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Jewish Comedy: A Serious History
In a major work of scholarship both erudite and very funny, Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber traces the origins of Jewish comedy and its development from biblical times to the age of Twitter. Organizing the product of Jews’ comic imagination over continents and centuries into what he calls the seven strands of Jewish comedy—including the satirical, the witty, and the vulgar—he traces the ways Jewish comedy has mirrored, and sometimes even shaped, the course of Jewish history. Persecution, cultural assimilation, religious revival, diaspora, Zionism—all of these, and more, were grist for the Jewish comic mill; and Dauber’s book takes readers on the tour of the funny side of some very serious business. (And vice versa.)
In a work of dazzling scope, readers will encounter comic masterpieces here that range from Talmudic rabbi jokes to medieval skits, Yiddish satires and Borscht Belt routines to scenes from Seinfeld and Broad City, and the book of Esther to Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song.” Dauber also explores the rise and fall of popular comic archetypes such as the Jewish mother, the Jewish American Princess, and the schlemiel, the schlimazel, and the schmuck, and the classic works of such masters of Jewish comedy as Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Philip Roth, Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, and Larry David, among many others.
Jewish comedy, as Dauber writes, is serious business. And precisely what it is, how it developed, and how its various strands weave together and in conversation with the Jewish story: that’s Jewish Comedy.
In a work of dazzling scope, readers will encounter comic masterpieces here that range from Talmudic rabbi jokes to medieval skits, Yiddish satires and Borscht Belt routines to scenes from Seinfeld and Broad City, and the book of Esther to Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song.” Dauber also explores the rise and fall of popular comic archetypes such as the Jewish mother, the Jewish American Princess, and the schlemiel, the schlimazel, and the schmuck, and the classic works of such masters of Jewish comedy as Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Babel, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Philip Roth, Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Jon Stewart, and Larry David, among many others.
Jewish comedy, as Dauber writes, is serious business. And precisely what it is, how it developed, and how its various strands weave together and in conversation with the Jewish story: that’s Jewish Comedy.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 2017
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November 17, 2023
Did you ever sign up for a university course because you saw something in the semester catalog that looked interesting and fun? Say, Introduction to Cannabis? or Beekeeping? or maybe Pattern making for Dog Garments? If so, Professor Jeremy Dauber (Columbia University) has the perfect course for you.
The History of Jewish Comedy
There are a couple of qualifiers. First, this isn’t comedy about Jews, this is comedy from Jews. No antisemitic nazi sentiments. No bigoted micro-aggressions. The only deprecation allowed is self deprecation. Second, this isn’t a joke book. The jokes here are examples of era, style and approach. They are sometimes contextual, sometimes complicated, and sometimes hilarious—but not always.
Hitler visits a Gypsy Fortune Teller…
Hitler: “When will I die?”
Gypsy: “You will die on a Jewish holiday.”
Hitler: “Which Jewish Holiday?”
Gypsy: “It doesn’t matter. Any day you die will be a Jewish Holiday.”
From the Borscht Belt to Bernhard
Jewish comedy is infused with chutzpah. Its essence is essentially that of the diaspora and the diaspora impregnates and is thoroughly entrenched in most all of its various forms. It is often about being different, and about playing to those differences in a manner that renders them harmless and benign.
“The Jewish joke constitutes victory by defeat. The persecuted Jew who makes himself the butt of the joke deflects this dangerous hostility away from the persecutors onto himself. The result is not defeat or surrender but victory and greatness.”
I love Italians, they’re wonderful people. My cousin Vincenso is half Italian and half Jewish. If he can’t buy something wholesale he steals it.
May the Schwartz be with you
One of the ways Jewish comedy is frequently manifested is in the form of parody—a parody that simply presents a Jewish version of an existing trope. Philip Roth’s novella The Breast (a parody of Kafka’s Metamorphosis) and Sheryl Haft’s children’s book Goodnight Bubbala (a parody of Margaret Wise Brown’s Good Night Moon) are two literary examples. And I ask you, is Mel Brooks’ film Spaceballs (a parody of the Star Wars franchise) not simply Jews In Space?
The Providence of Comedians
“One of the primary appeals of Jewish humor is that there's always someone around that gets the joke.”
I suspect that Professor Dauber’s college courses are indeed interesting and fun. His books (I’ve now read two) certainly are. They’re also extensively researched and detailed and intense (oy vey!). 4.5 stars.
“May your child give his bar mitzvah speech on the genius of Ayn Rand.” -Old Jewish Curse
The History of Jewish Comedy
There are a couple of qualifiers. First, this isn’t comedy about Jews, this is comedy from Jews. No antisemitic nazi sentiments. No bigoted micro-aggressions. The only deprecation allowed is self deprecation. Second, this isn’t a joke book. The jokes here are examples of era, style and approach. They are sometimes contextual, sometimes complicated, and sometimes hilarious—but not always.
