Jewish comedy

Jeremy Dauber traces the history of Jewish comedy from biblical times to the age of Twitter, examining how humor has developed and what it has meant in the history of the Jewish people. Organizing the book around seven strands—including the satirical, the witty, and the vulgar—he explores comedy’s responses to persecution, assimilation, and diaspora, as well as the ways it has reflected and sometimes shaped Jewish experience. Along the way, Dauber follows the rise and decline of familiar comic archetypes, including the Jewish mother, the JAP, the schlemiel, and the schlimazel.

He also considers a wide range of works and performers, from the Book of Esther, Talmudic jokes, and Yiddish satire to Borscht Belt routines, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The book brings together figures such as Sholem Aleichem, Franz Kafka, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Philip Roth, Sarah Silverman, and Jon Stewart in a broad account of how Jewish comedy has changed across centuries while engaging with serious historical realities.