Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: "Age and Weight, Please" - Candid Camera Gold

Candid Camera was a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes, and initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

The show involved concealed cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims were told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." The catchphrase became a song with music and lyrics by Sid Ramin.

Today we're sharing a classic episode from 1963 in which a Candid Camera staffer asked women the unaskable question.

Enjoy! 

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Comedy Showcase: Rabbi Bob Alper is Back With More Stand-up Comedy

Bob Alper is an ordained 78-year-old Reform rabbi from Vermont who served congregations for fourteen years and holds a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary.

But he's also a stand-up comedian with a thirty year comedy career. He presents wonderfully unique material in a way that's intelligent, sophisticated, and 100% clean.

Since 2010 we have posted more than two dozen video clips of his stand-up routines. For the last two years, his standup performances have been limited to Zoom sessions because of the Covid pandemic. Now that it's over, he is back on the comedy club circuit with a recent appearance at  the Don't Tell Mama cabaret in New York City.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Hamburger and Fries"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. e worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's the setup: The old man and woman came into the hamburger shop. She sat down and he ordered one hamburger, one package of fries, and a tall drink. And then...

Enjoy!

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Comic Relief: Billy Crystal Casts Audience Members in a 1950s African Movie

In 1994 in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Billy Crystal was performing on stage and decided to have some fun with his audience. He invited three audience members to join him in doing sound effects to enhance his re-enactment of a scene from a classic African movie.

One audience member used her hands to crunch a huge bowl of potato chips to make the sound of Crystal walking. Two others volunteered to make jungle bird calls. And the show went on.

Enjoy!

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The Ten Commandments Revisited (by Mel Brooks) as We Celebrate Shavuot

The holiday of Shavuot starts tonight and continues tomorrow and Shabbat. In Israel it's only observed for one day. On Shavuot we commemorate the receiving of the Ten Commandments.

One of Mel Brooks' funniest bits is a scene from his 1981 film A History of the World: Part 1, in which Brooks, in the role of Moses, comes down from Mount Sinai carrying three tablets containing 15 commandments, only to drop one of the tablets, losing the last five commandments as the tablet shatters into bits.

The scene is short, and the third tablet containing the five lost commandments is visible for only a few seconds. We always assumed that the writing on the tablet was some random Hebrew letters, because we never got a good look at them.

But when we watched a PBS tribute to Brooks on which they played this clip, we were able to see it on a 55 inch screen in high definition. All we had to do to read the words on the tablets was to push the pause button. And there they were -- the long lost shattered five commandments.

Here's a translation of the five: You can interpret them any way you want -- that's what we've been doing to the surviving Ten Commandments for thousands of years. But our favorites are Lo Tatzkhik or Lo Titzkhak - obviously an inside joke by the Brooks crew, Lo Tikneh - perhaps the basis for not buying retail, and Lo Teshaber - irony of ironies - as the tablet fell to the ground and broke into tiny pieces.

11. Lo Ta'avor - You shall not pass.
12. Lo Tatzkhik - You shall not make people laugh or Lo Titzkhak - You shall not laugh.
13. Lo Tikneh - You shall not buy.
14. Lo Talunu - You shall not stay. (But the third letter may be a resh, which makes translation difficult.)
15. Lo Teshaber - You shall not break. 

We had posted this originally in 2013 and invited our readers to give their interpretations. You can read them here.

Here's the full clip. Enjoy!

We'll be observing Shavuot tomorrow and Shabbat. We'll be back Sunday with our usual mix. Chag Sameach and Shabbat shalom!

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Wacky Wednesday Comedy Showcase: Regular Waiting and Express Waiting on Candid Camera

Candid Camera was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. 

The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

In this classic episode set in a dental office, a receptionist offers patients a choice of regular waiting (free) or express waiting ($10 extra).

Enjoy!

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Comedy Nostalgia: Mark Schiff Performs Standup Comedy at the Improv in 1989

When Mark Schiff was twelve, his parents took him to a nightclub. There, live on stage was Rodney Dangerfield doing his act. At that moment, he knew the path he had to follow. 

Mark has headlined in all the major casinos and clubs across the country and has appeared many times on both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman. He has had both HBO and Showtime specials and has been the featured act at the Montreal Comedy Festival.