Hitler visits a Gypsy Fortune Teller…
Hitler: “When will I die?”
Gypsy: “You will die on a Jewish holiday.”
Hitler: “Which Jewish Holiday?”
Gypsy: “It doesn’t matter. Any day you die will be a Jewish Holiday.”
From the Borscht Belt to Bernhard
Jewish comedy is infused with chutzpah. Its essence is essentially that of the diaspora and the diaspora impregnates and is thoroughly entrenched in most all of its various forms. It is often about being different, and about playing to those differences in a manner that renders them harmless and benign.
“The Jewish joke constitutes victory by defeat. The persecuted Jew who makes himself the butt of the joke deflects this dangerous hostility away from the persecutors onto himself. The result is not defeat or surrender but victory and greatness.”
I love Italians, they’re wonderful people. My cousin Vincenso is half Italian and half Jewish. If he can’t buy something wholesale he steals it.
May the Schwartz be with you
One of the ways Jewish comedy is frequently manifested is in the form of parody—a parody that simply presents a Jewish version of an existing trope. Philip Roth’s novella The Breast (a parody of Kafka’s Metamorphosis) and Sheryl Haft’s children’s book Goodnight Bubbala (a parody of Margaret Wise Brown’s Good Night Moon) are two literary examples. And I ask you, is Mel Brooks’ film Spaceballs (a parody of the Star Wars franchise) not simply Jews In Space?
The Providence of Comedians
“One of the primary appeals of Jewish humor is that there's always someone around that gets the joke.”
I suspect that Professor Dauber’s college courses are indeed interesting and fun. His books (I’ve now read two) certainly are. They’re also extensively researched and detailed and intense (oy vey!). 4.5 stars.
“May your child give his bar mitzvah speech on the genius of Ayn Rand.” -Old Jewish Curse
May 15, 2018
While Jewish Comedy: A Serious History, by Jeremy Dauber, professor of Yiddish literature at Columbia, wasn't at all what I expected—i.e., more emphasis on the "Jewish comedy", less on the "serious history"—it nonetheless proved to be an excellent and enlightening read. Rarely have I read a book that was so much not as advertised (in a manner of speaking, anyway), but that appealed to me quite as much as Jewish Comedy did.
I had first seen Dauber's study in a Jewish bookstore, in the humor section, and I fully expected it to be a collection of Jewish humor much like Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews, in which Rabbi Telushkin tells jokes and then explains their Jewish milieu within the culture, but that was not at all the case. Rather, Jewish Comedy is a serious academic study, complete with heavy footnoting and bibliographic information—not unlike Dauber's other works, I would imagine—albeit with ample examples of Jewish humor from Biblical days to the present, including material that 21st-century Jewish people wouldn't necessarily even call "humor" per se. As such, however, Jewish Comedy is so good at what it sets out to do—and although Dauber notes the caveat that to overly dissect humor is often to damage it, he makes very clear that this book is an academic study and as such this approach is more or less necessary—that it proved one of the more memorable and meaningful reads in my recent memory.
This is not to say that there's no genuinely funny stuff in Jewish Comedy; on the contrary, one of the first jokes that Dauber retells verbatim I found funny as hell, if black-hearted through and through and probably better told in Yiddish, and that joke is hardly the only laugh-out-loud moment. But Jewish Comedy is decidedly not a joke book, and Dauber seriously considers the cultural, religious, and sociological aspects to Jewish comedy, from satire in the tale of Elijah on Mount Carmel to Megan Amram and Sarah Silverman's quite contemporary material. Yes, there are a few minor omissions (for example, while Dauber discusses Orthodox Jewish humor, humor of converts to Judaism, and Israeli humor, he omits the stand-up of Yisrael Campbell, who embodies all three criteria—although Campbell may be an exception that proves any number of rules), but for the most part Dauber is both comprehensive and inclusive of a wide variety of media, Jewish subcultures, and "species" of humor.
I can't say I'd recommend Jewish Comedy to everyone—after all, recommending an academic study as light reading is rather a dirty trick—but if you're into that sort of thing, it's essential reading, and I can definitely say I genuinely enjoyed it.
I had first seen Dauber's study in a Jewish bookstore, in the humor section, and I fully expected it to be a collection of Jewish humor much like Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews, in which Rabbi Telushkin tells jokes and then explains their Jewish milieu within the culture, but that was not at all the case. Rather, Jewish Comedy is a serious academic study, complete with heavy footnoting and bibliographic information—not unlike Dauber's other works, I would imagine—albeit with ample examples of Jewish humor from Biblical days to the present, including material that 21st-century Jewish people wouldn't necessarily even call "humor" per se. As such, however, Jewish Comedy is so good at what it sets out to do—and although Dauber notes the caveat that to overly dissect humor is often to damage it, he makes very clear that this book is an academic study and as such this approach is more or less necessary—that it proved one of the more memorable and meaningful reads in my recent memory.
