When Jews Were Funny

When Jews Were Funny is an exploration of Jewish-American comedy and its influence on modern American humour.[1] The film looks at conditions that resulted in the high proportion of Jewish comedians in the 1950s and 1960s. Comedy is then used as a launching point for discussions of Jewish identity.[1] The film then looks at how any immigrant culture tends to lose its uniqueness through assimilation, and how valued traditions have to be maintained.[1][6]

All interviewees are Jewish comedians, writers, or otherwise in the comedy profession. In order of appearance:

Additionally, brief performance archival clips are shown for the following stand-up comedians, in order of appearance:

The film includes the last filmed interview with Norm Crosby[9] and among the last filmed interviews or appearances by Shelley Berman, Jack Carter, and David Brenner.

The film opens with an aged Shelley Berman who is unenthusiastic as he is told he will be having a conversation with filmmaker Alan Zweig. An archival film clip is shown of Julian Rose, performing with a thick accent as "Our Hebrew Friend", denigrating his own show – "I think it's rotten"[10] – and the documentary's opening credits play.[11]

Berman and other comedians of his era disagree with Zweig's idea of the uniqueness of Jewish humour, stating that they did not use their culture for laughs. A clip shows Alan King performing on television with a Jewish perspective on a domineering wife. Shifting to the following generation, there is a decided change in perspective. David Steinberg says "Jews owned humour",[12] while Mark Breslin states "The history of 20th-century humour is Jewish, period."[13] Breslin likens comedy to "Jewish jazz"[8] and the rhythm of speaking Yiddish[lower-alpha 1] is said to have a comic timing. Several comics note that, as children, they had at least one older Jewish relative who was as funny as modern professional comics.[15]

Several interview subjects opine that Jewish humour came as a survival mechanism, that as a long-oppressed people all they could do was complain so that it became a way of life.[13] They say that the older generation of Jews that they knew as children were so used to bad times that they felt guilty or uncomfortable in good times. Rather than admit positivity they used sarcasm, returned questions with questions, and employed a hostile passive-aggressiveness. Comedy was a way for them to express themselves, with an outsider perspective that found jokes and a sarcastic edge that could address taboo subjects.[16] It is further noted that the critical nature of Jews made them tough audiences, and provided a proving ground for Jewish comedians to hone their acts in the Borscht Belt.[17]

The tight-knit community and shared experience began to disappear with assimilation, along with the success that means North American Jews do not have to complain or be fearful anymore. Zweig expresses how humour was his strongest connection with Jewish culture and asks where he can go for that when the older Jews are gone. Some suggestions are made. However, Howie Mandel says of Jewish humour that "it's still there, we just have different accents".[12]

Zweig's motives are called into question throughout the film. Marc Maron suggests that Zweig is nostalgic for the older Yiddish mannerisms that made him laugh and feel comforted as a child. In the second hour of the film, Zweig notes that his wife is not Jewish and that he has become concerned about their young daughter's upbringing, and worries that his mother-in-law will secretly have her baptized.[8] Cory Kahaney notes that Judaism is about always being free to question, that there is no set rule and he can find a way to raise his daughter that works for him and his wife.[18]

Berman notes the connection he feels when he can speak Yiddish with someone, and while speaking of his dead son is moved to sing a song in Yiddish,[6] which he explains means "the town I grew up in, I'm missing" – that the past cannot be revisited, but can be recollected in sharing stories of it. During the closing credits, Zweig is shown on camera for the first time, with his wife and daughter in a deli.[19]

Filmmaker Alan Zweig had found it paradoxical as a child, told that the world was unkind to his faith but seeing Jewish performers among the best comedians.[16][20] He distanced himself from his Jewish heritage as an adult, but felt that he always had a connection to it, and in particular to the comedy and sarcasm.[16] As he passed into middle age, he found there were characteristics of the older generation of Jews that he missed and which were disappearing.[21]

Zweig stated in an interview that he initially resisted the idea of the project – of trading on his heritage. However, he came to realize that he had "unresolved issues" and used the film about Jewish comedians to address this while making it accessible to audiences. He felt that the interview subjects were "the most articulate and funniest people" and wanted the chance to meet them.[1] However, he found it a challenge to interview celebrities who had been interviewed hundreds of times before, and to draw them out of set routines.[22]

Financing for the film was arranged under the partnership Funny Jews Inc.[23] The film received initial financing of $211,000 from the Canadian Media Fund. After obtaining a broadcast deal with Super Channel, additional financing was secured from Rogers Telefund.[1][23]

Zweig had a wish-list of about 40 Jewish comics he wanted to interview. Those unavailable on his tight filming schedule included Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman, and Mel Brooks. He was overjoyed to meet some of his comedy heroes, such as Shecky Greene.[16]

When Jews Were Funny was produced simultaneously with Zweig's documentary 15 Reasons to Live. He shot Jews while on breaks from Reasons and edited it after he finished editing Reasons.[1] The film was produced by Jesse Ikeman and Jeff Glickman for Sudden Storm Entertainment. Cinematography was by Naomi Wise[lower-alpha 2] with editing by Randy Zimmer and music by Michael Zweig.[25] The film is 89 minutes long.[26]

Zweig stated during an interview that he discovered he "like[d] being around Jews ... more than I ever would have acknowledged" because of their inherent understanding of his experience.[12] Zweig later noted that exploring his own culture in the film gave him perspective before setting out to document another culture, in his visits to Nunavut to film There Is a House Here.[27]

The film premiered on 10 September at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).[28] The film had a limited released in theatres on 15 November 2013, with a total box office of $22,697 in four theatres after two weeks, which placed it among the top five domestic films those weeks.[5]

With a limited number of prints, the film then made a circuit of arthouse theatres and film festivals, including: 9 January 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival,[29] 29 January 2014 Miami Jewish Film Festival,[30] 13 April 2014 Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Film Festival,[31] Atlanta Jewish Film Festival[26] and the Domestic Arrivals Documentary Film Series in London, Ontario.[2]

First broadcast rights were held by Super Channel, with broadcast rights transferred to Documentary Channel in 2015.[32]

The film was released on DVD by First Run Features in Canada and the US on 1 April 2014.[33][34]

Streamed on Netflix in New Zealand.[35]

• Being Canadian – documentary examining Canadian comedy and identity
• Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy – documentary on the evolution of African-American comedy

• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 8 October 2017)
• Official trailer on YouTube
• Interview with Zweig on YouTube at TIFF2013 by Point of View magazine
• When Jews Were Funny at IMDb
• When Jews Were Funny at Rotten Tomatoes
• When Jews Were Funny at the Canadian Film Encyclopedia