For those of you who don’t watch The Late Show, (or, you know, YouTube highlights the next day), you need to see part of Monday’s episode. beginning Republican National Convention coverage. You have to watch this. I’ll wait.

OK, now that you’ve witnessed that bit of comedy splendor, you can join me in missing the heck out of Jon Stewart.

I do find it adorable that in his self-imposed exile, Stewart seems to have become a zeyde, still the same Jewish comedian, but older, fussier, and even more fed up with the world than he was before (nice joke about kippot there, too). I know he’s only 53, but I almost expected him to be wearing his pants up to his chest in traditional grandfatherly fashion.

After all, a large part of what made Stewart a great presence on late night TV was his uniquely Jewish attitude towards the absurd politics unfolding in front of him: There was frustration bordering on righteous anger, and a wit, and with a cynical candy-coating from a man whose people have seen it all. “You’re not crazy,” Stewart seemed to urge us, “It’s the world that is upside down.”

Years ago, I went to a taping of The Daily Show, and when the audience was given a chance to ask questions, I trotted out my then stock-prompt for Jewish celebrities about the impact of their identity on their work. Stewart told me that that it’s a part of his genes (I believe he made up a component of DNA he called “Jew-nine,”) and said that it related to his fear of being kicked out of whatever country he was in. Clearly, this Jon Stewart hiding out in a cabin in the woods still has such a genetic neurosis. And while his departure from The Daily Show wasn’t the death of comedy, it left a Jewish-sized hole (whatever that means) that’s still unfilled.

Yes, Trevor Noah has Jewish ancestry.  But regardless of how he feels about his own identity, there have been enough think pieces explaining why he’s failed to sustain The Daily Show‘s legacy. He’s no longer a substantial part of the political comedy equation.

This isn’t to say that the landscape is barren; John Oliver and Samantha Bee do fine jobs, fitting different niches in the political comedy sphere. And Bee even mentioned Sheldon Adelson on her most recent episode (though, oh, imagine how Jon Stewart might take him to task as only a member of the Tribe can). So now, we can only hope that with the release of this video Stephen Colbert’s conservative alter-ego (who then stuck around for an additional segment) will return again and again for the next several months, like a comedy Golem, called out to serve the people in our time of need.

Stewart should also come back in a more substantial way. Remember when Trump announced his candidacy, shortly before Stewart was scheduled to retire from The Daily Show? Stewart joked that the news was so absurd that he was tempted to stay. Even he couldn’t imagine then how much more surreal the campaign season would become.

Colbert teased more appearances of Stewart on his show this week, and we’ll see what that looks like. It won’t be like having him back at his old desk, but maybe he can supply us a little more of his unique, Jewish style of catharsis.

UPDATE: Oh, God. Thank you, God.

Image via YouTube

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The Internet has an obsession with Jennifer Lawrence. Though it’s creepy and awful, she should probably soak it up because all it takes is one nervous acceptance speech and she’ll be the Most Hated Women in America.

Proving that Lawrence can do or say no wrong, on last night’s Daily Show, she and Jon Stewart chatted about all the fanaticism. Lawrence responded with all of the self-deprecating comments that everyone loves her for, and then moved on to criticizing, jokily, Stewart’s interview style, calling him weird and continuously reminding the audience that Stewart was unprepared. An awkward seven or so minutes later, the Internet was alight with “Oh My Gosh, Look How Lawrence Schooled Stewart” posts.

Stewart isn’t necessarily known for his probing skills, but he steps it up when appropriate—just check out The Week’s list of “Jon Stewart’s 5 most hard-hitting interviews” if you want some freshening up.

Lawrence’s comments weren’t a big deal; the two got along just fine. Maybe Stewart didn’t have the foresight to see her movie or read the book—maybe he did. But really, who cares? Stewart’s audience isn’t tuning in to catch up on what’s happening with District 12 and all the injustice in Panem, amiright? Lawrence vs. Stewart is a silly war. Let’s save the online superstar battles for Kanye vs. Zappos/Kimmel/Obama.

