7 ms·
What makes Jewish comedy Jewish?
- bittermang 9y agoAnecdotally, if I've learned anything from watching comedians like John Stewart: self deprecation is the keystone of their entire act. Every comedian seems to have some level of it, because not taking yourself too seriously is like a vital component of turning comedy in to a job. But Jewish comedians go to that well a lot more than, for example, Black comedians like Katt Williams.
- woodpanel 9y agoI can partly echo what you've said about Black comedians, although there has been a great progress if you compare Katt Williams or Chris Tucker with Kevin Hart, JB Smoove or Chris Rock. Maybe progress is also the wrong word, since Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy were brilliant stand ups of their time. One quality of good comedians I might add is observational skills: To see the weird in everyday situations.
- CPLX 9y agoRichard Pryor was an all time master of self deprecation.
- bittermang 9y agoPryor was an all time master. Period.
- dangerbird2 9y agoCase in point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjD4PHojNBU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjD4PHojNBU
- js8 9y agoProfit?
- danimal88 9y agocan't decide if this was meant in good faith or is simply racist.
- dvfjsdhgfv 9y agoFrankly, in this particular context (comedy), I think this comment is well placed.
- fredsanford 9y agoTowards what race?
- Arnt 9y agoRemarkable how plump and stupid those racist jokes are, and antisemitic jokes seem particularly so. Compare that one with the joke about going to Australia.
- js8 9y agoIt was a simple racist joke made in good faith. I had to do it, just to see if PC would kill it. I know that many comedians have expressed regrets over political correctness. Isn't the problem with the question to begin with, doesn't the question ask you to stereotype? I honestly do not care if a good comedian is a Jew or not.
- ekianjo 9y agoSo any comment about an article that's about a particular ethnicity is going to be racist in your book?
- draugadrotten 9y agoIn today's society you won't win a debate if you call your opponent a n.....r, but if you call xir a "racist" most of the audience will believe you are representing the good and will hate the other like a Pavlovian dog.
- travisjungroth 9y agoWhat a wonderful read. I'm sitting here on a bed with my girlfriend, Mars, having just read it to her. It reminded me of my Jewish mother and her vibrant storytelling. There's great pleasure in telling a riveting tale of a small slight. It reminded Mars of my not-Jewish (but somehow more Jewish) father. Both respectful and subversive, he'll make a joke to an armed guard if he can.
- golemiprague 9y agoIt is not "Jewish humour", it is American Ashkenazi Jewish humour of a specific era. Humour in Israel is different, humour in non Ashkenazi communities is also different. Even if you look at Jewish comedians in the UK like Sasha Baron Cohen it is a completely different style of humour.
- jamra 9y agoYes! I’ve been in Israel for the better part of this last year. One of my neighbors is a comedian. The prevailing humor is very specific to country of origin. There is so much Ashkenazi American Jewish culture that wouldn’t make any sense to Ashkenazi Jews in Israel.
- allthenews 9y agoAs a Jew, I don't know how I should feel about articles like that these. This is blatantly racist, in a confusing era where we are to acknowledge positive differences among ethnicities, and ignore negative differences. One simply cannot do both. It is fundamentally irrational to, with one hand, speak of how a certain race is superior in some way, while pretending this doesn't imply that other races are inferior in some way. Which is it? This kind of glaring contradiction drives me crazy.
- jhbadger 9y agoIf people are saying Jewish humor and culture is something genetic, then that's racist. But Jewishness is a culture in addition to ethnicity. Jewish humor is an aspect of it, much like forms of humor in other cultures. Comparing styles of humor across cultures is perfectly fine.
- js8 9y agoI don't think your definition of racism is correct; in modern parlance, racism often includes ethnicity (not to mention that we cannot objectively, based on genetics, define race). Chauvinism would be a more fitting term, anyway. > Comparing styles of humor across cultures is perfectly fine. I also take issue with this. Humor reflects culture, and if you compare different cultures, aren't you stereotyping?
- 0568p11xf 9y agoFor there to be different cultures, there must be differences between them - by definition. To compare is to examine differences. If such a rudimentary line of inquiry triggers guilt about "stereotyping", then you ought to take time to examine your words more carefully. If by stereotyping you mean assuming that all Jewish people are comedic in an identical way, no one here is saying such a thing. But unless your head is buried deep in the ground, there is a much-celebrated phenomenon called Jewish humor, and interest in it by non-Jewish people is something to be celebrated, not censored.
- mberning 9y ago
- John_KZ 9y agoThe author actually argues that one of the reasons is "the bible isn't funny"? My own guess would have to do primarily with nepotism and secondarily with the appeal of a different perspective of a foreign culture to an American audience. Whether people like it or not, the Jews actually have a strong lobby in the entertainment industry, and they like nepotism, probably even more than the average american.
- csixty4 9y agoI wouldn't underestimate the influence of the Borscht Belt. Successful Jews in entertainment vacationed there, while young up-and-comers performed in the comedy clubs. Who got seen? Whose names got circulated around? It was a self-perpetuating cycle until the Catskills clubs fell out of favor.
- forgotmypw 9y agoPage is blank for me... is it a long read?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- YouAreGreat 9y ago> It was often said of Friends that it was written as if for six old Jews Not wrong—for a lot more of it than just Friends. Adolescent sexual themes, adolescent preoccupation with what the rules are and how to subvert them, but all of it with verbally precocious execution. Maybe the single word answer to the headline question is neoteny. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny
- thisisit 9y agoThis article reminded me of the time when Tim Whatley on Seinfeld turns Jewish just for the jokes.