''Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century'' is a book by
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
Simcha Weinstein
Simon Weinstein, known by his Hebrew name Simcha Weinstein ( he, שמחה וינשטיין), is an English author and a rabbi. In 2006, his first book, '' Up Up and Oy Vey: How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero'', ...
.
The book presents an overview of the approach modern Jewish comedians are taking to their work - brutal, matter-of-fact, and unashamedly Jewish. To contrast the older approach with the newer approach, Weinstein gives examples of the comedy of previous generations of comedians such as
Gertrude Berg,
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
,
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...
, and
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
. He then presents in-depth analysis of the modern crop of Jewish comedic performers, including
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he created and wrote with Larr ...
,
Larry David
Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first sev ...
,
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admira ...
and
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer.
Silverman was a writer and performer on '' Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 t ...
.
Table of contents
*Put on Your Yarmulke
*Something from Nothing : Jewish Comedy in a New Century
*Jew Gold : Self-fulfilling Stereotypes and Unfulfilling Wealth
*Raising the Bar : Bling Mitzvah
*Beyond Bubbe : The 21st Century Jewish Family
*Fake News, Real Impact
*Seriously Funny : Anti-Semitism and Self-Hatred
*Cool Jew?
References
External links
The author's website
Jewish literature
Jewish comedy and humor
Books about humor
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