Every so often, Edelman, creator of the BBC radio show Peer Group, likes to scroll through the vile list, as a treat. One such evening, he came across an open invitation to attend a meeting for White Nationalists at a private apartment in Queens. “Curious about your whiteness?” the tweet read. Edelman is curious about everything, and hey, maybe there’d be a cute girl there. And that’s how a curious Orthodox Jew wound up at a gathering of neo-Nazis and, using wit and charm, lived to tell the tale.

What happened next? No spoilers here! You’ll have to buy a ticket to Edelman’s third solo show, Just For Us, playing at the Cherry Lane Theater in New York City (and Mike Birbiglia produced it!) If you’re lucky enough to snag a seat during the show’s limited run, the award winning comedian will take you back to his very Jewish childhood in the very racist Boston and explain in hilarious detail how he infiltrated a group of White supremacists and survived unscathed. Come for the Nazis, stay for the unexpected love story, and applaud Edelman for the finale zinger of all zingers. 

Dear reader, I realize it’s kind of late to insert my voice here, but deal with it. Edelman doesn’t remember this, but we first met at a comedy show in January of 2015. He was MCing and checking IDs — a man of many talents — and when he read my Hebrew name written on the silver necklace I wore, I fangirled hard. Critics describe him as a young Jerry Seinfeld, but I think he’s more of a Bugs Bunny — charming, full of tricks, and a master at deploying humor to examine uncomfortable issues. Anyway, seven years later I found myself on a Zoom call with Edelman joking about dead Jews. He was telling me about a recent episode of his BBC radio show Peer Group that was “controversially” called “Dead Jews.”

Controversial? People love dead Jews, I quipped (I know “quipped” sounds pretentious, I just didn’t want to write “joke” again). “Right, the joke is that people care a lot more about dead Jews than they do about living ones,” he replied. 

Dead Jew jokes don’t sit well with everyone, but it’s less of a joke and more so an observation about Jews in non-Jewish spaces, which is precisely what Just For Us is about. Okay, let’s get into my conversation with Alex.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What I loved about the show were the handful of moments where I felt the jokes were just for Jews, just for us. It surprised me that the majority of your audience is actually non-Jewish. Do they, like, get it?

Every joke that is specifically Jewish is contextualized by at least one explanation and two context clues. It’s calibrated to appeal to non Jews, but also to make Jewish audiences feel like it’s for them. And the reason for that isn’t cynical. The reason for that is that I am a Jew, who, after many years of trying to figure it out, is existing as a Jew in non Jewish spaces. And that’s one of the layers of the show is what it means to exist as a Jew in a space that isn’t Jewish, and tackling everything around that. It’s nice, though, to have jokes in the show with the word shul or HaShem, and it does get a different pop here. It’s a joy to be doing it in New York, precisely because this is the first time I’ve performed in a market where there’s a substantial base of Jewish people.

People say the show is so timely, especially now. But I think it’s evergreen.

People always tell me, “What a timely show.” When I ask them why, they answer, “Because of all the antisemitism.” And I was like, bro, even when I started writing—back in my second solo show in 2015—people were like, “What a timely joke about an antisemitic experience!”

I have a feeling the show will be evergreen and it will always be timely. If this show is filmed with a special — God willing — and comes out in 2023, people are going to be like, “What a timely special,” Yeah, man… antisemitism. We’re always on the menu.

That’s it, you can call your next show, “Timely,” or “Always on The Menu.” 

If my next show is about Israel and Palestine my old manager said we should call it “Career Suicide.” I do sort of want to tackle it. I think comedy should try to thread the needle. No one can agree on the Israel and Palestine conflict generally, but everyone can agree that it’s hard to talk about. Everyone can agree that what’s happening on the ground is heartbreaking to people on both sides. Everyone can agree these are two distinct people who just want to live in peace and have nice televisions and eat food with their families. So there is common ground, and comedy is such a great vehicle for exploring it and navigating heavy issues in a light-hearted way. 

So you go to this neo-Nazi meeting for anyone who’s “curious about your whiteness.” What’s your gut response to the ever debated question — are Jews white? 

The short answer is “it’s complicated.” The long answer is Jews have a complicated relationship to whiteness. In some spaces, Jews are considered white and in some spaces, Jews aren’t considered white; they benefit from certain white privileges and things have changed throughout history. But the way I qualify it is — which is a joke that I’ve done on the BBC — here’s how you know if you think Jews are white. If you think being white is awesome, then Jews are definitely not white. If you think being white is terrible, then Jews are whiter than white, the whitest people who’ve ever lived. It’s a lose-lose situation. Look at me, I’m a white person, although some people look at me and they’re like, “You’re clearly Jewish.” I have passing privilege, right? I wear my hair in a certain way, I dress in a certain way, so if I’m in a certain environment, people might not register me as Jewish. So I have this passing privilege, but the fact that Jews even need to pass raises all these complicated questions.  

