When Jews Were Funny (2013) User Reviews

Despite Zweig-- I Laughed a Lot

[larrys3 · 7/10 · 9 October 2014]

OK-so the filmmaker Alan Zweig's interview skills are terribly annoying, yet despite that I laughed a lot at the jokes, anecdotes, and schtick from the many comedians and writers that appeared in this film. As Zweig probes whether old style Jewish humor is dead, he unfortunately loses focus quite often and even, at times, gets some of the interviewees uncomfortable, confused, and even irritated, which, in my opinion, is not great viewing.

The consensus ends up being that as the Jewish people are more and more assimilated into society the type of Jewish humor of the past, kindled by pain, suffering, and frustration, takes a new form today.

Aside from the interviews from many of the top Jewish comics and writers today, there are a number of film clips of Jewish comedians, many of whom are no longer with us, performing on television.

Overall, despite Zweig's style, I found this documentary to be quite entertaining and, as mentioned I found myself laughing whole heartedly quite often.

Jewish Comedy

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 15 April 2014]

Surveys the history of Jewish comedy...

Is there such a thing as Jewish comedy, or a Jewish-style comedy? For me, if I were to describe it, my first thought would be Woody Allen, who was not even mentioned on here. His delivery and obsession with psychoanalysis is, to me, the cornerstone of modern Jewish humor. (Add on Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David for a trifecta.) There is some attempt to connect the topic to immigrant culture -- they mention how Italians and Irish (the other two big immigrant groups of the time) had their own humor. Oppression breeds humor, perhaps, while assimilation kills it. There is probably some truth in that humor comes from pain, and Jews have known pain like few other groups of the last century.

Many of the bits on here are odd interviews, including "Super Dave", who I would not have suspected as self-identifying as a Jewish comic. There is nothing about his act that screams "Jewish" to me, but maybe I am ignorant to what it really means.

One person (I missed their name) argued that 20th century comedy history is the same as Jewish comedy history. Obviously, there are exceptions like George Carlin and Steve Martin, but the number of prominent Jewish comedians and comedy writers is overwhelming... it is difficult to discuss ethnicity without the risk of making what could be racist comments, but indeed, there may be such a thing as Jewish comedy... although whether or not this documentary found it, I am not so sure.

Zweig Fans Will Not Be Disappointed

[connerton4 · 7/10 · 30 April 2021]

If you're coming in to this doc without any previous experience with Alan Zweig, there's a good chance you will be disappointed. Many of the interviewees in this film, in fact, seemed disappointed. In a nutshell, Zweig's style is: Talk with people (not merely "interview" them), be sincere, open and honest in a way that encourages the interviewee to also be open and honest (though it may make some people uncomfortable), and film it. It seems like many reviewers here came to this doc more from an angle of loving Jewish comics without having any experience with Zweig, and I think they have missed the unique value of Zweig's art.

I find it fascinating how he catches people so off-guard with his input, which usually puts people in unexpected situations where they will either put their guard up or open up. Many reviewers here in IMDB also seemed critical of the fact that this was not a traditional documentary format, and that it did not place the focus solely on the interviewees (I also think this threw off some of the more egocentric interviewees). But think about how Zweig actually included so many of those moments, moments that would have been cut in a more traditional doc. (It's funny how many people in Zweig's docs ask "So what is this about?" and how often those moments end up in his films.) I think that's where Zweig's magic is. It might make the viewer uncomfortable at times, but it's raw, it's real, and it's authentic.

7/10 because I probably won't watch it again, but it was successful at the most important thing for me: It made me feel something and it made me think.

