As it goes in the opening number in the off-Broadway hit, Old Jews Telling Jokes, the cast proves that “there are times when it’s kosher for a Jew to be a ham.”
The show, now playing at the Randolph Theatre, co-created by Peter Gethers, editor, publisher and president of Random House Films, and Daniel Okrent, a writer and editor, and best known for having served as the first public editor of the New York Times, will amuse anyone who can appreciate classic Jewish humour, and doesn’t mind re-hearing an old, although re-worked, comedy gem.
The show was adapted from the Old Jews Telling Jokes website, which features videos of, well, people telling jokes. But on stage, theatre-goers can expect more than a stand-up routine.
The cast, featuring Allan Price as Morty, Theresa Tova as Bunny, Jess Abramovitch as Debbi, David Gale as Nathan and Alan Kliffer as Reuben, acted out their roles as if they were caricatures of old world Jews – to the point where Jackie Mason might even think it was a little much.
Kliffer, a Winnipeg native who graduated from the Randolph Academy and The Second City Conservatory, one of the two young Jews telling jokes, stole the show, often garnering big laughs from the audience with his over-the-top delivery and facial contortions.
As for the material itself, there was a mix of short, expletive filled jokes (Daddy, where do babies come from? A stork. Who f—s the stork?), jokes with long-winded setups acted out by the five-person cast, as well as musical numbers.
The 90-minute show is also broken up into themes, such as marriage, retirement, business and money. Woven throughout the show were monologues that touched on the important role humour plays within Jewish identity, how it helps bring people together, and in some cases, cope with difficult moments in life.
In Bunny’s story, Tova, who once starred as Yenta in Fiddler on the Roof at the Stratford Festival, tells a story about a woman who grew up not wanting to be funny. Ironically, it is her sense of humour that gets her fired from her job at an ad agency. But it was also her wit that compelled a co-worker to start a new agency with her – one that ended up successful enough to buy out the agency from which she was fired.
In Reuben’s story, he recalls getting a phone call while out on a date with his girlfriend. It was a call from his father, who was informing his son that he was dying of cancer.
“A year later, he was lying on his death bed. I asked him if he was comfortable. He shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘I make a living.’”
Although the show is very much about the jokes, the crass one-liners [My boyfriend got the words, “I love you” tattooed on his penis. I told him to stop putting words in my mouth], and a likable cast that holds nothing back, the show also has some heart, reminding the audience that in good times and bad, a Jewish sense of humour is often what binds a people together. n
Old Jews Telling Jokes runs until Dec. 6 at the Randolph Theatre,736 Bathurst St., Toronto. Tickets cost between $45 and $65. Call the box office for tickets at
1-844-448-7469.