And it’s your white privilege that allowed you to infiltrate this group of neo-Nazis. Another issue with the are-Jewish-White question is that it erases Jews of color. It’s not even about all Ashkenazi Jews, but the white-passing Ashkenazi Jews like you and me.

It’s complicated, because there’s no one-to-one here, right? The construct of skin color and reckoning with what a Jew is, as a cultural, religious, ethnic melange… it’s hard to quantify. It’s fascinating and complex because it’s like trying to do a math problem with two different mathematical languages. Some people go, “It’s the same language,” and other people go, “No, it’s entirely different.” It’s contentious in every way. What I reckon with is that some Jews have elements of white privilege and other Jews do not. 

I think this addiction of binaries that is reflected within the general culture is unhealthy. Someone’s either this or they’re that. A big part of the show, and a big part of my work, my upbringing, and day-to-day life is examining a shade of gray (no pun intended). It’s where all the interesting stuff is! The tension between tradition and modernity, comfort and anxiety… I’m not uncomfortable saying that there’s a tenseness to the question — are Jews white? — I’m also not uncomfortable trying to examine that tension in a thoughtful way. I think anyone who declaratively states one way or the other might have firmer conviction in their beliefs than I do. 

Stephen Fry, one of my favorite Jews and intellectual heroes, likes to say that he’s constantly suffused with doubt. I’m the same way. You know who Stephen Fry is, right? Google him real quick and you’ll be like “I know this guy.” 

*Googles quickly* Ohh LOL yeah, I know him.

Right, he’s super recognizable, one of the funniest people alive and the smartest people alive. His approach is to come at everything with a degree of doubt. There’s a quote by Yeats, the poet, “The best lack all conviction, while the worst, are full of passionate intensity.” Let’s bring passion and intensity to not having conviction! We’re getting a little Talmudic now. Ask another question. 

No! This is where the good stuff happens! 

Well, yeah! I mean… things have changed. Things keep changing, and the Jews that I speak to about this often tell me that they’re frustrated by what is perceived to be a lack of allyship in all corners, and there’s real value to that message. There’s a tendency for people on the Right to not call out right-leaning antisemitism. I think there’s a tendency for people on the Left to not call out left-leaning antisemitism.

As they say, Jews are — or rather, antisemitism — is the canary in a coal mine. Or the scapegoats, which is ironically from the Torah.

Antisemitism skyrocketed in the last year, especially in Europe. Did you experience any Jew-hatred from your show? 

I had a bad antisemitic experience onstage in England in February of 2020, but I’ve also had a shocking amount of Jewish allyship from British people. The amount of people I’ve met on tour who’ve come up to me and been like, “Man, you’re the first Jew I’ve ever met,” and I’m like, “sick!”

Now that’s good for the Jews!

Being good for the Jews is really important for me. All of my heroes are people who are good for the Jews. Like Mel Brooks, who I would argue is great for the Jews.

Ugh, the best. 

David Baddiel identifies as an atheist, but still gets to be good for the Jews. In the show I say that Judaism is a mailing list you can never unsubscribe from. It’s like the Hotel California of religions. For better or for worse, you can be an atheist and wake up every day and curse the name of God and eat pork nonstop from the time you get up until the time you go to sleep and engage in the ritual slaughter of Torah scrolls or something—

But a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.

Exactly, a Jew is a Jew a Jew.

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Seriously, it’s been nearly a month, and how has Jewish media missed this? Megan Amram has her own (web) series, and dang it, she’s going to win an Emmy for it… at all costs.

Amram is best known these days for writing on The Good Place, but she’s been killing it at the comedy game for years, (see: Twitter, Parks and Rec, her book). And now, she will be an Emmy-winning performer, in a work entitled, simply, An Emmy for Megan.

The premise of the series is simple: Amram decides that she wants an Emmy, specifically for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series (she’s also putting up the series for an Outstanding Series award). And so she sets out to fulfill the minimum requirements. 6 episodes? Post online before April 27th? She has this in the bag! Of course, by the end of the first episode she’s in a spiral of pain, in the second episode she loses 40 pounds to fit the Hollywood mold, in the third episode she decides to identify as Korean… You get the idea, but you never know quite what she’ll do next.

