Event

When Jews Were Funny

Charlotte Jewish Film Festival film presented with Community Partners Temple Israel and Create Your Jewish Legacy.

Desserts after the film provided by Polka Dot Bake Shop.

Directed by Alan Zweig

Insightful and often hilarious, When Jews Were Funny features Howie Mandel, David Steinberg, Shelley Berman, Shecky Greene and many others examining the history of Jewish comedy, from the Catskills to the present day, ultimately exploring what it means to be Jewish and how assimilation has changed Jewish humor.

When Jews Were Funny is director Alan Zweig's personal exploration into the roots of his Jewish identity, and particularly the question of how his Jewishness has persisted though he's done nothing to maintain it. He begins his exploration by trying to answer a question that's intrigued him since childhood: Why were all the comedians he watched on TV in the fifties and sixties Jewish? At first he doesn't get the answers he was hoping for, but he trusts in the old saying, "two Jews, three opinions" and eventually some answers start to form.

Documentary/Canada/English/90 minutes/2013

Reviews:

"As Zweig and his subjects shuttle from the universal to the particular and back again, the movie's real subject isn't so much comedy but what it means to be Jewish. It's an impossible question to answer, of course. But it's also one well worth exploring, especially in a movie as funny and heartfelt as this one." - Toronto International Film Festival

All ticket purchases for the Charlotte Jewish Film Festival are non-refundable. In the event a screening is cancelled due to inclement weather, an alternative screening date will be offered.