Tuesday, March 19, 2024 -
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15 moments in Jewish comedy

The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot in Tel Aviv has selected a list of the 15 greatest moments in the history of Jewish comedy.

The list, reported in The Hollywood Reporter, coincides with the museum’s exhibit “Let There Be Laughter — Jewish Humor Around the World.”

So, without further ado . . . drumroll, please!

  • Borscht Belt (1920s-70s), cradle of American Jewish comedy
  • The Marx Brothers’ “Duck Soup” (1933), mirror scene

  • Henny Youngman’s “Take My Wife, Please” (1940), joke origin

  • “An Evening With Nichols and May: The Jewish Mother” (1960-61), Broadway skit

  • “The 2000-Year-Old Man” (1961), Mel Brooks & Carl Reiner routines

  • “Sallah Shabati” (1964), Israeli film by Ephraim Kishon
  • Joan Rivers’ first “Tonight Show” appearance (1965)
  • “Saving Soviet Jewelry” (1976), SNL skit

  • “Annie Hall” (1977)
  • “Airplane” (1980)
  • “Seinfeld” (1989-98)

  • “City Slickers” (1991)

  • Adam Sandler’s first “Hanukkah Song” (1994)
  • Borat’s “Throw the Jew Down the Well” (2006)
  • Jon Stewart’s “A Look Back: Let His People Laugh” (2015)

And now, a question for you: What’s missing?




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