Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: Henny Youngman Delivers One Liners on Ed Sullivan Show in 1969

It's been awhile since we've posted a collection of Henny Youngman jokes, so we think Throwback Thursday is a good opportunity to share another bunch with you. 

Youngman, a British-American Jewish comedian and violinist, was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, with many appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and on Laugh-in.

His stand-up comedy stood out from that of his fellow comedians in that he only told simple one-liner jokes, a format that was picked up years later by Rodney Dangerfield.

Henny explained the origin of his classic line "Take my wife, please" as a misinterpretation: in the mid-1930s he took his wife to a show and asked the usher to escort his wife to a seat. But his request was taken as a joke, and Youngman used the line countless times ever after.

This video clip goes back 55 years to 1969. Enjoy!

  

   #Throwback Thursday        #TBT

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Free Money (One to a Customer) - 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. 

Twenty-two years ago the Candid Camera crew placed a bowl of dollar bills on the counter of a gift shop with a sign saying that customers could take and keep only one.  Let's see the results.

Enjoy!

Rutgers Jewish Film Festival Arrives in New Jersey November 7 through November 21

The Rutgers Jewish Film Festival’s 25th year is coming to New Jersey next month. The festival will feature fourteen thought-provoking and entertaining films, dynamic discussions with filmmakers and special guests, and numerous New Jersey premieres on dance, music, American Jewish history, and Israeli society. 

Twelve films will be screened at the Regal Cinema Commerce Center, North Brunswick (November 7–17), and five films will be available virtually (November 15–21). In-theater and virtual tickets are $15.

The full schedule is posted on the festival website. Among the films shown will be the 86 minute documentary The Catskills, on Sunday, November 10 and Tuesday, November 12 at the Regal Cinema. 

This charming documentary pays tribute to the summer resorts and bungalow colonies that became Jewish-American vacation destinations during the 20th century when hotels and resorts discriminated against Jews. Lovingly nicknamed the Borscht Belt, this film explores the Catskills not only as a hot spot for lavish meals and hilarious entertainment, but also as a refuge from social antisemitism.

Here's the trailer for The Catskills. If you can't get to the theater, the film will probably be shown at other Jewish Film Festivals around the USA next winter.

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "The Prayer Was Answered"

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: Rabbi Kaplan asked the congregation if anyone wanted to give thanks for prayers that were answered. And then...

Enjoy! 

Comedian Modi Rosenfeld on How Shabbat Elevators Started World War II

There are comedians who happen to be Jewish, and then there are Jewish comedians. In his debut special, Modi solidifies himself as the former; wielding his unique blend of observational comedy and hilarious insights to shine a light on an often-insular community in his comedy special Know Your Audience.

Having performed for Jewish organizations and causes all over the globe, Modi’s unique vantage point lends a birds-eye view of what it means to be Jewish in today’s day and age.

Modi’s performance represents a modern interpretation of the Borscht-belt comedians who came before him. Drawing inspiration from Jackie Mason and Alan King, Modi’s larger-than-life stage presence sends a clear message: be true to your audience and the rest will follow. 

In this video clip from Know Your Audience, Modi explains how the Shabbat elevator was responsible for starting World War II. 

Enjoy!

On Hoshana Rabbah We Bid Farewell to the Etrog and Lulav and Welcome Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah

Today is Hoshana Rabbah, the last day of Sukkot. In synagogues around the world, Jews take up the etrog and lulav for the last time and march around the shul seven times carrying them together with the myrtle and willow leaves.

In the evening we welcome Shemini Atzeret, a separate holiday which leads into Simchat Torah. In Israel, both holidays are celebrated in a single day.  

The search for a nice set of the four species is a big project in Israel, where stands are set up in the street and in front of stores where the etrogim (citrons) are on display for buyers to inspect and purchase.

In this video, singer Aaron Holder visits the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, smelling his way through many etrogim before finding the perfect one.