Niche core audience

[heystevesteinberg · 20 April 2014]

While anyone can enjoy this nostalgic look at what it means to be a Jewish comic, the question Zweig keeps returning to is how to get a fix for his Jew Jones. As another babyboomer NYC Jew who grew up watching Jack Carter, Red Buttons, Myron Cohen, London Lee, Jack E. Leonard, Alan King, Joey Bishop, Norm Crosby, Professor Irwin Corey, Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Howie Morris, Alan Sherman, Jerry Lewis, The Three Stooges, George Burns, Corbett Monica, Sandy Baron, Stanley Myron Handleman, Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene, Danny Kaye, Pinky Lee, Eddie Cantor, Groucho Marx...in other words, the funnymen of the late 40s and 50s, it seemed the whole comedy world was Jewish. There's nothing particularly ethnic about any of the above performers, many of whom were cited in the documentary, but that sense of Jewishness in comedy is an historic relic. While the documentary contains many funny lines and examples of Jewish jokes, there's a sadness as an undercurrent that only fellow 60+ Jews can truly understand...the loss of a culture. I'm glad I watched the film, but it left me melancholy.

About 40 years too late...

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 31 December 2014]

The notion of making a film like "When Jews Were Funny" is a pretty good one. However, it's not a particularly good film--and much of it is because so many of the great Jewish comedians are dead. Who's left feels like a who's who of the D-list comedians. I won't name any names--I do NOT want to be mean. Had the film been made in the 1940s, 50s, 60s or even 70s, many brilliant comics could have provided their insights--and the film would have been so much better.

Some of the old-time comics they interviewed seemed a bit ashamed of being labeled 'a Jewish comedian' or possibly worried about being seen as 'just Jewish'--which WAS a very interesting thing to follow- up on and I would LOVED to have heard much more about this sort of attitude. Yet, many of the younger folks didn't seem to feel that way at all. Again, this difference was interesting but didn't seem to be followed up on very well. Why did so many of the older folks de-emphasize their Jewishness while the next generation in the film tended NOT to? And, what exactly WAS the history of Jewish humor in America? Well, after seeing this film, I still didn't know because the film just seemed to go in many directions.

Overall, a tighter focus and more interesting interviews (much of this just wasn't funny but should have been and the great comics simply are dead in too many cases) would have helped make this a much better documentary.

Beautiful and Nostalgic

[jayraskin · 10/10 · 16 April 2014]

I am around the age of the director Alan Zweig, 60, and I come from a Jewish New York background, so I got exactly what Zweig was saying. We had very funny Jewish relatives and we watched Jewish comics on television almost every night of the week. We grew up at a very special time and only now are beginning to realize how special it was. Many Jews like myself and Zweig stopped observing all religious practices, married non-Jews and only had one or two child. I had about 15 or aunts and uncles and other funny Jewish relatives. My daughter only has three or four and they certainly aren't as funny. About every third comic/comedian on television was Jewish including many of the top ones like Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle and Jack Benny. Today, only about one out of ten are Jewish. For example, I think Vanessa Bayer is only one of the 15 comedians currently on SNL that is Jewish. Compare that to SNL in its first season where Lorraine Newman, Gilda Rahdna, Al Franken were all Jewish and the first three guest hosts George Carlin, Paul Simon and Rob Reiner were all Jewish, not to mention the show's creator Lorne Michaels and half the writing staff.

What I loved about seeing the movie was getting to see some old Jewish comics whom I haven't seen in decades. I was really glad to know that they're still alive and kicking, these include Norm Cosby, Shelley Berman, Jack Carter, David Steinberg ("Boolah, Boolah"), David Brenner, and Bob Einstein (whom I still remember best as Officer Judy on the Smothers Brothers Show). Seeing these and others brought back a flood of memories. It was like seeing childhood friends again.

The second great thing is that they all tell great old Jewish jokes in the movie. I had forgotten these wonderful jokes.

My only criticism of the movie is that I wish there were more clips of deceased Jewish comedians. Alan King, Rodney Dangerfield and Henny Youngman clips are shown, but there were dozens more that I would have loved to have seen, Irwin Corey, Joe E. Lewis, Molly Pecon, Bert Lahr, Red Buttons, Jan Murray, etc.

