Margolick recounts in his new biography, "When Caesar Was King: How Sid Caesar Reinvented American Comedy," Caesar's fame proved…...
Jewish and Muslim comedians team up to turn tension into titters
3+ mon, 3+ week ago (815+ words) Comedy for Peace" is one of the Jewish highlights of the New York Comedy Festival, which also includes shows by Alex Edelman, Alex Borstein and Anna Roisman. Comedian Gibran Saleem had never met a Jewish person until starting his graduate…...
In Saudi Arabia, Dave Chappelle jokes that ‘I stand with Israel’ would be his code for censorship
5+ mon, 3+ hour ago (398+ words) Chappelle turned his set at the Riyadh Comedy Festival into a critique of U.S. free speech limits. During his controversial set at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, comedian Dave Chappelle joked that he would use the phrase "I stand…...
Take it from this rabbi: You should binge-watch Netflix's 'Long Story Short' for the High Holidays
5+ mon, 2+ week ago (219+ words) The show's hyper-detailed portrayal of American Judaism stands out for being loving. This past Saturday night, during Selichot services, I led members of our congregation in our first recitation of "Ashamnu," the confessional acrostic that we accompany by striking our…...
Comic Gianmarco Soresi mines his mixed Jewish background for laughs
5+ mon, 2+ week ago (1051+ words) A "comedian to watch" built a following with videos of his ad-libbed banter with club audiences. When critically acclaimed stand-up comedian Gianmarco Soresi introduces himself to a new audience, he explains that his father is Italian, his mother is Jewish,…...
Alex Edelman and fans of 'Long Story Short' may disagree, but a new book says Jewish humor is dying
5+ mon, 2+ week ago (595+ words) In "The Last Jewish Joke," Michel Wieviorka writes about a golden age of Jewish comedy and the dark forces that may be killing it. On stage last Sunday at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the comedian Alex Edelman told a Jewish…...
Billy Porter sparks controversy while promoting his ‘Cabaret’ cast: ‘Black people have replaced the Jews’
7+ mon, 1+ week ago (480+ words) One social media influencer accused the actor of minimizing antisemitism. Award-winning actor and singer Billy Porter sparked controversy while promoting his new lead role in the revival of "Cabaret" on Broadway when he stated that "Black people have replaced the…...
Legendary 'King of Comedy' Jerry Lewis placed a weekly Jewish deli order, his son recalls
7+ mon, 2+ week ago (1308+ words) Christopher Lewis" book about his father explores the star"s Yiddish-speaking upbringing and his role in raising billions of dollars to fight muscular dystrophy. DALLAS " Christopher J. Lewis stood at his booth in the midst of a sprawling exhibit hall earlier…...