Funny, You Don't Look Funny: Judaism and Humor from the Silent Generation to Millennials

by Jennifer Caplan

In this comprehensive approach to Jewish humor focused on the relationship between humor and American Jewish practice, Jennifer Caplan calls us to adopt a more expansive view of what it means to "do Jewish," revealing that American Jews have, and continue to, turn to humor as a cultural touchstone. Caplan frames the book around four generations of Jewish Americans from the Silent Generation to Millennials, highlighting a shift from the utilization of Jewish-specific markers to American-specific markers.

Jewish humor operates as a system of meaning-making for many Jewish Americans. By mapping humor onto both the generational identity of those making it and the use of Judaism within it, new insights about the development of American Judaism emerge. Caplan’s explication is innovative and insightful, engaging with scholarly discourse across Jewish studies and Jewish American history; it includes the work of Joseph Heller, Larry David, Woody Allen, Seinfeld, the Coen brothers films, and Broad City. This example of well-informed scholarship begins with an explanation of what makes Jewish humor Jewish and why Jewish humor is such a visible phenomenon. Offering ample evidence and examples along the way, Caplan guides readers through a series of phenomenological and ideological changes across generations, concluding with commentary regarding the potential influences on Jewish humor of later Millennials, Gen Z, and beyond.

185 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2023

Reviews

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This slim volume takes the reader through the history of Jewish humor through the 20th and early 21st centuries. Caplan expertly sketches the sociopolitical background of each generation of comics, clearly laying out the impetus for each tectonic shift in how performers and writers have grappled with their Jewishness in America. The example jokes sprinkled throughout do a great job of, um, leavening the material while illustrating her points.

I found Funny, You Don't Look Funny highly accessible and enjoyable -- and a remarkably quick read. It really gave me a new perspective on Jewish humor, something I thought I knew a lot about already. I'm now watching comedy through a new lens. (And I now know what it means to Thingify something.)

Having finished the book, I totally understand why Caplan didn't include Mel Brooks, but I'd love to read her take on History of the World: Part 2. Maybe in a future edition!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is there a difference between Jewish humor and humor about Judaism? Jennifer Caplan, author of “Funny You Don’t Look Funny: Judaism and Humor from the Silent Generation to Millennials” (Wayne State University Press), certainly thinks so, which is why she doesn’t include works by Mel Brooks in her study. Instead she focuses on humor with specific Jewish content. However, Jeremy Dauber, who wrote “Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew” (Yale University Press), believes Jewish humor – humor with a Jewish sensibility – exists in its own right. The difference in their approaches offers insights on the changing ways comedians and humorists discuss Judaism and how Jewish sensibility has become part of American culture.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/past...

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is NOT a funny book. It is an academic study of humor. I didn't realize that when I picked it up at the library. My rating is based on my reaction, rather than on whether it is good or not since I can't really judge the author's arguments. She analyzes Jewish writers and comedians from different generations and makes comparisons, using language that comes from her (academic) categories. I hadn't read or seen most of the people that she is analyzing.