By Mike Wagenheim
Birthright participants are more likely to build Jewish families. But could Birthright produce the next Jewish comedy star?
The new Birthright Israel Labs initiative is holding a competition to find Jewish comedy’s next breakout performer.
The winner gets a slot at the all-Jewish Chosen Comedy Festival in Miami on Dec. 14.
“I’ve been having conversations with Birthright Israel Labs for many months and we’ve been brainstorming ways to make a real impact on Birthright alumni,” sys Dani Zoldan, owner of Stand Up NY and co-creator of the Chosen Comedy Festival.
“We thought a comedy contest would break away from your traditional ‘alumni reunion,’ and based upon the amount of submissions and engagement, we believe we accomplished our goals.”
Zoldan has received close to 100 submissions so far.
The online competition is open to Birthright Israel, Birthright Israel Excel and Onward Israel alum and staff members in the US and Canada.
Comics can submit their routine through the site’s online portal. The winner will be selected by a panel of fellow Birthright alum and Stand Up NY staff.
This is the first major public project undertaken by Birthright Israel Labs, a digital initiative to connect alumni and the greater Diaspora community.
One of the entrants is Abby Feldman, a musical comedian.
“I’ve been really enjoying delving into my Jewish identity. There’s part of me that I always thought was weird, old-fashioned-y and old-country. And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I think her name is Devorah,’” says Feldman, describing how she chose her stage name, which is also her own Hebrew name.
“I’m just kind of embracing all of that. And I’m having a lot of fun.”
Feldman, who spent time in Argentina as an exchange student and Fulbright Scholar, stumbled upon a unique Birthright option combining New Yorkers and Argentinians and jumped on it.
“We all bonded. It was so tight-knit. I mean, I’m still friends with a lot of these people to this day. And we’re all over the world now.”
Feldman, who studied journalism in college, looked to escape the business a little over a decade ago after making a documentary on the “relativity of craziness” at a psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires.
She thought journalism was “going to be the way that I had a positive impact on the world. Then, when I was making this documentary, it just became very clear to me that I didn’t want to cover these depressing things. I wanted to make people laugh.”
She moved to New York to begin comedy improv, followed by standup.
“A few years ago, I connected with this friend who is a musician. I had always wanted to do music. So I would write songs, based mostly off my tweets. I would just sing the tweet. And she would produce music that went underneath it.”
The Chosen Comedy Festival debuted in New York this summer, drawing 4,200 people. Zoldan said that ticket sales for the Miami show are going well — around 3,000 attendees.
Feldman, who was set to open for famed comedian Jim Gaffigan in Argentina in March, 2020 before the set was scratched due to the COVID pandemic, is hoping for another breakthrough opportunity.
“When I was growing up, the only reference I had was like Adam Sandler’s Chanukah song,” says Feldman.
“That had a big impact on me as a little kid growing up in upstate New York. Like, OK, there’s some Jews and some of them are cool and famous. I would love to do that for little kids now, if they can hear ‘Call Me by My Hebrew Name’ and be like, ‘Oh, being Jewish is cool.’ That’d be amazing.”