We will be observing Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on Thursday and Friday, leading into another Shabbat. So Jewish Humor Central will be taking a break for two days, and we'll be back on Sunday with our usual mix of humor and music.

Enjoy, Chag Sameach, and Shabbat Shalom!

Explaining Why a Month of Jewish Holidays Gets in the Way of Business Meetings - A Sukkot Comedy Sketch

Explaining why a month of Jewish holidays, from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Hoshana Rabba and Simchat Torah can be a challenge to observant Jews trying to set up a business meeting with customers who are not observing these holidays.

When the holidays fall on weekdays, and you add Shabbatot to the mix, finding a date for a meeting can leave the impression that you just don't want to have a meeting.

This situation is the subject of a comedy sketch that we found on the Jewish Sparks YouTube channel. In this humorous video, we join a Jewish individual as he navigates the complex calendar of Jewish holidays and hilariously explains to a customer why he couldn't meet in the past month. 

With wit and laughter, he walks through the series of holiday events that have kept him occupied. This comedic take on the challenges of scheduling during the Jewish holiday season will be familiar to many of our readers.

Enjoy! 

A Joke to Start the Week - "Twentieth Anniversary"

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: A woman wakes up in the middle of the night. She looks around, and her husband is not in bed. And then...

Enjoy!

Comedian Modi Rosenfeld on The Hamptons (The Real Hamptons and Westhampton)

Voted one of the top 10 comedians in New York City by The Hollywood Reporter, Modi is one of the comedy circuit’s most sought-after performers. Featured on HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC, Comedy Central, Howard Stern, and E! Entertainment, Modi has received rave reviews in The New York Times, Time Out NY, and The New York Post. 

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Modi emigrated with his family to the United States at the age of seven and was raised on Long Island. 

After graduating from Boston University, he worked as an investment banker until his first open-mic night made him realize that stand-up was his true calling. Equipped with a sharp wit and a knack for reading an audience, Modi has gone on to become a successful fixture in New York's vibrant comedy scene, often doing bits that incorporate his heritage, and he is a hit with diverse Jewish audiences as well as fans of all backgrounds and beliefs. 

Here's Modi with an excerpt from one of his standup shows where he makes fun of the Hamptons and Westhampton.

The Hamptons are a popular summer destination for wealthy New Yorkers and celebrities. The area is known for its scenic beauty, historic charm, and luxury lifestyle. The Hamptons are made up of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, and include many villages and hamlets. 

Some say the Hamptons are a haven for those who want to escape the hustle and bustle of New York City. The area has a variety of restaurants, from casual to fine dining, and some restaurants transform into nightclubs with parties that can last into the morning. The Hamptons are also home to a notable art scene with fine art museums. 

 

Westhampton has a large Jewish population.

 

Enjoy!

Amazon's Sukkot Gift Boxes Spell Out "Happy Tuchus"

What happens when you design a product featuring the phrase "Happy Sukkot" in Hebrew letters, but don't know that cutting and pasting the words from an internet source can result in their appearing backwards and totally changing their meaning? That's what happened this month when it was discovered that the Sukkot gift boxes sold on Amazon were printed with the Hebrew words "Happy Tuchus".

As Larry Yudelson reported in The Jewish Standard, the boxes were discovered by Jessica Russak-Hoffman while searching for Sukkot gift wrappings on Amazon.com.

But what led Russak-Hoffman to press the buy button was the extremely incompetent product design by someone who didn’t realize that when you cut-and-paste Hebrew from the web to an app, there’s always a chance the Hebrew letters will forget they’re supposed to flow from right to left.

Which is how a design which wishes “happy sukkot” in English can present Hebrew characters that approximately spell out tuchus — the Hebrew-derived Yiddish word for bottom or buttocks — which — who knew! — is what you get when you write “sukkot” backwards.

(Tuchus, Merriam Webster informs us, was first cited in English way back in 1886; derived from the Hebrew tachat, “under, below,” it is too slangy, even in Yiddish, to appear in the three Yiddish dictionaries we have at hand.)