Still, it was a sweet and funny and beautiful little movie and it made me think about aspects of my life I haven't thought about in many, many years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Alan Zweig.

Oy veh

[inyourglass · 3/10 · 22 July 2020]

Dreadful. Slow, belabored, unfunny. Once or twice we see or hear flashes of brilliance, but for the most part there is nothing except an occasional heavily-accented Jewish ancestor.

Fascinating but NOT the film the film-maker wanted to make

[A_Different_Drummer · 8/10 · 15 January 2016]

A few years back I saw one of the most startling documentaries I had ever seen. It was called AN EMPIRE OF THEIR OWN- HOW THE JEWS INVENTED Hollywood, and it was based on a bestseller.

It was brilliant. It not only showed how Hollywood was started by Jews, literally, but also showed how, the more successful Hollywood became, the less Jewish everyone wanted to be. The message seemed to be that assimilation and success went hand in hand. The writers even used Superman as an example -- invented by two Jews, Superman actually used a "secret identity" to keep the world from learning that he was "different." Wow.

Zweig's film here is successful entertainment but FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS.

I cannot easily recall another film where the film-maker is such an annoying presence and the viewer so wishes he would just take an extended lunch so we could spend more time with some the greatest comics of the last century, many of whom we have not seen for so long.

(Age is now and always will be scarier than any Hollywood villain. Shelley Berman, for example, sounds like himself and is sharp as a tack, but at 90 he looks nothing like the imposing comic presence he was on the Ed Sullivan show where by sheer force of will he dragged a whole generation into an appreciation of his "phone call" comedy.)

Zwieg meanwhile presents, ironically, the least comic moments in the film as he harasses and annoys these professionals into trying to get them to admit that the world is not as funny as it was because Jews are not as Jewish as they were...

Ignore Zweig and you will actually enjoy this.

Good topic handled poorly.

[baltopoly · 1/10 · 10 June 2020]

The writer/director/interviewer is an idiot. Those interviewed are treasures.

Lacks direction

[geonosianindustries · 4/10 · 26 August 2023]

The film is a series of interviews with old stand-up routines and jokes mixed in. There is a general lack of forward momentum or guidance. We hit our note ten minutes in and sit there for an hour and change more.

You don't inherently need a narrative to drive the documentary but you need highs and lows, to atleast build to something. There isn't even a conversation on display, just a series of single points of views. Repeatedly there is humour from struggling and things have changed but still funny. There is some amusing philosophies but it just doesn't go anywhere and there are no real conflicts out of a few sputters of annoyance.

Also the pacing is always the same and all the shots are still single cameras, nothing is done to raise the interviews.

Jewish Smewish!,,

[rjm19471972 · 10/10 · 11 May 2014]

I grew up watching these comedians and a lot of others not mentioned including My favorite Woody Allen. I never even thought about them being Jewish, I just liked their humor and the way they told their stories and jokes. I couldn't wait for Ed Sullivan each week or Johnny Carson each night to see who would be on. If the majority of the comedians of those times happened to be Jewish, so be it. I could have cared less as long as they made me laugh. I don't find any of today's so called comedians funny. That's why I love these shows about the real comedians of our past. Keep more of these shows coming and I'll keep watching. FUNNY SMUNNY!!!

Great document

[rkhen · 8/10 · 11 December 2015]

You'll see a lot of great old Jewish comics, from back in the day when "Jewish" was almost understood in the word "comic". Also loads of great old Borscht Belt jokes. Zweig's interview style is genius: he presents himself as a schlemiel asking dumb questions, and gets some priceless responses. He gets people who have cultivated a goyisher stage presence to revert to their native culture, and those who have been "Hollywood Jewish" to revert to the real thing, with brilliant results. The great Shelley Berman even sings a whole song in Yiddish, after mentioning his son who died at the age of 12 and finding himself at a loss for (English) words.

See it. You'll laugh, you'll cry.