This is not to say that there's no genuinely funny stuff in Jewish Comedy; on the contrary, one of the first jokes that Dauber retells verbatim I found funny as hell, if black-hearted through and through and probably better told in Yiddish, and that joke is hardly the only laugh-out-loud moment. But Jewish Comedy is decidedly not a joke book, and Dauber seriously considers the cultural, religious, and sociological aspects to Jewish comedy, from satire in the tale of Elijah on Mount Carmel to Megan Amram and Sarah Silverman's quite contemporary material. Yes, there are a few minor omissions (for example, while Dauber discusses Orthodox Jewish humor, humor of converts to Judaism, and Israeli humor, he omits the stand-up of Yisrael Campbell, who embodies all three criteria—although Campbell may be an exception that proves any number of rules), but for the most part Dauber is both comprehensive and inclusive of a wide variety of media, Jewish subcultures, and "species" of humor.
I can't say I'd recommend Jewish Comedy to everyone—after all, recommending an academic study as light reading is rather a dirty trick—but if you're into that sort of thing, it's essential reading, and I can definitely say I genuinely enjoyed it.
February 12, 2018
This book took me forever to read, what with looking up Yiddish words and performers and writers and references, but that's a sign of how engrossing and expansive the book is - I could spend a pleasant year or few following up the leads. Dauber is indeed serious about his subject, but he writes with a quiet sort of humor that blends well with the actual jokes and quotations and references that he brings into the text. Kudos to the cover design as well, subtle and effective.
November 16, 2020
Somebody asked me who are the six funniest ‘men’ I could think of who made me wildly laugh out loud. My answer was Redd Foxx, Alan King, Richard Pryor, Mel Brooks, George Carlin and Don Rickles. I’ve been obsessed with comedy since I discovered YouTube. When I discovered this book it was a no brainer. The history was interesting but never too dry. It was serious, informative, and darn entertaining. What more could I ask for?
December 9, 2018
If I had to sum up my relationship with Judaism in one word, that word would be complicated. A lot of this I’ve never articulated before, so bear with me, and I’ll try and keep the tangents to a minimum and focus on actually reviewing this book. As of this writing, my religious affiliation is with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (or, as we call ourselves, Pastafarians; for a starting point, see The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster). Before that, I was an atheist (some people with no sense of humor and/or ignorance towards the finer points of Pastafarian practices would say I’m still an atheist), realizing that I was one after reading The God Delusion. I was an agnostic. But before even that, I didn’t really have a religious affiliation, an apatheist (one who does not care for questions of the existence of deities). I did have a loose sense of a mixture of Judaism and Christianity.
My parents, coming from different religious backgrounds, raised me and my siblings very secularly, for which I am grateful. We celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, both Easter and Passover.
Narrowing down to focus on the Jewish parts (there’s a method to my madness), we also celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, though I had decided on nonobservance by the time I was old enough to fast for the latter. However, that was pretty much it for religious holidays. I never had a Bar Mitzvah, and never went to temple or synagogue outside attending others’ Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Even more crucially, outside of converts and adoptions, most denominations consider Judaism matrilineal, and my Jewish parent is my father. So most would consider me a Gentile, even if I didn’t identify as such.
Nevertheless, the religion and the culture that surrounds it holds a somewhat special place in my heart. Being from a well-off family in Los Angeles, I knew a lot of Jews growing up, and especially during my teenage years, absorbed many bits and pieces of teachings and humor. So when I saw this book at my college’s bookstore, in addition to being amused at the title, it intrigued me.
Before you get this book yourself, you should be aware that the author is not kidding about the book being a serious history. If you want a joke book, you’ve come to the wrong place. As Dauber makes clear in the introduction, analyzing a joke often kills it. Another thing a potential reader should know going into this is one of the limiting parameters of the scope of his analysis, namely defining Jewish comedy as comedy about Jews and Judaism, told by Jews. This eliminates a large portions of material, leaving behind something more manageable to analyze, even if it means leaving out almost all of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show material and a decent portion of Jerry Seinfeld’s repertoire.
If the prior disclaimers have not turned you away, then your reward is an in-depth look at Jewish humor from biblical times to the twenty-first century. Dauber holds up the Book of Esther as the most comedic book of the Bible, coming back to it in several of his main chapters, each on a different strain of Jewish comedy (e.g. satire, parody, anti-anti-Semitism), not necessarily because it’s a side-splitter, but it does follow traditional comedic patterns in several forms, especially comedy in the sense of having a happy ending, with Haman receiving his comeuppance. Many familiar names show up once one gets to 20th and 21st century America, such as Lenny Bruce, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Sarah Silverman, all of which get fairly substantial subsections.