And, yes, of course Amram talks about being Jewish. For example, it takes less than three minutes into the series for her to accuse an unsupportive friend of being anti-Semitic.

Plus, despite the show’s short run, there are a ton of celebrity cameos (mostly crammed together), ranging from RuPaul to Seth Rogen. Also, keep an eye out for a more substantial appearance from Jewish Good Place actor D’Arcy Carden.

If you’re in the LA area, you can even watch the new series in a theater, followed by a Q&A with the cast and crew on June 10.

Or, you can just watch An Emmy For Megan in your pajamas, like God intended. The whole thing is just under half an hour:

Image via Vimeo

The post Why Haven’t You Watched ‘An Emmy for Megan’ Yet? appeared first on Jewcy.

The woke Jewish comedy album you’ve been waiting for is here.

Nato Green is a comedian from San Francisco, and The Whiteness Album is his second release. His first album, from 2012, deals with a a lot of similar, political material, but if you can still remember that far back, you’ll know it was a very, very different time.

And what sort of politics is that? Well, The Whiteness Album tackles gentrification, white supremacy, class revolutions, Bernie Sanders, Black Lives Matter, homelessness, immigration, Donald Trump, climate change, Nazi punching, and splitting chores with one’s spouse. If this sounds like a lot to tackle in less than an hour, you hardly notice when listening to the album. Green is non-threatening, even soothing at times. His talent is operating within the world of “punch-up” comedy, attacking those in power with teeth, but never letting vitriol get in the way of a good punchline. What could be preachy is instead a smart, but not alienating outlet for frustration with the world today.

And what’s really notable about Green’s comedy is his relationship to his Jewishness. Many Jewish comedians today only invoke their identity as self-deprecation, and punchlines about anti-Semitism are usually in the past tense. Green is here to remind us that Jews are still a marginalized group, but manages to do so with nuance.

For example, Green settles the matter once and for all: Are Jews white? He gives arguments for and against, and ultimately sums up: “Too white for the police, not white enough for the Klan.”

Jewishness comes up organically throughout Green’s comedy, because it’s part of his way of interacting in the world that’s both familiar and refreshing to hear articulated. He even laments that the left claims to advocate for oppressed groups, but that Jews are often an afterthought at best.

“They sort of work their way down the list,” says Green. “They sort of get to the bottom and say, ‘Stand up for the oppression of people with nut allergies! And people who are bad at parallel parking! And Jews, I guess.'”

Is this an album to play for a conservative relative to convince them that Black Lives Matter isn’t a racist concept? Perhaps not, but it’s likely a great album to play when you get home from a protest outside Trump Tower.

So if you want a comedy album that mentions Andrea Dworkin, the candombe dances of Uruguay, and polyamory without seeming completely pretentious, The Whiteness Album is for you. And yes, it’s on Spotify. Check it out.

Photo courtesy Nato Green

The post ‘The Whiteness Album’ Is Funny, Smart, and Very Political appeared first on Jewcy.

What does a movie about sex-crazed, abusive nuns featuring a slew of big-name celebrities have to do with Judaism? Not much on the surface, but it should come as no surprise that proper Hollywood Catholic sex comedy wouldn’t be complete without its share of Jews.

…

Jewcy is on a summer residency! To read this piece, and our others for July and August 2017, go to our big sister site, Tablet Magazine!

The post For a Catholic Sex Comedy Starring Jews, Watch ‘The Little Hours’ appeared first on Jewcy.

Andy Samberg never stops never stopping, so he’s ready to hit us with another mockumentary in which he is both starring and producing— Tour de Pharmacy.

The short HBO comedy (less than an hour) will take the viewer into the cutthroat world of professional bike racing, as older “cyclists” reminisce about their glory days (the competition in question is back in 1982), which seem to have shades of Pumping Iron mixed with Talladega Nights. A major theme, if the title didn’t tip you off, is performance-enhancement drug jokes, but Lance Armstrong has a cameo, so no hard feelings.

“This is what happens when you train super hard. On the bicycle!” Announces an incredibly ripped gentleman played by John Cena.

The bonkers trailer also has the cyclists straight up stop the race and start fighting one another with their bare hands.

Of course, in typical Lonely Island friends-in-high-places fashion, this film also has every celebrity ever, from J.J. Abrams to Orlando Bloom. Come on; you obviously want to see any movie that has Nathan Fielder, Jeff Goldblum, and Daveed Diggs. (In one trailer, Goldblum wears his best outfit since his appearance in the trailer for the new Thor movies, and Diggs for some reason is milking a cow. K.)

