3 Reasons There Are So Many Jews In Comedy

Six years ago, boyish Cracked editor Jack O'Brien suggested I write about why there are so many Jews in comedy. Granted, we were discussing an article I had pitched about American Jews, but I have to admit the request struck me as a little odd -- not just because here at Cracked I'm the lone Jew amid an endless sea of dirty Irish bastards -- but because today we tend not to point these things out. Just like we don't mention how so many Greeks own diners or how often the brides I order through the mail turn out to

The Comedic Effect of Christianity

Ultimately I realized I was making a mistake by focusing on the Jew in isolation. If Jew plus America equaled comedy, then there had to be something funny about that combination. And there is.In America, Jews are a white minority. Think about that: We can live comfortably, practice freely and bowl adequately. But being a Jew in America is like using left-handed scissors: You can make it work, but it just doesn't feel right. This is Jesusland. Always has been, always will be. So perhaps what makes Jews so funny is not Judaism, but Christianity -- and the American Jew's constant immersion in it. Don't believe me? Who could blame you? It's easy to accept that Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead and walked on water, but believing he begat the funniest fuckers on the planet would take a true leap of faith.Sometime shortly after birth, an American Jew realizes he's in the minority. That realization takes a little longer if the delivering obstetrician is Jewish or if the baby's born in New York, but it's still clear from very early on. This is a Christian show, and that's no accident. Because when it comes to amassing a religious majority, Christianity, like most winners, cheats. And not just in the big historical ways (Spanish Inquisition, Crusades, Santa Claus), but with something more basic, something all around us: Christianity has ingrained an almost irresistibly hard sell right into its architecture. Beautifully adorned churches demand awe and reverence. Towering steeples force spectators to raise their eyes toward the heavens where affixed crucifixes live in the sky. You can't see a church without looking up at God.

Trinity Church on Broadway. Historically significant for inspiring both the point above and Nic Cage's National Treasure. Oh yeah, Alexander Hamilton is buried here too.

Surely, Christianity is God's true religion because unlike comparatively modest synagogues, churches are more than houses of God; they're homes for God. A place He might actually crash after a hard day of smiting. Sometimes He even hangs out there in those terrifyingly inspirational wax museum curios. You know what He looks like. The proof is in the plaster. (Though it strikes me as odd that a religion that places such a high premium on faith would leave so little to the imagination.) And while I'm referring more to the flashiness of Catholicism than Christianity as a whole, Jews know as much about these differences as gentiles do about varying Sephardic and Ashkenazi pronunciations. In the end, all that matters to Jews is that it's a Christian world and Christianity is growing, setting up shop in more and more places, always ahead of the competition and undaunted by the occasional lawsuit. Just like McDonald's.Jews know this. And we accept that Christianity is lovely and successful and popular and comforting. Furthermore, we know all about you without even going to church because -- unlike the mysteries of our minority religion -- Christianity flourishes in the secular world. There are really good Christmas carols and Christmas movies and New Testament allegorical adventures with talking animals. But sometimes Christianity's uber-majority status becomes empowering to the point of perversion. Either that or they must be handing out testicles at mass, because some Christians actually have the balls to complain about "Jewish paranoia" as if six million Jewish men, women and children weren't rounded up, shipped out, tortured and killed in the middle of the 20th century. Calling Jews "paranoid" is like giving shit to Christians in Ancient Rome for acting "kinda jumpy" around lions.So, yeah, that's being a Jew in America. It's not heartbreaking, it's not debilitating and it's clearly not as difficult as being a nonwhite minority. And while 2,000 years ago we might have gotten all Judah Maccabee on your ass, now all we have is Jon Stewart (and he's not as good with a hammer as we hoped). So what else can we do except joke about it? Besides, comedy can be powerful. Humor can undo some deeply held beliefs. Just look at Jerry Lewis. How else, but through comedy, could the French be fooled into loving such a greasy Jew?

We don't have saints in Judaism, so I cannot confirm or deny that this picture is surrounded by candles in my basement.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Tikkun Olam and Comedy