Poring over the annals of history, it seems through repeated incidence that it is inevitable for religion and politics to intersect, and a book of a religion’s comedic tradition is not an exception. On the whole, I suspect Dauber leans more to the right than the average American Jew. I may be mistaken, but the book holds one of the most common themes of Jews in America is the pull of assimilation and resistance against said pull, and much of the examples of humor fall in the latter’s camp. Part of this is a fault of the parameters I mentioned earlier, as Jews making jokes unrelated to Judaism is outside the book’s self-imposed scope, but nevertheless I detected a bias even taking that into account, and what I suspect are the author’s opinions leak in at inopportune times. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having qua having those opinions, just that what I suspect the average reader may encounter some dissonance with their own experience, possibly even being slightly insulted in one or two places. But these complaints are minor, and detracted from my enjoyment only in the most minimal manner, and I am definitely to the left of the average American Jew, so I may be overreacting and my experience reading this may not hold for others.
There is one part of the book that in particular has aged very poorly, and that’s saying something for a book written in 2016 and being reviewed in December 2018. It is the following quote:
In summary, while this book has a rather niche appeal, it fulfills that niche very well, and a reader to whom this is interesting will likely leave satisfied.
My parents, coming from different religious backgrounds, raised me and my siblings very secularly, for which I am grateful. We celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, both Easter and Passover.
Narrowing down to focus on the Jewish parts (there’s a method to my madness), we also celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, though I had decided on nonobservance by the time I was old enough to fast for the latter. However, that was pretty much it for religious holidays. I never had a Bar Mitzvah, and never went to temple or synagogue outside attending others’ Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Even more crucially, outside of converts and adoptions, most denominations consider Judaism matrilineal, and my Jewish parent is my father. So most would consider me a Gentile, even if I didn’t identify as such.
Nevertheless, the religion and the culture that surrounds it holds a somewhat special place in my heart. Being from a well-off family in Los Angeles, I knew a lot of Jews growing up, and especially during my teenage years, absorbed many bits and pieces of teachings and humor. So when I saw this book at my college’s bookstore, in addition to being amused at the title, it intrigued me.
Before you get this book yourself, you should be aware that the author is not kidding about the book being a serious history. If you want a joke book, you’ve come to the wrong place. As Dauber makes clear in the introduction, analyzing a joke often kills it. Another thing a potential reader should know going into this is one of the limiting parameters of the scope of his analysis, namely defining Jewish comedy as comedy about Jews and Judaism, told by Jews. This eliminates a large portions of material, leaving behind something more manageable to analyze, even if it means leaving out almost all of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show material and a decent portion of Jerry Seinfeld’s repertoire.
If the prior disclaimers have not turned you away, then your reward is an in-depth look at Jewish humor from biblical times to the twenty-first century. Dauber holds up the Book of Esther as the most comedic book of the Bible, coming back to it in several of his main chapters, each on a different strain of Jewish comedy (e.g. satire, parody, anti-anti-Semitism), not necessarily because it’s a side-splitter, but it does follow traditional comedic patterns in several forms, especially comedy in the sense of having a happy ending, with Haman receiving his comeuppance. Many familiar names show up once one gets to 20th and 21st century America, such as Lenny Bruce, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Sarah Silverman, all of which get fairly substantial subsections.
Poring over the annals of history, it seems through repeated incidence that it is inevitable for religion and politics to intersect, and a book of a religion’s comedic tradition is not an exception. On the whole, I suspect Dauber leans more to the right than the average American Jew. I may be mistaken, but the book holds one of the most common themes of Jews in America is the pull of assimilation and resistance against said pull, and much of the examples of humor fall in the latter’s camp. Part of this is a fault of the parameters I mentioned earlier, as Jews making jokes unrelated to Judaism is outside the book’s self-imposed scope, but nevertheless I detected a bias even taking that into account, and what I suspect are the author’s opinions leak in at inopportune times. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having qua having those opinions, just that what I suspect the average reader may encounter some dissonance with their own experience, possibly even being slightly insulted in one or two places. But these complaints are minor, and detracted from my enjoyment only in the most minimal manner, and I am definitely to the left of the average American Jew, so I may be overreacting and my experience reading this may not hold for others.
There is one part of the book that in particular has aged very poorly, and that’s saying something for a book written in 2016 and being reviewed in December 2018. It is the following quote:
[Parodic Holocaust humor] comes at a time where Jewish claims and concerns of anti-Semitism in America are at previously unimaginably low rates (although recent trends, and political events, may give troubling reason to reconsider this assessment).(For those living under a rock, the majority of the spike in hate crimes since the election of Donald Trump has been anti-Semitic hate crimes, and the Tree of Life synagogue shooting last October is the worst anti-Semitic massacre in US history.)
In summary, while this book has a rather niche appeal, it fulfills that niche very well, and a reader to whom this is interesting will likely leave satisfied.