But if you want to wish your friends a Sukkot-themed bottoms-up this year, you may be out of luck. The particular product that Russak-Hoffman bought is now unavailable; her tweet went viral, with 70,000 views, not only due to the backsided nature of the Hebrew text, but also the hilarious marketing photos, which included the Sukkot/Tuchus boxes on the table for both Pesach and Chanukkah observances.

Compounding the error, Amazon's photo of the Sukkot boxes shows the breaking of a matzah, which of course is a feature of the Passover seder and has nothing to do with Sukkot or tuchuses.

We'll be celebrating Sukkot and Shabbat for the next three days, and we'll be back with our usual mix of humor and music on Sunday.

Chag sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

 

 

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Hava Nagila by Street Musician Karolina Protsenko

16-Year-Old Karolina Protsenko moved to California with her family from Ukraine a few years ago and established herself as a street musician playing the violin. Her style is to start playing in the street and let passers-by ask her to play their favorite songs. 

The Protsenkos now live in California but we're not sure where this version of Hava Nagila was played because they have traveled the world and Karolina plays in many cities.

In this video a little girl asks her if she can play Hava Nagila and when she says yes, her father picks up the microphone and gets into the act.

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Three College Guys"

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: There are three college guys who are really good friends. One's Italian, one's Irish, and one's Jewish. After graduation they make a pact that every year they'll get together. And then...

Enjoy!

Comedy Showcase: Elon Gold on Starbucks, Old Movie Stars, and Ethnic Neck Moves

We've been following Elon Gold and posting some of his shtick on Jewish Humor Central for the last 15 years. 

Elon is an American comedian, television actor, writer and producer. He starred in the television series Stacked.  He also starred in the short-lived sitcom In-Laws. 

 

Known for his impressions, including those of Jeff Goldblum, Howard Stern and Jay Leno, Gold was a judge on the ABC celebrity impersonation competition series The Next Best Thing. Gold was also in the movie Cheaper by the Dozen as a cameraman from the Oprah Winfrey show.

Gold attended the Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, NY and the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA)/Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Manhattan, NY. He is a practicing Orthodox Jew.

Today we're sharing a video clip from his TV special Chosen and Taken that includes observations about Starbucks baristas, old movie stars, and ethnic neck motions.

Enjoy!

Wishing All Our Readers a Meaningful Yom Kippur With a New Interpretation of Kol Nidrei

Yom Kippur begins at sundown tonight. Whether or not you fast, whether you attend services in a synagogue or via Zoom or live streaming, we wish you a meaningful Day of Atonement.

To get in the mood for the day, we're sharing a new version of Kol Nidrei by Cantor Azi Schwartz of New York's Park Avenue Synagogue.

In the spirit of renewed tradition, here is a new interpretation of Kol Nidrei. It blends the ancient melodic motifs with contemporary harmonies and orchestration, offering a modern reflection of this timeless Jewish prayer. 

Wishing you a G'mar Chatima Tova!

Throwback Thursday Yom Kippur Special: Cantor Yossele Rosenblaltt Sings Kol Nidrei in 1930

Josef "Yossele" Rosenblatt (May 9, 1882 – June 19, 1933) was an Ashkenazi chazzan and composer. He was regarded as the greatest cantor of his time. 

Rosenblatt was born on May 9, 1882, in the Russian Empire. The scion of a long line of cantors, Rosenblatt's devoutly religious upbringing prevented him from receiving formal musical training at any of the great academies of his day. He began his career as a member of the local synagogue choir. Quickly lauded as a "wunderkind", or child prodigy, Rosenblatt's solo career was launched. At the age of 7, he moved with his family to Austria.

Rosenblatt's fame extended beyond the Jewish world earning him large concert fees, a singing role in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, and the sobriquet "The Jewish Caruso".

Rosenblatt corresponded with many of the great tenors of his day. It is told that upon hearing Rosenblatt sing "Elli Elli", Enrico Caruso was so moved that he ascended the stage and kissed him.

