Simcha chats on Air America Radio

Rabbi Simcha on Air America chats with Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy about the changing face of Jewish humor from Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows to Jon Stewart’s Daily Show.

Shtick Shift Launch Event

I would like to give a shout to all those who attended the Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century launch with a book reading and signing at Barnes and Noble in Park Slope. If you live outside NYC, please check out the dates of my Shtick Shift tour because I could be in your state soon!

In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century is now available from my new Internet bookstore. The perfect gift if I may say!

Order your personalized autographed copies for only $15. Limited Offer for an extra $5, I will send you a copy of my first book, Up Up and Oy Vey. Two best-sellers for just $20 (Plus P+P) so be a mentsch and enjoy.

Shtick Shift

Sarah Silverman’s shocking stand up. Judd Apatow’s foul mouthed morality plays. Sacha Baron Cohen’s provocative alter egos. This is definitely not your zayde’s Jewish comedy.

Even the once revolutionary, understated “Jew-ish” and “Israel-lite” flavor of Seinfeld has been
replaced by a brutal matter-of-factness that would make earlier generations cringe. Read more

Two Candidates Walk Into A Bar…Comedy and Presidential Politics

For days after the Al Smith Memorial Dinner, the media buzzed with clips of Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama delivering hilarious routines that put many professional comedians to shame.

Barack Obama deadpanned: “Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father Jor-El to save the Planet Earth.” Read more

Cell Phone on Vibrate: Ari Gold takes on Yom Kippur

Emily Gold: You want me to lie?
Ari Gold: That is the beauty of Yom Kippur, as long as you apologize before sundown it doesn’t matter what you do!
Entourage (Season 3, “Return of the King” 2007)

Pity poor type-A Hollywood agent Ari Gold on the show Entourage. He’s forced to fidget and sweat throughout Yom Kippur, unable to use his mobile phone to broker a major driven deal.

Ari Gold’s pushiness, sarcasm and neurosis conform to Hollywood’s popular notions of Jewish behavior and priorities. Even this flashy, success-obsessed character’s surname, “Gold,” is perfectly apt. Nasty stereotypes about Jews and their relationship with money die hard, because they got their start centuries ago. Since biblical times, Jews have been engaged in finance — and the complex relationship Jews have with money goes back almost that far. Myths depicting Jews as moneygrubbers were popular in medieval and Renaissance Europe. Medieval Jews weren’t permitted to own property or enter “respectable” professions, but they were allowed to act as moneylenders. Christian and Muslim rulers said lending money at interest was a sin, but they were happy to pawn off this “necessary evil” on their Jewish subjects. Read more

A Jewish Joker: From the Catskills to Gotham City

The release of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, will inevitably be overshadowed by the untimely death of one of its stars, Health Ledger, who played the Joker. The talented young actor had devoted himself to creating an original, multifaceted portrayal of the iconic character, arguably the most compelling villain in the Batman canon.
 
The distinctive look and feel of this latest film was inspired by Frank Miller’s revolutionary graphic novels of the 1980s, which unveiled a more complex and cynical Batman character than the caped crusader who debuted in the pages of DC Comics in 1937.
 
Batman was the brainchild of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, two young Jewish bruisers who first crossed paths at De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx during the Great Depression. Read more

Shtick Shift Reviews

“Simcha Weinstein is one of the freshest, boldest, and funniest voices writing about American
Judaism today. Shtick Shift is the latest addition to his impressive body of work. It will have you
laughing in your latkes and repeating jokes in services.”
– Bruce Feiler, author of Walking the Bible and Abraham Read more

Book Tour

11/3/2008
Denver, CO
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/5/08
Gainesville Chabad
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values, Shaped the Comic Book Superhero

11/9/2008
American Jewish University, Los Angeles, CA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/11/2008
Cherry Hill, NJ
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/13/2008
San Diego, CA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/15/2008
Vir. Beach, VA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/16/2008
Detroit, MI
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/18/2008
St. Louis, MO
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

11/19/2008
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/2/08
Chabad of MD
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values, Shaped the Comic Book Superhero