You can watch the video here:

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With Pope Francis’ progressive view of homosexuality, Atheism, and other former Catholic taboos, he’s garnered quite a lot of fans, one of the biggest being Jon Stewart. If you need some midday entertainment to go with your coffee, watch Stewart praise the Pontiff on The Daily Show.

While Stewart was talking up Francis, Fracis was talking up the Jews, YNet reports:

The pope, who has close ties with Jewish people from his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, says that Jews serve as an example for Christians. He says that they point Christians to the fact that they are always waiting for the Lord’s return, and so must always be open to him and never take refuge in what they have already attained.

Everyone’s on the same page.

(Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/Getty)

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Jon Stewart has been absent from The Daily Show all summer long filming in the Middle East and we’ve missed him so much. Though John Oliver was a great substitute pundit, there was a little part of us that just wanted our main man back. In anticipation of his September 3 return, Comedy Central compiled all of Stewart’s greatest Jewish moments— there are a lot of them.

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• Are slavery movies the new Holocaust flicks? Rachel Shukert thinks so. [Tablet]

• What Woody Allen’s character’s diction in Hannah and Her Sisters reveals about New Yorkers’ inability to pronounce the letter R. [Slate]

• See the couch where Hitler killed himself. Or don’t. [NY Daily News]

• Live like a Coen brother (Ethan) for only $2.34 million. [Curbed]

• A guy named Ira Isaacs is going to jail for four years for making a video in the style of the infamously obscene ‘Two Girls One Cup.’ [The Scroll]

• Lena Dunham and Jon Stewart commiserate over mean Internet things. [The Daily Show]

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Lena Dunham
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

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• Jon Stewart took some artistic liberty with the plot of A Christmas Carol in response to Fox News’ War on Christmas coverage. [Mediaite]

• Novelist Jami Attenberg—star of yesterday’s Twitter Book Club—discusses the creation of an obese literary character with playwright Samuel D. Hunter. [NYT]

• Joan Rivers has some advice for the Australian radio DJs who prank called the hospital Kate Middleton was staying in, who have been vilified after the nurse who took the call killed herself. [Mediaite]

• Why do classic Rankin-Bass Christmas animated specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman look so…Jewish? [Tablet]

• Jewcy favorite Mandy Patinkin tells Stephen Colbert it takes eight to 10 weeks to get his beard to its full glory, then schools Colbert on the roots of terrorism. Saul Berenson FTW. [Colbert Report]

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Being named TIME Person of the Year is kind of a big deal. While the nature of the award has certainly changed over the years (Hitler won in 1938?) and the official title was amended from ‘Man of the Year’ to ‘Person of the Year’ in 1999 (seriously, guys? 1999?), the honorary continues to be bestowed, according to TIME, “on the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year.”

But for all the hype about Jews taking over the world, we’re a group that’s not been very well represented on this list. Most years the title goes to the president, which pretty much rules us out completely. And sure, we all won in 2006 (literally, the person of the year was “You“), but that felt a little like cheating. But then Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke got it in 2009, and Facebook king Mark Zuckerberg in 2010, and we really felt like we were finally sitting at the cool table in the TIME cafeteria.

This year, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for one of these four Jews to take home the 2012 title. But hopefully not you, Sheldon Adelson. Who will you be voting for? (Not that it really matters—the editors choose the winner anyway.)

Jon Stewart:

“He is an entertainer, but he’s also a fact checker, hypocrisy meter and pundit who affects how people view the major players in America’s messy, vital democracy”

The host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and frequent mention on Jewcy is an interesting pick for an election year. His Emmy-winning campaign coverage was funny, and at times quite poignant, but we’re not so sure he’s got the chops to compete against the stacked group of foreign policy players in this year’s nominee batch. Plus his pal Steven Colbert was also nominated, so there’s that.

Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Now it’s up to him to help his country achieve a lasting peace in one of the most volatile corners of the world.”