We searched the internet for a video of Cantor Rosenblatt singing Kol Nidrei, but only could find audio recordings with accompanying photos. So that's what we're posting today.

Enjoy!

 

   #Throwback Thursday       #TBT   

Israeli Singer Shiri Maimon and Italian Tenor Andrea Bocelli Sing "The Prayer" in Tel Aviv Concert

We are in the midst of Aseret Yemei Teshuva (The Ten Days of Repentance), a period when we turn to prayer.

Prayer takes many forms and many languages. Today we're sharing a version of The Prayer, a song written by David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager. Originally recorded by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and Canadian singer Celine Dion, this version was sung in English and Italian by Bocelli with Israeli singer Shiri Maimon at a concert in Tel Aviv in 2022.

Maimon rose to fame as the runner-up in the inaugural season of the singing reality competition Kokhav Nolad. She represented her native Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.

Enjoy!

Cantor Azi Schwartz Sings Hatikvah to Mark October 7 Anniversary

As we mark the one-year anniversary of October 7th, we reflect on the enduring strength of our friends and family in Israel, who continue to live through the ripple effects of war. 

Today, we remember the hostages still waiting for freedom, and we stand with their families in their suffering. We pray for peace.

Cantor Azi Schwartz of the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City, accompanied by a choir and a full orchestra, sings Hatikvah.

Am Yisrael Chai!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Max and Rachel are in Love"

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: Max and Rachel are in love and they decide to get married. Max goes to Mr. Smith, Rachel's father and asks for Rachel's hand. Mr. Smith says "You're only 10 years old." And then...

Enjoy! 

Five Surprising Facts About Jewish Identity

Unpacked, a division of Open Dor Media, has posted an interesting video about five surprising facts about Jews. We found it informative and want to share it with you.

Who are the Jewish People, really? With only 15 million Jews worldwide, opinions about them are plenty, but understanding is rare. Because beyond the stereotypes and assumptions, there’s a rich diversity within Judaism that defies simple categorization.

Here are 5 surprising facts about Jewish identity - including unique cultural practices, diversity of physical appearance, the importance of debate in shaping Jewish beliefs, and why “conversion” is less about changing beliefs and more about joining a family connected across both time and space.

Enjoy!

Wishing All of Our Readers a Shanah Tovah - Happy New Year 5785

 

Thanks to our loyal subscribers and casual readers worldwide who have joined us during the year.

We started Jewish Humor Central on October 5, 2009 and it's been going strong with more than 4500 blog entries and more than 10 million page views over the last 15 years.  

We appreciate your loyalty and we hope to keep bringing you a daily mix of Jewish humor in all of its forms -- traditional, eclectic, musical, unbelievable but true, and just funny, tempered with touches of nostalgia and Yiddishe nachas. 

We'll be attending services on Thursday, Friday, and Shabbat, and we'll be back posting again on Sunday.  Here's wishing you a happy, healthy, joyous, prosperous and funny New Year from our family to yours!

L'shanah Tovah Tikatevu v'techatemu!

Welcoming the New Year 5785 with Six13 a Cappella

Anchored by a strong Jewish identity and driven by a mission to connect Jews around the globe with their heritage through music, professional Jewish a cappella group Six13 are the originators of today's Jewish a cappella sound. 

They've performed to rave reviews at the White House and ten of thousands more at synagogues, religious schools, JCCs, fundraising events, B'nai Mitzvah and private affairs alike. They’ve appeared all over mainstream media, received numerous awards for their eight best-selling CDs, been selected as finalists for casting in NBC's "The Sing-Off", and garnered more than 20 million views online.

Now Six13 has released a rousing, energetic new musical video for Rosh Hashana titled "5785". It's a takeoff on the song "1985" by rock band Bowling for Soup, whose name is a takeoff on a comedy routine by Steve Martin with a title that we can't print here.

This is our last musical video for Rosh Hashanah 5785. Tomorrow we'll post our annual personal family greeting to our readers.

Enjoy!