‘Comedy is often created by outsiders,” Jonathan Lynn said, speaking of growing up in the only Jewish family in the English spa town of Bath in the 1940s. The British-born director of such comic screen romps as “My Cousin Vinny” and “The Whole Nine Yards,” as well as the popular BBC comedy series “Yes, Prime…
Actress, author, and activist Annabelle Gurwitch is the author of two books — “You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up” and “Fired!” — and the e-book single “Autumn Leaves” (available from Zola Books), a chapter from her comedic memoir for Blue Rider imprint at Penguin, to be published in Spring 2014. Her blog posts are…
Actress, author, and activist Annabelle Gurwitch is the author of three books: “Autumn Leaves,” “You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up,” and “Fired!” Her comedic memoir for Blue Rider imprint at Penguin will be published in Spring 2014. Her blog posts are featured on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My…
Like most of us, the perfect night for Jewish comedian Sarah Silverman consists of one alone— and in flannels. The self deprecating celebrity conveyed her idea of an awesome night in her new music video, “Perfect Night,” which is part of YouTube’s Comedy Week that kicked off this past Sunday. In a perfectly auto-tuned voice…
“Blazing Saddles” is generally regarded as Mel Brooks’s best movie: It was ranked sixth on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest American comedies and it was nominated for three Academy Awards. “Best,” though, is a relative term. Brooks’s Borscht Belt-meets-absurdism style is so unique and so indelible that what we call the…
Marc Maron is a great talker. That’s true of most comics, but Maron doesn’t even have to be funny to be good. He’s got a sharp baritone voice with just a touch of a slur, and a talk radio delivery that grabs and holds your attention. It hardly matters whether he’s describing a fight with…
Jerry Seinfeld gets coffee now. Not just getting it as in his new web series, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” but as in actually understanding the beverage, its culture and its rituals. The comedian called NPR for coffee talk as the public broadcaster’s “Morning Edition” show wrapped up its own Coffee Week. Seinfeld told “Morning…
1. “It’s a terrible set, not a terrible room.” There’s something strange about Joan River’s Internet talk show, “In Bed with Joan.” Maybe it’s strange that the show exists, or maybe it’s strange how seriously Joan takes the web series — that she earnestly seems to believe it will lead to a new period of…
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