December 21, 2019
I thought this was a fascinating and comprehensive historical survey. Covers the comedy luminaries I was expecting (the Borscht belt, Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Mort Sahl, Sid Caesar, Lenny Bruce, etc) but also delves into highbrow novelists like Philip Roth and Saul Bellow, and the role of humor in biblical, rabbinical and Talmudic writings. Seeing as how there's a sinister international Jewish conspiracy to dominate and control the comedy industry (just kidding, ADL), this is a pretty key text to understanding the history of comedy in general... but seriously, Jews have made an undeniably significant contribution to comedy as we know it, especially standup, and the author does a lot of valuable excavation of the historical record in order to explore theories around why that is. Very dense with citations, I listened to this on audiobook but now I want to purchase a hard copy so I can highlight passages and follow leads, just about every page makes mention of something that could take you down a rabbit hole of further research discovering obscure texts or old comedy routines along the way. Oh thanks to this book I finally learned what a Schlmeal and a Schlmozel is (one spills the soup, the other has the soup spilled onto him), a mystery which has perplexed the whole generation of Gentile children such as myself who grew up watching television in the 70s and 80s.
July 10, 2024
Although maybe a bit of a dry read, incredibly interesting stuff, it helps to have a small basis on Jewish history to maybe understand some of the antiquity era stuff, but you don’t need too much knowledge as he does a good job at explaining.
September 15, 2019
This is a great, serious examination of the whys and wherefores of Jewish comedy. It's a fascinating history, with the added advantage of the occasional joke. What's not to like?
December 27, 2021
3.5/5
Tbh it wasn't a bad book, I just wasn't the target audience for it. My bad
Tbh it wasn't a bad book, I just wasn't the target audience for it. My bad
May 7, 2022
Such a great read... entertaining and fascinating. I feel like my only gripes are that there are topics that I would have liked to have seen discussed in greater detail, but the scope of this book is HUGE. So most things only get glossed over (Seinfeld gets about two paragraphs or so). Still, I really REALLY enjoyed the historical elements of this book (I don't know where Dauber would say the history "starts" but basically as early as can be). There are some great jokes in here, too.
Some things I must mention: somehow Dauber includes the phrase "grist for the (blank) mill" I believe FIVE times throughout the book. I thought that was insane.
Also, I'm reading the notes section now. Apparently Alan Dershowitz sent the "Palestinian Chicken" episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" to Netanyahu in hopes that he would watch it with Mahmoud Abbas. One of the craziest facts I've ever heard.
Some things I must mention: somehow Dauber includes the phrase "grist for the (blank) mill" I believe FIVE times throughout the book. I thought that was insane.
Also, I'm reading the notes section now. Apparently Alan Dershowitz sent the "Palestinian Chicken" episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" to Netanyahu in hopes that he would watch it with Mahmoud Abbas. One of the craziest facts I've ever heard.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2019
In this 2017 text, Jeremy Dauber, a professor of Yiddish literature, investigates the history of Jewish comedy, the contexts that created it, its most influential figures, and the changes it has undergone.
Conventional comedy wisdom counsels us to never explain the joke. Not only does this book’s premise fly in the face of that, but Dauber often cranks that defiance up to eleven, granting several jokes enough in-depth analysis to suck any pretense of humor from them. As a result, this is likely the least funny book about comedy you will ever read. It is also not a “history” in the conventionally understood sense. It does not follow a chronology and jumps frequently in time (from contemporary Jewish American comedy to subtle biblical humor to Borscht Belt icons) as Dauber moves from topic to topic. Instead, it is best understood as a sociology of Jewish comedy: a look at the relationship between jokes/jokers and the societies they often lampooned.
Read through that lens, Dauber’s account is learned and frequently insightful. He shows how Jewish comedy has changed from a quasi-defense mechanism (Jews making fun of the gentiles who ostracized them) to a reaction to assimilation (Jews making fun of other Jews who seem to have shed their Jewishness) to a force that helped define American comedy for years to come (think the success and influence of Mort Sahl, Woody Allen, and the creators of Seinfeld). He also unearths often-overlooked humor in biblical narratives, such as the irony-laden comedy of errors that befalls Haman, the jealous, scheming antagonist of the Purim story.
Though at times a dense and ponderous read, Jewish Comedy does a respectable job of unpacking the genre’s tropes, trends, and tendencies.
Conventional comedy wisdom counsels us to never explain the joke. Not only does this book’s premise fly in the face of that, but Dauber often cranks that defiance up to eleven, granting several jokes enough in-depth analysis to suck any pretense of humor from them. As a result, this is likely the least funny book about comedy you will ever read. It is also not a “history” in the conventionally understood sense. It does not follow a chronology and jumps frequently in time (from contemporary Jewish American comedy to subtle biblical humor to Borscht Belt icons) as Dauber moves from topic to topic. Instead, it is best understood as a sociology of Jewish comedy: a look at the relationship between jokes/jokers and the societies they often lampooned.
