FJMC Webinar: Food in American Jewish Comedy

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Food In American Jewish Comedy
Presented by Ted Merwin, Ph.D.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024. 9:00PM Eastern

Ted Merwin, Ph.D.

Food is a major part of Jewish life and thus, not surprisingly, it is also a central theme in the routines of a wide range of Jewish entertainers from the mid-20th century to the present.  This interactive, fun-filled talk will use musical and stand-up comedy clips to show how food has provided fodder for the work of Myron Cohen, Mickey Katz, Allan Sherman, Jackie Mason, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Elon Gold, and other humorists. We will explore how comedy about food relates both to a Jewish and to a mainstream audience, and discuss how both food and humor still anchor much of American Jewish identity.

Ted Merwin, Ph.D. has given hundreds of talks on Jewish humor in synagogues, JCCs, libraries, book festivals, and universities from coast to coast. He is the author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli (which won a National Jewish Book Award) and In Their Own Image: New York Jews in Jazz Age Popular Culture. His articles on Jewish culture have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Haaretz, Newsweek, and many other publications. A long-time former professor of religion and Judaic studies at Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pa), Ted serves now as senior writer for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), based in New York and Washington, DC. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and three daughters. 

Thank you for your participation. We look forward to seeing you virtually at our events.

In Brotherhood,

FJMC Webinar & Affinity Group Committee

FJMC Webinars are offered free of charge to our members and guests. To help defray the administrative costs of this program, please consider making a donation to FJMC in honor of “Webinar Kudos.”

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