12/3/2008
Tenement Museum, NY NY
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/4/2008
Richmond, VA
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/9/2008
Chabad of Flamingo
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

1/14/2009
Barnes & Noble, 106 Court Street Brooklyn Heights
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century
Start 7pm

1/25/2009
Houston, TX
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

1/31/2009
Emunah
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

2/1/2009
Congregation Beth Israel, Greater Hartford
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values, Shaped the Comic Book Superhero

2/8/2009 12.15-1.15pm
New York Comic Con
Jews and Comics: A Cottage Industry
Rabbi Simcha in discussion with writers Arie Kaplan, Danny Fingeroth and comic book creators Al Jaffee and Jerry Robinson.

2/17/2009
Queensborough Community College
Holocaust Resource Center and Archives, Bayside, NY 11364

2/19/2009
Aliya Institute
525-527 E New York Ave, Brooklyn

5/26/2009
topic: comedy and cocktails 
Soho center for jewish life

6/5/2009 9:00PM (sharp)
JCC in Manhattan,
334 Amsterdam Avenue @ 76th St. NY, NY
To register, call the JCC: 646.505.5708
and ask for the “NEW SHABBAT TABLE DINNER”
or register online

8/14/2009
National Jewish Retreat
Hyatt Regency,
Greenwich CT
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey
www.jewishretreat.com

9/13/2009
Brooklyn Book Festival 2009 Program
Main Stage – Borough Hall Plaza
4:00 p.m. Obsessive Fun. Rabbis who write, gamers, comics and karaoke-ists. Authors Rabbi Simcha Weinstein (Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century), Ethan Gilsdorf (Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks), Brian Raftery (Don’t Stop Believin’) and Eddie Sarfaty (Mental) let their obsessions entertain you.

10/19/2009
Oxford College of Emory University,
Atlanta
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey
www.oxford.emory.edu
Download the EBrochure here

11/6/09
Chabad Community Center of Pacific Palisades
15207 W Sunset Blvd
Pacific Plsds, CA 90272-3567
(310) 454-7783
http://www.chabadpalisades.com/

11/8/2009 2pm
The Walters Art Museum
Graham Auditorium
600 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-547-9000 ext.236
Fax: 410-837-4886
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero
Rabbi Weinstein will discuss the relevance of a hero in film and life as created by co-authors Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster during the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe. A reception follows the book signing.
Pre-registration recommended
Register by clicking here
www.thewalters.org

11/9/09
Chabad of the Conejo
30345 Canwood Street
Agoura Hills, CA 91301

12/19/2009
Emunah of Teaneck
Topic: Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century

12/25/2009
Congregation Kehilath Jacob
THE CARLEBACH SHUL
305 West 79th Street New York NY 10024
Topic: Shtick Shift
http://www.carlebachshul.org/

1/16/2010
Chabad of Port Washington
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey!

1/31/2010 3pm
Holocaust Museum and Study Center
17 South Madison Ave
Spring Valley, NY 10977
http://www.holocauststudies.org/
Topic: War Time Motivation: Superheroes & the Holocaust

5/28/2010
Suffolk Y JCC in Commack
Topic: Up, Up and Oy Vey!

Additional dates to be announced soon.

Zohan Restyles Jewish Comedy

Today’s Jewish entertainers would be unrecognizable to our bubbes and zaydes, who fondly recall Borscht Belt comedians in cheap tuxedos, telling corny (and more or less clean) mother-in-law jokes.

To get an idea of the difference a century of assimilation and acceptance can make, compare early Jewish vaudeville star Fanny Brice to Comedy Central’s Sarah Silverman. Brice made quaint tunes like “Second Hand Rose” and “My Man” famous, whereas Silverman’s notorious musical compositions include her paean to the elderly, “You’re Gonna Die Soon,” and the infamous “I Love You More” (“Than Jews Love Money.”) Read more

Simcha on The Joey Reynolds Show

Rabbi Simcha will be discussing his new book Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century live on The Joey Reynolds Show at 1am on Wednesday 26th November.

Be sure to tune in early this Wednesday morning at on WOR-AM 710 or listen to the broadcast live online by clicking here