Read through that lens, Dauber’s account is learned and frequently insightful. He shows how Jewish comedy has changed from a quasi-defense mechanism (Jews making fun of the gentiles who ostracized them) to a reaction to assimilation (Jews making fun of other Jews who seem to have shed their Jewishness) to a force that helped define American comedy for years to come (think the success and influence of Mort Sahl, Woody Allen, and the creators of Seinfeld). He also unearths often-overlooked humor in biblical narratives, such as the irony-laden comedy of errors that befalls Haman, the jealous, scheming antagonist of the Purim story.
Though at times a dense and ponderous read, Jewish Comedy does a respectable job of unpacking the genre’s tropes, trends, and tendencies.
September 19, 2019
I wanted to like this book, since a large number of my American comedic heroes are Jewish (as opposed to my English ones, who are probably mostly current or former Anglicans), but the book as a whole never seemed to quite come together. Perhaps the problem is that “Jewish comedy” is too big a topic when so many Jewish comedians and humorists throughout the millennia have literally nothing in common beyond a religious and/or ethnic background. (After all, reading this book made me realize some of my *least* favorite comedians are Jewish as well!) Authors/comics/actors/etc. are brought up for a paragraph or two, and then the text moves on to something else. The book is loosely grouped into chapters based on theme, which isn’t always an effective means of organization. The author also tends to read too much into certain things—I don’t know that Abie the Fish Peddler’s “birthmark” is supposed to represent circumcision, though I admit in all the hundreds of times I’d watched “Animal Crackers”, it hadn’t occurred to me that “Abie” was Jewish. (It seems obvious now, but I can’t say the realization makes the joke funnier, because the ultimate punchline is still Chico not being a real Italian.)
I’d probably give the book two stars, but it gets bumped up a star because of the assorted jokes reproduced in the text, some of which were quite funny. (It might also motivate me to finally read some Kafka or Sholem Aleichem, which is also probably a net good.)
I’d probably give the book two stars, but it gets bumped up a star because of the assorted jokes reproduced in the text, some of which were quite funny. (It might also motivate me to finally read some Kafka or Sholem Aleichem, which is also probably a net good.)
October 2, 2018
This was an interested read chock full of fun tidbits. I enjoyed reading and certainly learned a lot. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the topic. However, it felt incomplete to me. I wasn't looking for a joke book, as seems to be the complaint for some other readers, but as a history, this felt incomplete. It certainly relayed the history but it felt like it forgot some of the context or analysis. For example, it spends a lot of time talking about the various Jewish stereotypes, but that's really all it does: declare the stereotypes and point out examples. It doesn't do much to explain WHY these stereotypes exist. Where did they come from? Why are they so popular? For example, could it be that the reason Jewish men are often portrayed as cowardly and emasculated is because that makes them less threatening to the non-Jewish majority? Why are women so terribly portrayed as either nagging mothers or superficial JAPs (frigid or otherwise)? Could that have roots in the paternalistic nature of Jewish culture itself? Perhaps this was simply not Dauber's aim or he's not qualified to delve into such questions, but I felt that just relaying the types of Jewish comedy and not really going into any sort of cultural analysis about the why left me somewhat unsatisfied.
March 20, 2024
What a read! This book is incredibly verbose and boasts some of the most dense and hyper-intellectual academic writing I’ve come across so far. As such, it took me a little over a week to read, and got a bit exhausting at times. Despite occasionally needing to re-read chapters and not understanding many of the references (both to specific comedic acts or to Jewish culture), I thoroughly enjoyed this read. There were many moments where I thought to myself “I didn’t know they were Jewish” or even “I didn’t know this thing had as much statistically proven impact as it clearly did!”. I knew quite a few more of the references than I thought I would. Overall, I enjoyed getting a unique glimpse into how comedy works in the realm of Hebrew all over the world and across all periods of history. I got quite a few books and plays from this story that I’ve added to my list and would like to read, not the least of which is the Bible. Overall very pleasant, would recommend and will probably have to read again once I’ve consumed more of the comedy firsthand. 4.5/5 stars.
March 22, 2025
A scholarly work which does provide some real insight into why Jewish comedy is actually 'a thing'. There are just enough examples of actual jokes to keep this from being stuffy but make no mistake; this is not a compendium of Jewish jokes.
I struggled with the long section on Jewish satire and discussion of Purim plays, and most enjoyed the parts about 19th and 20th century US development: the so-called 'Borscht Belt' comedians of the Catskills and on to Seinfeld and Arrested Development. Incidentally I had no idea the Borscht belt was so extensive. I thought the "Kellerman's" hotel where Dirty Dancing was set was a one off; in fact there were more than 1,000 hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps and boarding houses. The ultimate proving ground for the likes of Mel Brooks, Jackie Mason and Seinfeld's Jerry Stiller (George's Dad!).
