Currently Browsing: comedy 7 articles
He Was Making Out During “Schindler’s List”
In his latest “Seinfeld Yomi”, Jarrod Tanny pores over “The Raincoats”, eps 18 and 19, season 5. Which is worse making out during Schindler’s List or The Ten Commandments? The Rabbis weigh in. GEMARAH: He was making out during Schindler’s List! Who does that? said Bar Kappara convening the meeting in the name of Rav […]
‘A stiff-necked people’: Jews and the comedy of transgression
James Harris reflects on the tradition of transgressive Jewish comedy. ‘Störenfried’ is not one of those German words which have made the transition to English, but it’d merit it; a ‘Störenfried’ is a troublemaker, someone who disturbs the peace. As somebody who performed comedy for twenty years, I can’t help noticing that, in the world […]
‘Shalom, Jackie’: The end of ‘Friday Night Dinner’
Sue Vice laments the end of an era. As confirmed by Channel Four’s anniversary documentary, Friday Night Dinner: 10 Years and a Lovely Bit of Squirrel, broadcast on, fittingly, Friday 28 May 2021, the series has now finished. There will be no more weekly visits by twenty-something Adam and Jonny to the suburban Jewish home […]
Groucho Marx and the Spirit of American Humour
Nathan Abrams learns a great deal from a new biography of Groucho Marx. I’m by no means a Marxist. By that I mean I am no Marx Brothers maven. In that context, I learned a great deal from ‘this biography of sorts’ of Groucho Marx by Lee Siegel. Born in 1890, Julius Henry Marx was […]
It’s ‘Shirley’ Something to Remember: Airplane! 40 Years Later
Emilio Audissino celebrates the classic spoof Airplane! and its creators Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker. An apt way to seek some solace and distraction in this virus-laden 2020 is to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Airplane! Released in the US and UK theatres in the summer of 1980, the film was the directorial debut of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, […]
The Jam, Jews and JFS: ‘To Be Someone’ by Ian Stone
Nathan Abrams speaks to Jewish comedian Ian Stone about his new book To Be Someone. Ian Stone might not be the first Jewish standup comedian you’d think of, but he’s been around for over twenty years, appearing on television, radio and podcasts. In his newly published memoir, To Be Someone, he recounts his lifelong passions of listening to The Jam […]
How will Jewish culture be impacted as a result of the pandemic?
I’ve always felt that Nostradamus and I are kindred spirits. We both make predictions and we both get those predictions incredibly wrong. However, the task at hand is to have a stab as to how Jewish culture will be affected by the pandemic and who doesn’t love some blind supposition? For about five years, I’ve […]