What makes Jewish comedy Jewish? | Hacker News Reader

What makes Jewish comedy Jewish?

the-tls.co.uk

41 pointssamclemens31 comments

Anecdotally, if I've learned anything from watching comedians like John Stewart: self deprecation is the keystone of their entire act.

Every comedian seems to have some level of it, because not taking yourself too seriously is like a vital component of turning comedy in to a job. But Jewish comedians go to that well a lot more than, for example, Black comedians like Katt Williams.

I can partly echo what you've said about Black comedians, although there has been a great progress if you compare Katt Williams or Chris Tucker with Kevin Hart, JB Smoove or Chris Rock. Maybe progress is also the wrong word, since Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy were brilliant stand ups of their time.

One quality of good comedians I might add is observational skills: To see the weird in everyday situations.

Richard Pryor was an all time master of self deprecation.

Pryor was an all time master. Period.

Case in point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjD4PHojNBU

As a Jew, I don't know how I should feel about articles like that these.

This is blatantly racist, in a confusing era where we are to acknowledge positive differences among ethnicities, and ignore negative differences.

One simply cannot do both. It is fundamentally irrational to, with one hand, speak of how a certain race is superior in some way, while pretending this doesn't imply that other races are inferior in some way.

Which is it? This kind of glaring contradiction drives me crazy.

If people are saying Jewish humor and culture is something genetic, then that's racist. But Jewishness is a culture in addition to ethnicity. Jewish humor is an aspect of it, much like forms of humor in other cultures. Comparing styles of humor across cultures is perfectly fine.

I don't think your definition of racism is correct; in modern parlance, racism often includes ethnicity (not to mention that we cannot objectively, based on genetics, define race). Chauvinism would be a more fitting term, anyway.

> Comparing styles of humor across cultures is perfectly fine.

I also take issue with this. Humor reflects culture, and if you compare different cultures, aren't you stereotyping?

For there to be different cultures, there must be differences between them - by definition. To compare is to examine differences. If such a rudimentary line of inquiry triggers guilt about "stereotyping", then you ought to take time to examine your words more carefully. If by stereotyping you mean assuming that all Jewish people are comedic in an identical way, no one here is saying such a thing. But unless your head is buried deep in the ground, there is a much-celebrated phenomenon called Jewish humor, and interest in it by non-Jewish people is something to be celebrated, not censored.

In the US at least it is quite fashionable to be espouse vaguely anti-white sentiments. The double standard in this regard irritates me to no end. Most people would not be OK with this were the races in question swapped.

They also don't have cartoons where the hunter gets the rabbit, or the coyote gets the roadrunner.....

I've made the same observation and I'm very bothered by it. People who make positive generalisations based on ethnicity clearly have no qualms about judging individuals they know nothing about based on their ethnicity and this is a scary thought when you consider that this describes majority of people in western societies.

Excuse me, but what you are saying is blatant nonsense. It's a fact that for a while Jewish comedians dominated the comedy scene and it's a fact that the type of humor they used ( and use today ) is unique in its own way. Examining that is not racist. Google what racist actually means.

I’m very curious. If this is “blatantly racist”, where do you draw the line on “mildly racist”?

Is eating Indian food racist?

Sadly, according to some people (most not Indians), eating Indian food is "racist".

As a Jew, I'm embarrassed when other Jews say things like this. No! acknowledging the existence of Borscht belt comedy does NOT equate to asserting the superiority of the "Jewish Race", nor does it imply the inferiority of anyone else. Not every difference must be binned into superior or inferior, as a Nazi would do.

If you don't mind my asking, are you a millennial? I ask because the peculiar worldview expressed by your comments is one I've only encountered in millennials, particularly those who attended college in the last 15 years. A great confusion has been instilled in well-meaning young people about how to regard differences among peoples. Many have accepted without argument the idea that there are no differences between any human beings, because racism. This "idea" is not even wrong, it's a non-sequitir of jumbled reasoning, so it's impossible to argue with.

EDIT: after posting this, the classic joke "Ask two Jews, get three opinions" came to my mind, so there it is. If you're Jewish like me, and suffer from such a pinched PC worldview that you can't see the humor in that, then somehow you've missed out. Cheers!

> It was often said of Friends that it was written as if for six old Jews

Not wrong—for a lot more of it than just Friends. Adolescent sexual themes, adolescent preoccupation with what the rules are and how to subvert them, but all of it with verbally precocious execution.

Maybe the single word answer to the headline question is neoteny. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoteny

This article reminded me of the time when Tim Whatley on Seinfeld turns Jewish just for the jokes.

What a wonderful read. I'm sitting here on a bed with my girlfriend, Mars, having just read it to her.

It reminded me of my Jewish mother and her vibrant storytelling. There's great pleasure in telling a riveting tale of a small slight.

It reminded Mars of my not-Jewish (but somehow more Jewish) father. Both respectful and subversive, he'll make a joke to an armed guard if he can.

Page is blank for me... is it a long read?

It is not "Jewish humour", it is American Ashkenazi Jewish humour of a specific era. Humour in Israel is different, humour in non Ashkenazi communities is also different. Even if you look at Jewish comedians in the UK like Sasha Baron Cohen it is a completely different style of humour.

Yes! I’ve been in Israel for the better part of this last year. One of my neighbors is a comedian. The prevailing humor is very specific to country of origin.

There is so much Ashkenazi American Jewish culture that wouldn’t make any sense to Ashkenazi Jews in Israel.

The author actually argues that one of the reasons is "the bible isn't funny"? My own guess would have to do primarily with nepotism and secondarily with the appeal of a different perspective of a foreign culture to an American audience. Whether people like it or not, the Jews actually have a strong lobby in the entertainment industry, and they like nepotism, probably even more than the average american.

I wouldn't underestimate the influence of the Borscht Belt. Successful Jews in entertainment vacationed there, while young up-and-comers performed in the comedy clubs. Who got seen? Whose names got circulated around? It was a self-perpetuating cycle until the Catskills clubs fell out of favor.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com