Ending with a discussion of the 'Jew tang' clan of Jonah Hill, Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and the comedic behemoth that is Judd Apatow, this work goes from the biblical book of Esther, right up to the present day.
I struggled with the long section on Jewish satire and discussion of Purim plays, and most enjoyed the parts about 19th and 20th century US development: the so-called 'Borscht Belt' comedians of the Catskills and on to Seinfeld and Arrested Development. Incidentally I had no idea the Borscht belt was so extensive. I thought the "Kellerman's" hotel where Dirty Dancing was set was a one off; in fact there were more than 1,000 hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps and boarding houses. The ultimate proving ground for the likes of Mel Brooks, Jackie Mason and Seinfeld's Jerry Stiller (George's Dad!).
Ending with a discussion of the 'Jew tang' clan of Jonah Hill, Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and the comedic behemoth that is Judd Apatow, this work goes from the biblical book of Esther, right up to the present day.
July 23, 2018
Jewish Comedy: A Serious History is exactly what it says on the tin. Although the author clearly has a sense of humor, what he has done here is distinguish seven different perspectives on Jewish comedy and provide a history of each, starting with the oldest texts and moving through people like Jon Stewart, Rachel Bloom, and Sarah Silverman. This book is at its best when it evaluates not only the passage through history but the impact on current and past Jewish identity. At times, it can get bogged down in details - particularly, the chapters on satire and parody felt somehow too divorced from the Jewish culture they created and came from. However, Jeremy Dauber wrote a book that took on a gargantuan and ill-defined task, and has some interesting insights to share about the topic at hand. Worth reading if you like the subject. Of course, if you're looking for jokes (and he acknowledges this immediately), you're better off turning to a Jewish joke book.
March 17, 2020
Very dense but very interesting. I wanted to read this book because between My Favorite Murder, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, funny Jewish women and Jewry have been in my ear waves a lot for the past three years.
If I had known more about Philip Roth and older Jewish performers I would have gotten more out of it. But he did talk about Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Broad City, Sarah Silverman, so there were contemporary exhales that I could relate to. Didn’t bring up Andy Samberg, Adam Sandler until the very end.
He is an academic and the book reflects it. I had to leave and come back several times. His chapters are each an analysis of difference aspects of what he believes defines Jewish comedy. For those who like their history taken chronologically, that format may be a struggle. If you like paradigm analysis, you’ll be able to cope.
This book gave me a deeper way to understand and appreciate Judaism, and I am grateful to Mr. Dauber for that!
If I had known more about Philip Roth and older Jewish performers I would have gotten more out of it. But he did talk about Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Broad City, Sarah Silverman, so there were contemporary exhales that I could relate to. Didn’t bring up Andy Samberg, Adam Sandler until the very end.
He is an academic and the book reflects it. I had to leave and come back several times. His chapters are each an analysis of difference aspects of what he believes defines Jewish comedy. For those who like their history taken chronologically, that format may be a struggle. If you like paradigm analysis, you’ll be able to cope.
This book gave me a deeper way to understand and appreciate Judaism, and I am grateful to Mr. Dauber for that!
October 24, 2023
A good book covering the types of comedy that's done by the funniest group of people on the planet, the Jews. Some parts of this book felt much better written and had better flow then others, and some sentence really dragged on. It also felt like the book couldn't tell if it wanted to be more academic or lightheaded at times. Other then that, a great history book (because that's what this book really felt like) on how certain aspects of Jewish comedy came to be and those who were responsible for it. There is also discussions about the complexities of the Jewish experience throughout history regarding assimilation and how it didn't necessarily work, leading to the various forms of joking that we came to be known for.
April 29, 2018
When is a book about humor not a compendium of jokes? When it’s Jeremy Dauber’s “Jewish Comedy: A Serious History” (W. W. Norton and Company). That doesn’t mean jokes aren’t included. In fact, Dauber, the Atran Professor of Yiddish Language and Culture at Columbia University, features a variation of one of my favorite Jewish jokes on the first page of his introduction. In that same introduction, Dauber acknowledges the difficulties of talking about humor in a serious way. However, he also feels it’s important to explore how Jewish humor developed and discuss the different forms it takes.
See the rest of my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic....
See the rest of my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic....
April 17, 2023
This book was a mix for me. I enjoyed how Dauber deep-dived into the origins of Jewish comedy, tracing it’s roots back to the Bible.
I did think he spent too much time regaling what someone said a thousand years ago while quoting more modern comics in parenthetical quotes. I think he was assuming we all knew a lot about Jewish Comedians since the 1950s, which isn’t necessarily the case.
I also would have liked to see a graphic that showed how Jewish comedy changed, as opposed to see different chapters that didn’t really give me the ability to put the characters together in their time periods, which would have helped me a lot.