We like Bibi for the win, if only because we’re pretty sure it will cause outsize outrage from all sides. TIME likes to make their picks controversial—sorry, conversation-starting—and he’s right up there on that one. But like our fleeting case of Biber Fever last month, we’re just not sure Bibi’s going to make it all the way to the editor’s finish line.

Michael Bloomberg:

“The hurricane’s destruction prompted Bloomberg, who until then had remained neutral regarding the presidential race, to endorse Barack Obama just five days before the election — and to spotlight, as his rationale, another issue he feels the political process has foolishly ignored: global warming.”

If they go with a Sandy-themed pick, Bloomberg’s got a one-in-three shot of making it—he just needs to beat Jersey governor Chris Christie and Obama, who already won in 2008. Otherwise, he seems like too much of a New York-centric choice. We still love you though, Bloomy.

Sheldon Adelson:

“After Barack Obama won re-election despite those efforts, Adelson — a strong supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, whose fortune Forbes pegs at some $20 billion — shrugged off the checks as the price of doing business. “Paying bills,” he told a Norwegian reporter. “That’s how you spend money.””

They missed the very next sentence of Adelson’s quote, though—you know, the part where he said “Either that or become a Jewish husband — you spend a lot of money.” Gross. Disqualification, please?

Who Should Be TIME’s Person of the Year 2012? [TIME]

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Let’s be real. While the end of election season might mean respite from seemingly endless political ads and closure and all that, for people like us, who learned about democracy from watching The West Wing (no, we’re not talking about the Burmese government), it means all the drama and excitement from the past however-long-it’s-been is over, and it’s time to get back to reality. (It also means yet another year has gone by where we couldn’t vote for Jed Bartlett, the two-term president portrayed by Martin Sheen in The West Wing.)

Here to help you through election season-withdrawal—at least until the inevitable HBO movie comes out—are your favorite politically-minded TV Jews:

The West Wing’s Toby Ziegler, from “Sorkin’s Jews of Yore,” Sam Knowles:

The most liberal of Bartlet’s staffers, hyperarticulate, a master of high and low tongues, Toby is not one to suffer fools lightly. He’ll start a shouting match with just about anyone, including the president. And he is undoubtedly the most Jewish Jew to grace a Sorkin show—which is to say, he can identify not just Yom Kippur but also Erev Yom Kippur. In one episode, he even goes to temple!

The West Wing’s Josh Lyman, from “Sorkin’s Jews of Yore,” by Sam Knowles:

Josh is one of those Jews who comes to us by way of Connecticut. In one memorable episode, Toby says to Josh, “You know, the Ancient Hebrews had a word for Jews from Westport. They pronounced it Presbyterian.” Zing! Josh may lack Toby’s storied Jewish pedigree, but he has other things to boast of: the ear of the president; a legion of adoring followers who confess their lust on a tribute site called LemonLyman.com.

The Good Wife’s Eli Gold, from Abe Fried-Tanzer’s Network Jews:

It’s no coincidence that Gold has been compared to a real-life famous Jew with a similar profession. Rahm Emanuel, former Chief of Staff for President Obama, and brother of Ari Emanuel, the basis for Entourage’ssuper agent Ari Gold, has quite a reputation for winning at all costs, and Gold has managed to earn that same status in what could easily have been (and originally was) merely a guest-starring role. Gold may reinforce the stereotype of Jews wanting all the power, but he’s definitely someone you’d want on your side.

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, from Jacob Silverman’s Culture Kvetch column:

As even the most casual viewer of The Daily Show can glean, Jon Stewart is capable of coupling wit and erudition to corner an interviewee or savage (a video clip of) a graceless politician—though he’s much more comfortable settling into the position of the bemused naif. Ignorance comes in numerous guises, and if one were to create a Donald Rumsfeld-like taxonomy, Stewart would be placed under “cultivated ignorance” (the known unknown). He’s done the reading, but he’s perpetually just a little bit in over his head, and he knows it; hell, he delights in it. That’s part of his charm.

