When Jews Were Funny is an award-winning documentary exploring the influence of Jewish-American comedy on modern American humor.

The TIFF-winning 2013 Canadian documentary played a number of film festivals in the U.S. However, When Jews Were Funny didn’t really have a formal theatrical outside of Canada. It was made available on Digital, DVD, and then Netflix in the span of a few weeks. But perhaps most interestingly, is that the same distributor also released When Comedy Went to School, a documentary about the Jews who came up through the Borscht Belt in the Catskills. Anyway, I first watched the documentary–appropriately enough–on December 24, 2014.

There’s a mixture of both older and young comedians throughout the almost 90-minute documentary. It’s an exploration of Jewish humor. What makes comedy Jewish? That’s more or less what Alan Zweig is seeking to explore. When Jews Were Funny isn’t exploring how Jews came up in the Catskills. A number of comedians came up through the Borscht Belt during their career but again, that’s not what the film is about. It’s about looking at the bigger picture of what is Jewish humor and why is it so funny. Of course, having “were” in the title implies that Jews are no longer funny. I personally disagree–we’re still funny. We have to be!

There were many Jewish comedians that dominated the 1950s and 1960s. The Borscht Belt brought several opportunities to be discovered. Some comedians landed TV shows in the 1950s with longer runs than others but TV was still in its infancy. A decade ago, you could still find Jewish comedians hitting the road or having their own comedy specials. Even now, there are still a number of Jewish comedians with recent comedy specials, including Alex Edelman, Rachel Bloom, Iliza Schlesinger, and Chelsea Handler, to name a few. What’s all this talk of asking about when Jews were funny again?!?

Sure, the things that we talk about have changed. But unless a Jewish comedian wanted to hide their identity, it’s usually something that comes up during their act. Of course, today’s environment is rather difference, what with all the antisemitism and all. But if you’re looking for an old-school comedian that talks with an Eastern European Jewish accent, you’ll have a challenging time in finding them. That just speaks to assimilation and how generations have changed. But even with changing cultures through the years, Jews are still very unique and hold true to our traditions. If one’s connection to Judaism is only through comedy, that might be a problem.

There are many prominent comedians who don’t appear in When Jews Were Funny. This could be because of timing or lack of interest. It would have been interesting to hear what they had to say with regards to questions about an era when Jews were funny.

In many documentaries, a director will probe his subjects while otherwise keeping themselves out of the overall story. This doesn’t appear to be the case. Throughout the many interviews, you can hear When Jews Were Funny director Alan Zweig’s voice, even if he is staying off camera. Is it for the betterment of the film? Maybe, maybe not. What’s the driving factor in making the film? Zweig sort of gets to the point during an interview with Shelley Berman:

“I don’t think there’s an answer to this. I’m just coming to talk to people. I don’t say…Nobody can bring my parents back, but I’m just saying, I’m a little surprised that…Like, I’m 60, right? I’m an old Jew now, but I’m not an old Jew like my…when my bubby was 60, she was older and she was, you know, everything was “It couldn’t hoit.” Like everything, she couldn’t give you a straight answer. Everything was a complaint, even if things were good. I’m not…I’m a little Jewish, but I’m not like that, and my daughter is not even gonna be this much Jewish. You know, that’s all I’m wanting to talk about, you know.”

One gets this sense that the older comedians don’t agree with Zweig’s thesis in When Jews Were Funny. It’s almost as if he was making the film just to converse with Jewish comedians or…comedians that just happen to be Jewish. I don’t know. I’m not saying that they were annoyed by Zweig’s questioning but I’m also curious as to how long the interviews were and what was left on the cutting room floor. There’s no denying that Jews were outsiders and turned to comedy. If you want to pinpoint the time when things began to change, I’d say it’s right around the time Jews started becoming welcome in larger society and didn’t depend on Borscht Belt audiences.

Shelley Berman is one of the first comedians to appear on camera in When Jews Were Funny and says he can discuss Jewish sensibility and Jewish culture but his comedy basically comes down to, “if it’s funny, okay, keep it.” Berman doesn’t go around disliking being a Jewish comedian, but he didn’t go around saying that he was a Jewish comic. “I am proud of my background and I will say that,” the comedian remarks towards the end of the film.

Zweig also converses with Jack Carter about Jewish humor as they discuss the many Jews who appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. How much of Jewish humor accounts for Yiddish being thrown into one’s act? This brings up something else entirely in When Jews Were Funny: conversing in Yiddish. There’s a certain cadence that comes with Yiddish humor but at this point, there weren’t many people actively conversing in Yiddish. At the same time, a number of Yiddish words are still used in the current American vernacular.

David Steinberg mentions that his parents coming over as immigrants and how they were able to find humor in the worst situations. “Jews owned humor,” Steinberg said. Steinberg says that oppression helps humor but assimilation kills it.

Stewie Stone believes that Jewish joy hasn’t changed. He finds his Jewish friends to be “charming, intellectual, and funny.” He is not of the belief that Jews camouflage being funny.

“My argument has always been Jewish people are funny, even when they’re not trying to be funny,” said Andy Kindler.

“What’s the thesis of this whole piece?” asks Elon Gold. “‘Cause if you’re trying to say that–you’re either saying Jews aren’t as funny as they once were or Jews are funnier, both are wrong.”

Elon Gold might be on to something because he’s able to get Zweig to open up about why he was making When Jews Were Funny. Zweig admits that what he wants to do is go back in time and sit at the Chanukah table with his hilarious relatives. Unfortunately, his older relatives aren’t no longer around for him to reconnect with them and experience it. The closest thing to doing this would have been going to the Friars Club. Some of the old guys were still around during the filmmaking process, but many of them were dying out.

“First of all, older people are just funny in general,” Gold said. “They have those thick Eastern European accents and everything was just funny. There’s nothing funny about the way I speak right now.”

Howie Mandel says that “we’re the same people–we complain, we eat, and we’re funny.” They’re the “three life forces of Judaism.” The only thing that has changed is the lack of an accent. There’s truth to this, too.

When Jews Were Funny includes archival video performances of Julian Rose, Alan King, Rodney Dangerfield, Harvey Stone, Henny Youngman, and Jackie Mason.

In titling the film When Jews Were Funny, it poses the idea that Jews are no longer funny and that’s not true. Maybe there’s a better film to be made here but it sometimes comes off as a therapy session for Zweig.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Alan Zweig
FEATURING: Shelley Berman, David Brenner, Mark Breslin, Howard Busgang, Jack Carter, Ed Crasnick, Norm Crosby, Bob Einstein, Elon Gold, Judy Gold, Gilbert Gottfried, Shecky Greene, Cory Kahaney, Andy Kindler, Howie Mandel, Marc Maron, Eugene Mirman, Modi, Simon Rakoff, Perry Rosemond, Mark Schiff, Jonathan Silverstein, David Steinberg, Stewie Stone, Michael Wex

First Run Featured released When Jews Were Funny on March 25, 2014. Grade: 3.5/5

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