In this video clip from 1989, Mark takes the stage at the Improv in Los Angeles.with his observations about driving, clothes shopping, and supermarket shopping at 3 am.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Pullover Predicament"

It's Monday again and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing an oldie but goodie that Joel Gibbs, the Bucks County, Pennsylvania-based voice actor, posted  on his YouTube channel "Sol Stories."

Gibbs is starring as Sol Krupnick in “Meet Sol Krupnick,” “an on-stage, theatrical, one-man-show” about a “Jewish kibitzer of undetermined (old) age who shares fun stories about his crazy family, tells classic jokes and offers ‘unique’ observations about the world around him.”

Or, in other words, the 70-year-old Jewish grandfather is performing a one-man show as himself.

Gibbs, a longtime congregant at Shir Ami in Newtown who still attends events at the synagogue, opened his show with a recent performance at KleinLife in Northeast Philadelphia. About 200 friends and family members came to show their support. But really, they came to laugh. As Gibbs said of the night, “I portrayed the character; I told the stories and jokes; the audience laughed a lot.”

Gibbs calls himself the “Man of a Thousand Voices.” He does more than 100 celebrity impressions and has worked on more than 40,000 projects worldwide, according to his press release. He partnered with Billy Crystal, Julie Andrews and other celebrities on the “Love the Arts in Philadelphia” campaign to promote the city’s cultural institutions.

Today we're sharing one of Sol's stories about the time his wife Sophie was in the driver's seat and ran into a driving predicament.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Hava Nagila in Sri Lanka

The Israel Sri Lanka Solidarity Movement (ISSOM) organized an event on May 14 at Vihara Maha Devi Open Air Theatre to mark the 75 years since the Jewish State’s establishment. The event was attended by a crowd of around 2,000 who expressed solidarity with Israel.

The event was also graced by an interfaith and interethnic panel which also included a delegation of Sri Lanka’s indigenous people.

Last Sunday’s event showcased Sri Lanka and Israel’s historic interactions going back 3,000 years when the island traded spices, precious stones and exotic fauna with ancient Jewish kingdoms.

This was followed by short films on Israeli innovations in the field of medicine, education and agriculture that it is open to share with Sri Lanka. Video greetings were also shared from Israel including members of the Knesset.

The Kelaniya University dance troupe performed a rendition of the Jewish folk song ‘Nagila Hava’ with a Sri Lankan twist.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Mizmor Shir by Congregation Bet David of Sandton, South Africa

Today's Shabbat welcome comes from Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, where members of the Bet David congregation sing one of the traditional versions of Mizmor Shir, part of the Kabbalat Shabbat service.

Founded in 1971, Congregation Bet David is a Progressive Jewish congregation. Bet David is a warm, welcoming, and inclusive congregation that invites individuals and families of all observance levels to worship and learn together.

The Bet David community is a diverse congregation engaged in social issues, culture and learning – a congregation rediscovering Jewish values that give meaning and provide a strong foundation to face the challenges of contemporary life.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) Starts Tonight in Israel

 

Tonight at sundown Israel starts celebrating Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, a national holiday.

Fifty-six years ago, in 1967, the Israel Defense Forces broke through the Jordanian defenses and captured the Old City of Jerusalem, marking the reunification of the city under Israeli control.

Last year on this day, people from all around the world came together to talk about what they love most about the magnificent city of Jerusalem. 

Wishing all our readers a happy Jerusalem Day!

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Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Grand Prize on a Candid Camera Classic is....an Elephant!

Candid Camera was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. 

The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

In this classic episode set in a Salt Lake City zoo, visitors are given game cards to scratch and see if they've won a prize. What they don't know is that the prize is an elephant.

Enjoy!

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"Jewish Matchmaking", a New TV Series, is Now Streaming on Netflix

Jewish matchmaking has come to streaming TV in the form of an eight part series released on Netflix this week. All episodes are online now so you can binge if you want to.

As the host of Jewish Matchmaking on Netflix, Aleeza Ben Shalom adapts the model of Orthodox arranged matches to Jewish singles from a variety of religious and cultural backgrounds, including secular, Reform and Conservative Jews from across the United States and Israel.

