A few months ago, as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was finishing its run, we saw a headline that claimed that Curb's end signals the end of Jewish comedy. And we clicked on it, because, you know, Jewish. Comedy.
The basic premise was that Jewish comedy was at its peak sometime in mid-to-late last century, but is now a dying breed, Larry David's Curb being the last vestige. Jews are changing, Jews are assimilating, and they throw Israel in there somewhere. Honestly, this is what we get for reading clickbait. Perfectly targeted clickbait, sure, but clickbait.
Last week, we watched Alex Edelman's stand-up special, "Just for Us". Edelman won a Tony AND an Emmy for it. It's a very, very funny hour and a half. And it's 90% about Jews, give or take! Probably more.
A decade ago, Edelman burst on the comedy scene when he was named Best Newcomer at Edinburgh's famed Fringe Festival, and has been performing since. We've actually profiled two people connected to him already: former girlfriend Hannah Einbinder, a fellow Jewish comedian, and brother AJ Edelman, an Olympic(!) skeleton(!) racer. In fact, Alex spends a lot of time talking about AJ and his strange athletic prowess in "Just for Us".
So, no, Jewish humor is not dying! It might be changing, but it's still here to stay, with Edelman, Einbinder, recently-profiled Gary Gulman, and many others.
Perhaps this little website is proof as well?