As Goldblum announces in the trailer about the “hundreds of dollars” and “dozens of fans” on the line, “Stakes are medium!”

The film premieres July 8, but in the meantime, watch the trailers over and over again, below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVpRr1-PGgM&feature=youtu.be

Image from Tour de Pharmacy.

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At the end of last week, I watched the epic tale of Fyre Festival unfold with little pity and a whole lot of glee. If you’ve been living under a rock, or are just above the pettiness of laughing at the pain of rich people, here’s what went down:

Ja Rule’s attempt to create an elite, luxury music festival on a Bahamian island did not go so well. Basically, it was a disaster— and, said some people in pretty poor taste, was reminiscent of a disaster-relief camp. (I’d love to hear Sean Spicer’s take on this one.) The campsite was not ready; there were no luxury resort cabanas but instead a few sad tents and bare mattresses, which the guests proceeded to fight over; there was no gourmet food but instead cheese sandwiches. When Instagram models and “influencers” are forced to live like us plebes, hilarity ensues, it turns out. This was prime fodder for the Internet, and Twitter did not disappoint. If I might offer my own take, based on a conglomeration of jokes made by others, it looked like what might happen if Jean-Ralphio and Tom’s Entertainment 720 from Parks and Recreation planned a music festival but ended up with a mashup of The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, starring those celebrities with the highest fame-to-talent ratios (I’m looking at you, Kardashian/Jenners).

If the Internet’s response weren’t enough to satisfy your appetite for schadenfreude-based humor, it turns out that stoner comic actor Seth Rogen and vulgar comedy-musical trio The Lonely Island, which as we all know is ⅔ nice Jewish boys, are teaming up to make a comedy “about a music festival that goes HORRIBLY WRONG,” according to Rogen’s Twitter. This comedy dream team was apparently already working on the film before the real-life version happened:

For real, thinking about suing #FyreFestival for stealing our idea. https://t.co/uiLxhzLg85

— The Lonely Island (@thelonelyisland) April 28, 2017

They do seem like the perfect team for such a project: if you combine This Is the End with the music video for I’m On a Boat, it already seems like a pretty good approximation of Fyre Festival.

Now that we have the real thing to compare it to, the public’s standards for what is sure to be a slightly Jew-y, utterly disgusting comedy should be all the higher. It’s said that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, so Rogen and the Lonely Island have their work cut out for them— let’s hope they’re up to the challenge.

Image via Twitter.

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Comedian Moshe Kasher is here to officially be your woke bae.

Wait, can we eve say “woke bae?” Don’t worry, Kasher is here to help with his brand new talk show, Problematic with Moshe Kasher, which premiered last night. The Comedy Central website describes the show thus:

“Moshe Kasher brings the internet’s most contentious topics into the studio for face-to-face discussions that are sure to make everyone uncomfortable. It’s a message board come to life – but this time, hiding behind a username isn’t an option.”

And, what do you know, without anonymity, the discourse becomes way more civil! (Plus, there’s some heavy editing at play— it looks like it took a lot to get the conversation down to the essentials at under half an hour.)

And that first half hour? Kasher dove in deep; the theme was “cultural appropriation,” with the central question: “Where is the line?” Over the course of the episode, he talked to a diverse group of artists about what cultural appropriation is, what it isn’t, and why it’s hurtful in the first place.

Since it is a Comedy Central show, there was also a rap explaining cultural appropriation, featuring white (and Jewish) rapper MC Serch. The only time Jewish culture made the list as a victim was kabbalah, but from Kenny G to the Beastie Boys, boy did Jews make the list of appropriators.

Kasher also referenced his own Jewishness a handful of times in the first episode, but it was almost always in a self-deprecating context. He doesn’t seem to be hosting the show as a member of a minority, but as a Straight White Dude. (Perhaps he’ll shift his perspective for future episodes, like people walking away from their traditional faiths in “Losing My Religion,” especially since he has Orthodox members of his family.)

Despite audience questions during the show as well, it wasn’t so much a message board as a 20-minute crash course. Kasher hosted delicately, and (rightfully) always deferred to his guests. And the show in general has a really gentle tone, which takes away most of the bite that could be entertaining but is ultimately more productive. There’s no time for real deep dives, so we’ll see what Episode 2, exploring “Is technology ruining our brains?” can do with the format.

But there’s value to a show that explores difficult topics like race in a thoughtful, if not particularly sophisticated way. Think of it like this: in the wake of recent family seders, maybe sitting down a relative in front of an episode of Kasher’s show will do more to teach them than yelling on your third glass of wine.