I did think he spent too much time regaling what someone said a thousand years ago while quoting more modern comics in parenthetical quotes. I think he was assuming we all knew a lot about Jewish Comedians since the 1950s, which isn’t necessarily the case.
I also would have liked to see a graphic that showed how Jewish comedy changed, as opposed to see different chapters that didn’t really give me the ability to put the characters together in their time periods, which would have helped me a lot.
July 27, 2024
idk who the ideal audience for this book was but it started to drive me crazy. it seemed to promise an intro and overview to the topic but maybe it was for Jewish comedy enthusiasts only. i personally was disoriented by the constant casual references to 1930s comedians and 1500s rabbis... and other randoms like john le carré (spy novelist) and schopenhauer (1800s philosopher of pessimism) etc
also organizing the history chronologically would have been nice instead of these loose & haphazardly evidenced themes
but at least the promise of "a /serious/ history" was accurate cuz this book sure aint funny
despite valiant effort i only made it 2/3 thru
also organizing the history chronologically would have been nice instead of these loose & haphazardly evidenced themes
but at least the promise of "a /serious/ history" was accurate cuz this book sure aint funny
despite valiant effort i only made it 2/3 thru
October 10, 2021
It's fun and educational. I really learned a lot about Jewish culture and laughed at a couple of jokes too.
A lot flew over my head. If you're interested in this book, I recommend you check out a lot of Jewish comedy first or look up each reference the author makes because he doesn't really stop to explain a lot of the examples he gives. If you've never heard of them, you'll kinda understand what he's trying to say, but not really. Definitely a book for someone well versed or who at least knows a lot of Jewish art.
Over all, a great.
A lot flew over my head. If you're interested in this book, I recommend you check out a lot of Jewish comedy first or look up each reference the author makes because he doesn't really stop to explain a lot of the examples he gives. If you've never heard of them, you'll kinda understand what he's trying to say, but not really. Definitely a book for someone well versed or who at least knows a lot of Jewish art.
Over all, a great.
March 19, 2019
I dipped in and out of this, which the structure of parallel stories in each chapter really suited. This is a super Jewish book, appropriately, and is as dense with references and inter-textual nods as any good theological text. I learned a LOT, as someone with an impressionistic understanding of Jewish comedy that lacked concrete experiences or examples. Dauber throws a lot at you, and it's great fun to try and keep up.
June 1, 2019
This book, written by a Columbia University professor, is exactly what it says on the cover: a serious history of Jewish Comedy. Of course, even a serious history of comedy is going to be a pretty funny book, and this book is hilarious.
Jewish comedy pretty much begins with the Book of Esther, travels through the Talmud, through Yiddish theatre and writing, and into standup comedy, radio, and television. But it all begins with Esther.
Jewish comedy pretty much begins with the Book of Esther, travels through the Talmud, through Yiddish theatre and writing, and into standup comedy, radio, and television. But it all begins with Esther.
March 6, 2020
A delightful and intellectual look into the origins and history of Jewish comedy. From Talmudic stories to Adam Sandler and every Jewish joke in between, I was laughing out loud and smiling as I listened to the author (Danny’s cousin) read this as an audiobook. They say that jokes are all in the delivery and although Jeremy Dauber is an academic, not a comedian, I still found this book insightful and funny.
May 15, 2018
An interesting look at the history of comedy (specifically Jewish comedy, but some of it transfers over to comedy in general) - even included some bible verse. Not overly funny itself, although some of the jokes are repeated. I did enjoy the overview. Interesting that the author includes Franz Kafka as a comedian, which is not something I would have thought of.
October 10, 2018
An accessible but academic history of Jewish comedy. Interesting information about Jewish history, different types of comedy, and pop culture that provides humor to wide audiences, whether their Jewish references are recognized or not. Some readers may not enjoy this academic approach. It worked for me.
December 20, 2020
A non-negligible portion of this book is dedicated to the comedy of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, not that there is anything wrong with that.
The book has a good amount of history to it, which I like. It is also a bit too unorganized for my liking, and the disorganization is the only reason I don’t give this 5 stars
The book has a good amount of history to it, which I like. It is also a bit too unorganized for my liking, and the disorganization is the only reason I don’t give this 5 stars
April 10, 2021
Part historical, part Jewish comedy highlight reel, Dauber's book covers the history of Jewish interaction with the outside world through comedic lens. May not be for everyone, but if you are into religious history, Jewish history, or just like the history of comedy, you'll find this book has some chutzpah!
October 26, 2020
This was entertaining at times and nicely researched...and overall pretty boring.
Dauber's done the research and has some good theories/organizing principles, but I was hoping for something a bit different from this.
Dauber's done the research and has some good theories/organizing principles, but I was hoping for something a bit different from this.
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