As Jackie Hajdenberg writes for JTA,

The Jews cast on the show are all in different places in their lives, some grieving serious breakups or committed to specific religious identities, some picky about looks or hoping their partner will be OK with riding motorcycles. Some of them are looking for particular Jewish commitments to concepts such as tikkun olam, which means “repairing the world” and has come to represent a social justice imperative for many liberal Jews; others want to be sure they’re matched only with people who share their approaches to observing Shabbat and keeping kosher.

Want a preview? Here's the official trailer. Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Circus Family"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's the setup: Barbara and Randy were a married couple who worked for the circus. They couldn't have children, so they decided to go to an adoption agency. And then...

Enjoy!

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Another Story by Sol Krupnick - "Naked Encounter"

Today Joel Gibbs is back in the role of Sol Krupnick telling one of his short stories. 

Gibbs is starring as Sol Krupnick in “Meet Sol Krupnick,” “an on-stage, theatrical, one-man-show” about a “Jewish kibitzer of undetermined (old) age who shares fun stories about his crazy family, tells classic jokes and offers ‘unique’ observations about the world around him.”

Or, in other words, the 70-year-old Jewish grandfather is performing a one-man show as himself.

Gibbs, a longtime congregant at Shir Ami in Newtown who still attends events at the synagogue, opened his show with a recent performance at KleinLife in Northeast Philadelphia. About 200 friends and family members came to show their support. But really, they came to laugh. As Gibbs said of the night, “I portrayed the character; I told the stories and jokes; the audience laughed a lot.”

Gibbs calls himself the “Man of a Thousand Voices.” He does more than 100 celebrity impressions and has worked on more than 40,000 projects worldwide, according to his press release. He partnered with Billy Crystal, Julie Andrews and other celebrities on the “Love the Arts in Philadelphia” campaign to promote the city’s cultural institutions.

Today we're sharing one of Sol's stories about how his wife Sophie greeted him with a "Love Dress."

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Ein K'Eloheinu Sung by Cantor Azi Schwartz to the Banana Boat Song

Last week the Internet was full of tributes to folksinger Harry Belafonte, who died on April 25. We joined with a memory of him singing Hinei Ma Tov in London way back in 1995 with the Israel Army choir.

Last Shabbat Cantor Azi Schwartz of New York's Park Avenue Synagogue took it one step further by singing Ein K'Eloheinu to one of Belafonte's most popular songs, the Banana Boat Song.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: A Classic Coffee Talk Episode with Mike Myers and Helen Hunt

Today we're going back to 1993 when Mike Myers was performing his Coffee Talk sketches on Saturday Night Live.

In the sketches, Myers plays a stereotypical Jewish middle-aged woman with an exaggerated New York accent who sports long, painted fake nails; much gold jewelry; gaudy sweaters; large dark glasses; and big hair, which she constantly adjusts. This character was a spoof on Myers' real-life mother-in-law at the time, Linda Richman.

In this episode, when Linda brings family friend Helen Hunt on the show, they chat about how Helen is a quarter Jewish and how Holly Hunter had it easy in The Piano since she didn't have to memorize lines.

Enjoy!

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  #Throwback Thursday      #TBT

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Rude Computer - A Candid Camera Classic

Candid Camera was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. 

The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

This classic episode first aired in 2001. Clerks were hired to type business letters and they were told that a new program called Vocal Wizard was installed on their computer, providing the voice of the computer. None of the clerks knew that a Candid Camera staffer was in the room next door, providing the voice of the computer. She was able to see what was on each person's computer screen. Let's see how each clerk dealt with the rude and annoying computer.

Enjoy!

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Today is Lag BaOmer. Watch the Bonfires as They Burned Last Night on Mount Meron

Today is the festival of Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of the period between Pesach and Shavuot. Around the world, the day is celebrated mainly in Jewish schools with children going on picnics and hikes and playing with toy bows and arrows in the field.

In Meron, in northern Israel, about 500,000 chasidim make an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi) to sing, dance, and light bonfires.  Rashbi's tomb is the epicenter of the Lag B'Omer celebrations because he was one of the students of Rabbi Akiva who survived a terrible plague that killed thousands of them, and he went on to write the Zohar, the book of Kabbalah.