Problematic with Moshe Kasher airs on Tuesday nights at 10/9 p.m. Central on Comedy Central.

Image via Comedy Central

The post Moshe Kasher Gets ‘Problematic’ in New Show appeared first on Jewcy.

If you’re mad both about the new president and that you have to wait until the summer for the fourth season of Broad City, then welcome to the right website for you. Also, there’s a new video that addresses both of your concerns.

Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer have released a video of how their characters are dealing with today’s Inauguration, and they say everything we’re feeling.

The setup is that Abbi’s stuck in an elevator, because instead of preparing for the Apocalypse, she went to her pre-paid laser hair removal appointment (though she still has a hiking backpack), while Ilana, with an outfit that says, “Resist in both style and comfort,” Skypes her bestie with both words of comfort and panic. Oh, and hey! Law & Order SVU is filming outside Ilana’s building! As the two count down to Tr*mp taking power, they consider our future.

“It is about to get I Am Legend up in here,” declaims Ilana. Abbi carries a butterfly knife. They recall what they learned in krav maga class together.

This video is somewhat uncensored; the two spew profanities, but the only word bleeped out is “Trump.” You’ll get the idea.

You can watch the video below, and if you don’t feel better, it certainly won’t make you feel worse:

Image via YouTube

The post The ‘Broad City’ Duo Gets You Through Today appeared first on Jewcy.

Amy Schumer has announced that her next standup special will premiere on Netflix on March 7 (this reporter’s birthday, if you must know). This news is easy to miss, since it comes on the heels of a zillion other things she’s done lately.

Yes, Amy Schumer is many things, but idle is not one of them. Schumer had a roller coaster of 2016 (didn’t we all, Amy). She had a world tour. She faced controversy. She continued her TV show. It can be hard to keep track of what she’s even up to these days. So, we took some highlights of her 2016 (Seriously, we can’t possibly cover everything), and upcoming few months, so that we can easily see what’s been good for the actor, and what were her missteps.

Here we go:

Bad: In January, allegations of plagiarism surface against Schumer.

Good: In March, Schumer leaves a $1000 tip for her bartender when she sees Hamilton on Broadway.

Good: Schumer got to see Hamilton on Broadway.

Bad: In August, Schumer remains silent for an uncomfortably long time when one of her show’s writers makes some really offensive jokes on Twitter.

Good: The same month, Schumer’s memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo comes out.

Bad: In October Schumer makes a Lemonade parody video, which many find offensive in its approach to the album’s social justice themes.  Her Medium post in response is a non-apology, which does not help matters.

Good: In November, Schumer celebrates one year with her boyfriend, Ben Hanisch. Is it gross to call him “dreamy?”

Good: In December, Schumer buys back the farm her family once owned and then lost when her family took a hit financially when she was a child.

(Probably) Good: Schumer is going to attend the Women’s March protesting the presidential inauguration next week.

(Maybe) Good: Schumer’s Netflix special, filmed in November 2016, debuts in March.

YOU DECIDE: Schumer’s film Snatched, co-starring Goldie Hawn, comes out in May.

We leave you with the trailer for Snatched, so that you may draw your own conclusions about the film you have not yet seen:

The post A Year in the Life of Amy Schumer appeared first on Jewcy.

I can’t believe it’s already been five months since I took on Jewcy.  More than that, I can’t believe I’ve only written about Stephen Sondheim twice.

But it’s about time we celebrate Jewcy‘s nerdy return in person: We’re having a party.

Tu B’Av is upon us, from the evening of August 18th to August 19th. If it doesn’t ring a bell, it’s the Jewish romance holiday, when single women would wear white and go out into the vineyards of Jerusalem to dance and attract a spouse.

That’s not what we’re doing. But if you’re in the Brooklyn area, come join us Thursday, August 18th, from 8-10 p.m. as we explore what it is to be Jewish and in love. A group of talented storytellers and comedians will share their tales of love lost, found, and everything in between.

(Get it? Short performances in bites? Love bites? Also, sometimes love is awful? Also a “love bite” is slang for a hickey? Thanks, we’re real proud of that one over here.)

Feel free to wear white as is holiday custom. Or wear black. You do you.

This event is for everyone, regardless of relationship status, not another awful Jewish singles’ event (but if you do find someone, Jewcy is totally taking credit).

Admission is FREE, with a 2-drink minimum.

The venue is Halyards bar, 406 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11215.

If you have any questions at all, please email Gabriela@Jewcy.com.

You can find the event on Facebook HERE.

Image credit: Wikimedia

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