(Flag image via Shutterstock)

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If Krusty the Klown had grown up in in Kent, England and studied Classics at Oxford, he might have become Andy Zaltzman. A politically conscious Jewish comedian whose most distinctive features are his wild fringe of orange hair and an obsession with puns, Zaltzman is one half of The Bugle, a comedy podcast that he created with fellow Brit John Oliver in 2007. Bearing the tagline “Audio Newspaper for a Visual World,” The Bugle is not only hilarious, it’s also a perfect antidote to the dull pablum of corporate television news. With weekly episodes running as long as 45 minutes, The Bugle is lively, weird, and fantastically droll. Often it feels like a more freewheeling, smarter version of The Daily Show, for which John Oliver is a writer and a featured correspondent.

Oliver’s profile in the United States has surged over the last couple years; besides his Daily Show work, he’s hosted standup specials for Comedy Central and appeared regularly on Community and in The Smurfs movie. Oliver’s busy schedule—and his home being in New York—makes it all the more impressive that he has stuck with Zaltzman, who continues to grind out a living doing standup, earning occasional TV credits, and writing a blog for ESPNcricinfo, a cricket website owned by ESPN.

But besides showing loyalty to an old friend, perhaps Oliver simply understands that Zaltzman is a brilliant comedian, one who distinguishes himself by his ability to mix low-brow, groaning humor with scabrous political satire. It also doesn’t hurt that despite the transatlantic divide between the hosts, the show remains incredibly popular, with listeners in 145-odd countries and, in 2011, an average of two million downloads per month.

Although The Bugle takes on world news—Oliver and Zaltzman take particular delight in going after the bloated pageantry of dictators like North Korea’s Kim Jong Un—it’s often at its best when skewering Anglo-American pieties. During the Olympics, Zaltzman filed near daily “micro-Bugles,” which formed a kind of alternative history to the host country’s displays of Queen-and-country empire-lite pride (“A grand effort all round by London. Just 346 years after it burned to the ground, this city has truly bounced back”)

But the pair are as well versed in American politics as those of their native England, and their episode on the LIBOR banking scandal is essential listening for its explanatory value alone. Zaltzman published a book of satire early in the 2008 financial crisis, called Does Anything Eat Bankers? which fielded financial questions from dogs and used a parable of Jesus feeding the hungry with fish fingers to explain the concept of credit. The comedian’s politics are of the left but he’s contemptuous towards any sort of party politics. He’s said that officials have been engaged in “elongated game of economic pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey” and called the US presidential election a “multi-billion-dollar squawking contest.”

But Zaltzman is a far more entertaining figure on radio (he also appears on the BBC Radio show “Tonight With Rory Bremmer”), where he’s better served by his relentless streams of cheap puns (five solid minutes is his record) and his swift back-and-forth with Oliver. The two bring out the best in one another—when together, Oliver moderates his Daily Show persona’s short temper, which has always mistaken loudness for cleverness; and Zaltzman can lean on a partner who gets his policy references and shares his gleefully self-hating attitude towards all things British.

The Bugle recently marked its two hundredth episode—“one of the greatest moments in the history of human civilization,” Zaltzman called it—and it seems unlikely to slow down. The show has survived being dropped by its former sponsor, the Times of London, and may start a membership program to recoup costs. For now it remains a highlight in what is an increasingly crowded world of comedy podcasts, radio sketch shows, and interview programs like Marc Maron’s WTF. A whole constellation of audio comedy has emerged in recent years, drawing as much on the tradition of old stage shows as on the latest sitcoms. Few of them, however, can make jokes about tax policy funny; Andy Zaltzman somehow manages.

(Art by Margarita Korol)

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• Sandy Koufax…basketball star?

• Job, meet the New Yorker.

• There’s no such thing as free bar mitzvah fireworks. Especially if you’re a politician.

• Susan Sontag on love, illustrated.

• Shia Labeouf explains why he got naked in that strange Sigur Ros video.

• Fresh off his K. Stew heartbreak, Robert Pattinson will play Lawrence of Arabia in Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert. Until then, get your R. Pattz fix with his awkwardly tragic Daily Show appearance.

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