The bonfires are meant to commemorate the immense light that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai introduced into the world via his mystical teachings. Two years ago, 45 people were killed in a stampede on the mountain when celebrants poured out of one section of the mountainside compound, down a passageway with a sloping metal floor wet with spilled drinks, leading to a staircase continuing down. Witnesses say that people tripped and slipped near the top of the stairs. Those behind, unaware of the blockage ahead, continued. The people further down were trampled.

 

This year, drastic changes have been implemented to prevent a recurrence of the stampede. Attendance will be limited to 200,000 people.

In this video from last night, thousands of chassidim mill about while their rebbe sets a mound of flammable material on fire. Once the fire is lit, the rebbe, dressed in his finest caftan, goes into a wild jumping dance, looking as if he is jumping rope with an invisible rope. 

That's the signal for all of his chassidim to join in the jumping and singing a refrain that consists mainly of the name of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. 

 

Enjoy the day but don't play with fire!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "A Triple Diagnosis"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. This week we're posting another joke from Dr. Jay Orlikoff, a retired dentist from Centereach, New York, a community on Long Island in Suffolk County.

After a distinguished and meritorious dental career, he is shifting his focus to telling and posting jokes on YouTube. We were fortunate to find some of his jokes and we're sharing one of the family-friendly ones with you today. 

Here's the setup: A doctor comes in to his patient and says "I'm sorry, I've got bad news for you. The tests came back and you've got Covid, TB, and leprosy. And then...

Enjoy!

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Remembering Harry Belafonte - Singing Hinei Ma Tov with the Israeli Army Choir

Singer Harry Belafonte, who died on April 25 at the age of 96, had many Jewish connections.

As Lisa Keys wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA),

A New York City native, Belafonte, an acolyte of singers Paul Robeson and Josh White, was the one of the first Black artists to achieve widespread commercial success in the United States. While he was raised a Catholic, his life frequently dovetailed with Jewish causes, values and individuals.

Among Belafonte’s many Jewish connections — which included brokering a meeting between Nelson Mandela and Jewish leaders in 1989 — was his marriage to his Jewish second wife, dancer Julie Robinson. The couple, who were married from 1958 to 2004, raised two children, Gina and David.

In 2011, Belafonte revealed in his autobiography, “My Song: A Memoir,” that his paternal grandfather was Jewish. Belafonte’s parents were both Jamaican immigrants: his mother, Melvine, was the child of a white mother from Scotland and a Black father, and his father, Harold George Bellanfanti, who later changed the family surname, was the son of a Black mother and white Dutch-Jewish father.

In England in 1995, Belafonte sang Hinei Ma Tov with the Israeli Army Choir.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Yismechu by the Zurich Synagogue Choir

Today we're sharing a version of Yismechu by the Zurich Synagogue Choir, a singing group in Switzerland that includes about two dozen singers under the direction of conductor Robert Braunschweig. The choir sings once a month at the Löwenstrasse synagogue in the service on Shabbat morning and on the High Holidays. In addition, the choir sings at interdenominational events and gives concerts in Germany and abroad. 

Yismechu is part of the Mussaf Amida on Shabbat. 

Yism'chu v'malchut'cha shom'rei shabbat v'kor'ei oneg. Am m'kadshei shv'ii kulam yisb'u v'yitan'gu mituvecha, uvash'vii ratzita bo v'kidashto, chemdat yamim oto karata, zecher l'ma'ase v'reshit.

יִשְׂמְחוּ בְמַלְכוּתְךָ, שׁוֹמְרֵי שַׁבָּת וְקֽוֹרְאֵי עֹֽנֶג, עַם מְקַדְּשֵׁי שְׁבִיעִי, כֻּלָּם יִשְׂבְּעוּ וְיִתְעַנְּגוּ מִטּוּבֶֽךָ, וּבַשְּׁבִיעִי רָצִֽיתָ בּוֹ וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ, חֶמְדַּת יָמִים אוֹתוֹ קָרָֽאתָ, זֵֽכֶר לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית:

The choir in the Löwenstrasse synagogue has existed – in various forms – for over 100 years. Its members have a wide variety of religious orientations. What they all have in common is the joy of singing in the cultural and religious environment of the Zurich Jewish community. The choir's repertoire includes around 60 mostly synagogue songs and chazzan accompaniments by German, French, Polish and Russian composers of the 19th century. A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.