But is that all Jewish comedy really is? A way of complaining? A subtler form of throwing a punch? A cry for acceptance? For some, sure, but those guys never seem to make it past a couple of Letterman appearances. There's more to it than that because the truth is, we're not sore losers. We haven't even lost. Look it up. There's never been a race between Judaism and Christianity to see who could amass the greatest numbers of souls. Judaism has always been an invitation-only affair, a reward that's unsettlingly similar to a punishment. Like when the schoolteacher picks the good kid to help clean the erasers after class, Judaism is something of a burden. And that accounts for a need for humor as much as anything else.Jews go by many names: "Children of Israel," "Members of the Tribe," "Executive Producer." But perhaps the most descriptive is "Chosen People." Chosen. Set apart by God. That means we don't go looking for converts. Indeed, if a gentile comes to a rabbi seeking conversion, the rabbi is to refuse the candidate three times before even discussing the possibility of converting. Three times. Don't hate us for that. It's not like we're bogarting the one true path to salvation. We don't have a heaven, and if we did, we wouldn't believe that only Jews go there. It's not like Miami Beach.The three refusals are to make sure the potential Jew is serious and tenacious. Because there's work to be done. The world is incomplete, and God chose the Jews to complete it. Not chosen to reach heaven before others, but chosen to help with the heavy lifting during the final phases of construction. This concept is embodied in the Hebrew phrase "tikkun olam," which roughly translates to "putting the world in order," and conveys an obligation on Jews to pursue social justice. And even though countless Jews have never heard this phrase, we all carry it in our hearts, somehow.But how does a Jew -- even a religiously ignorant Jew -- achieve these ends? How does a Jew complete the world? Charitable donation? Labor organization? New York Times op-ed? We don't know. Somewhere there is a nagging voice telling us that everything is not all right. That action can't be left to someone else at some other time. It's hard to say if it's the voice of God or the voice of history. Philip Roth would make a joke about it being the voice of our mothers, but apparently he was raised by a cartoon. And still, we hear that voice and, without knowing what to do with it, sometimes we make a joke. Can making a joke mend the world? It couldn't hurt.Probably everything you need to know about this kind of Jewish humor and the Jews as a people can be summed up in an old joke popularized by Jack Benny and, more recently,

Advertisement

Eddie Murphy in Coming to America: An old Jewish man sits down in a fancy restaurant and orders a bowl of soup. Within 30 seconds of being brought his order, the man calls the waiter over and asks that he taste the soup. The waiter inquires as to the problem. The Jew doesn't answer, but again asks the waiter to taste the soup. The waiter advises that he's not in the habit of tasting patrons' food, but the Jew persists. The waiter asks if the soup's too cold, too hot or contains -- heaven forbid -- a fly. Each time the Jew merely repeats his request for the waiter to taste the soup. Ultimately, the waiter relents, if only to bring some closure to what has become quite an episode. He looks all around the table, and then asks, "Where's the spoon?" To which the Jew replies with a smile, "A-ha."

My favorite Jew joke. Told flawlessly by a black man. Somehow, that makes perfect sense to me.

This is my favorite Jewish joke, even though I'm sure the only thing most take away from it is that Jews are insufferable pains in the ass. But that's only the obvious punch line. This old man wanted to teach a lesson and not in a haughty, degrading manner, but through humor. Without putting the waiter down, he said, "Understand what it's like to be a hungry man with a bowl of soup and no spoon." Yes, he wanted a spoon, but he also wanted to make the waiter remember. This old Jew wants to make sure that someone else gets their spoon tomorrow.Perhaps more important, though, is that by taking the time and energy to do things the hard way, he confirms his faith in humanity. He rejects cynicism. Who would waste that kind of energy unless they believed they were addressing someone who wanted to be taught? That kind of humor, mixed with energy and faith, is a tiny part of tikkun olam. And even though it's not in the joke (because it's not funny) I like to believe the old Jew left the waiter a good tip. Of course, he did. The Jew likes the waiter. Don't you know that?This joke is only possible with a Jewish patron. Change the customer to a WASP and this is what you get: An old WASP sits down in a fancy restaurant and orders a bowl of soup. After receiving his order, he notices that the waiter has failed to bring a spoon. Accordingly, he simmers, quietly, for five minutes until he can catch the waiter's attention with a polite gesture. Upon doing so, he requests a spoon while mentally calculating a small, but distinct, reduction in tip.

Get it???

Advertisement

The sad part is that most of us would rather sit at the table next to the quiet (if angry) WASP were we at the restaurant. But don't you think the old Jew knows that, too? He lives in this world. He knows he has been set apart. But he does it anyway. He makes a joke knowing that some will view him merely as the joke.But what about those who might reject that analysis? People who are convinced this joke is only about how far Jews will go to belittle and belabor because they think they're better than gentiles? Of them I would ask, "Is it hard to find a place to get your jackboots properly polished in Argentina?" Because these are the people who can't be taught. These are the people who blindly hate. And they deserve the Don Rickles kind of comedy, not the Jack Benny kind. Being a Jew in America, you need to learn the difference, and if people are going to hate you anyway, well, then sometimes it feels better to give them a reason.