Jewish Comedy: A Serious History

Jewish Comedy: A Serious History
Author: Jeremy Dauber
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2017-10-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0393247880

Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award “Dauber deftly surveys the whole recorded history of Jewish humour.” —Economist In a major work of scholarship that explores the funny side of some very serious business (and vice versa), Jeremy Dauber examines the origins of Jewish comedy and its development from biblical times to the age of Twitter. Organizing Jewish comedy into “seven strands”—including the satirical, the witty, and the vulgar—he traces the ways Jewish comedy has mirrored, and sometimes even shaped, the course of Jewish history. Dauber also explores the classic works of such masters of Jewish comedy as Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Philip Roth, Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, and Larry David, among many others.

No Joke

No Joke
Author: Ruth R. Wisse
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2013-06-02
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0691149461

In this book, Ruth Wisse evokes and applauds the genius of spontaneous Jewish joking--as well as the brilliance of comic masterworks by writers like Heinrich Heine, Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, S. Y. Agnon, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Philip Roth. A.

Old Jewish Comedians

Old Jewish Comedians
Author: Drew Friedman
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2006-10-18
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1560977418

This comprehensive collection of portraiture of comedians born before 1930 includes the famous (Milton Berle, Groucho Marx, Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks, Jack Benny), the not-so-famous (Benny Rubin, Shelly Berman) and the largely unknown (Al Kelly, Menasha Skulnik). The Reuben Award-winning Friedman presents a thorough visual history of these greatest Borscht-Belt comedians.

The Big Book of Jewish Humor

The Big Book of Jewish Humor
Author: William Novak
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2006-10-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Two rival businessmen meet in the Warsaw train station. "Where are you going?" says the first man. "To Minsk," says the second. "To Minsk, eh? What a nerve you have! I know you're telling me you're going to Minsk because you want me to think that you're really going to Pinsk. But it so happens that I know you really are going to Minsk. So why are you lying to me?" Four men are walking in the desert. The German says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have a beer." The Italian says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have wine." The Mexican says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have tequila." The Jew says, "I'm tired and thirsty. I must have diabetes."

Jews and Humor

Jews and Humor
Author: Leonard J. Greenspoon
Publisher: Purdue University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2011-10-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1612491553

Jews and humor is, for most people, a natural and felicitous collocation. In spite of, or perhaps because of, a history of crises and living on the edge, Jews have often created or resorted to humor. But what is humor? And what makes certain types, instances, or performances of humor "Jewish"? These are among the myriad queries addressed by the fourteen authors whose essays are collected in this volume. And, thankfully, their observations, always apt and often witty, are expressed with a lightness of style and a depth of analysis that are appropriate to the many topics they cover. The scholars who contributed to this collection allow readers both to discern the common features that make up "Jewish humor" and to delight in the individualism and eccentricities of the many figures whose lives and accomplishments are narrated here. Because these essays are written in a clear, jargon-free style, they will appeal to everyone—even those who don't usually crack a smile!

The Haunted Smile

The Haunted Smile
Author: Lawrence J. Epstein
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2008-08-05
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0786724927

Lawrence Epstein's The Haunted Smile tackles a subject both poignant and delightful: the story of Jewish comedians in America. For the past century and more, American comedy has drawn its strength and soul from the comic genius of Jewish performers and writers. An incomplete listing of names makes the point: The Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, Fanny Brice, George Burns, Milton Berle, Jackie Mason, Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Brooks, Alan King, Mort Sahl, Buddy Hackett, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer, Jerry Seinfeld. These men and women, among others, form the canon of Jewish-American comedy. In the words of the Detroit Jewish News, The Haunted Smile "offers us a deep and subtle understanding of how Jewish culture and American openness gave birth to a new style of entertainment." Often the best way to illuminate a point is to recount some of these comedians' own brilliant routines, and Epstein uses the comedian's work to great effect, making for a book that is both a thoughtful work of history and a great deal of fun.

Shtick Shift

Shtick Shift
Author: Simcha Weinstein
Publisher:
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2008
Genre: Humor
ISBN:

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein grew up in England. As a short fellow, he waited for his growth spurt. That never happened, so to avoid the anti-Semitism he confronted, he became funny. He later turned that humour into his own stand-up and wrote a book describing how Jewish humour has changed in the 21st century and how comedians like Sacha Baron Cohen, Sarah Silverman and Jon Stewart now use the old taboos to get lots of laughs.

Jewish Comedy Stars

Jewish Comedy Stars
Author: Norman H. Finkelstein
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0822599422

Profiles Jewish comedians, from Fanny Brice and Jerry Lewis to Sarah Silverman and Jon Stewart.

Overweight Sensation

Overweight Sensation
Author: Mark Cohen
Publisher: UPNE
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2013
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1611682568

Examines the comedian's life, discussing his rapid fame and decline into obscurity.

The Jewish Joke

The Jewish Joke
Author: Devorah Baum
Publisher:
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2019-11-12
Genre:
ISBN: 9781643132372

Comedy is full of famously funny Jews, from Groucho Marx to Larry David to Sarah Silverman. This smart and funny book includes tales from many of these much-loved comics, and will appeal to their broad audience, while revealing the history, context, and wider culture of Jewish joking. The Jewish joke is as old as Abraham, and like the Jews themselves it has wandered over the world, learned countless new languages, worked with a range of different materials, been performed in front of some pretty hostile crowds, and yet still retained its own distinctive identity. So what is it that animates the Jewish joke? Why are Jews so often thought of as "funny"? And how old can a joke get? With jokes from Lena Dunham to Woody Allen, as well as Freud and Marx (Groucho, mostly), Baum balances serious research with light-hearted humor and provides fascinating insight into this wellknown and much loved cultural phenomenon.