WHEN JEWS WERE FUNNY (Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2013)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 4.0|5.0 Starsìììì

When Jews were Funny—a significant and well-done documentary film—contains terrific interviews with 37 of the best of our standup comedians including Gilbert Gottfried, Howie Mandel, Eugene Mirman, Bob Einstein, Andy Kindler, Shelley Berman, and David Steinberg. This is a good, informative watch, a winner of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

Alan Zweig believes Jews are not as funny now as in the past and attempts to prove his point with archival footage and live interviews with Jewish comedians.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director Alan Zweig for directing efforts. Kudos to Musical Composer Michael Zweig for outstanding musical accompaniment Thank you to Executive Producer Perry Rosemond for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Himself (Marc Maron), Himself (Shelley Berman), Himself (Rodney Dangerfield), Himself (Howie Mandel), Himself (Gilbert Gottfried), Himself (Bob Einstein), Himself (Eugene Mirman), Himself (Jack Carter), Herself (Judy Gold), Himself (Norm Crosby), Himself (Andy Kindler), Himself (Alan King), Himself (Shecky Greene), Himself (Jackie Mason), Himself (David Steinberg), Himself (Elon Gold), Himself (Henny Youngman), Himself (Aaron Berg), and Himself (David Brenner).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. This documentary is highly entertaining.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers