Slap Shtick

The creators of Jewtopia return with more Hebrew high jinks.

by Lauren F. Friedman

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Published: Dec 22, 2009

Carol Rosegg DYING LAUGHING: "Somebody's always trying to kill us [Jews]," says Bryan Fogel (pictured, left). "If you can't have a laugh at that, you're in trouble."

[ comedy ]

When comedians Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson met in Los Angeles, neither paid much attention to their shared religion. They were hardly observant: Wolfson was what he called a “twice-a-year Jew,” and Fogel had been kicked out of Hebrew school so many times, he was forbidden to return.

“It wasn’t so much that we wanted to write about Jewish stuff,” says Wolfson, recalling the first conversation that led to Jewtopia. “It was just that we thought it would be funny to write a scene in a Jewish singles mixer.”

That one scene — loosely based on when Fogel’s sister met her gentile husband — was a huge success. In the 10 years since that serendipitous idea, the original Jewtopia has enjoyed a sold-out run in Los Angeles and more than 1,000 performances in New York. In 2006, it was adapted into an irreverent coffee table book, Jewtopia: The Chosen Book for the Chosen People (Grand Central), the cover of which features Fogel and Wolfson lighting cigarettes with Hanukkah candles. The duo’s latest spin-off, which opens at the Kimmel Center tonight, arrives just in time for Christmas.

The mostly new material in World of Jewtopia will be performed in its entirety by the two creators, who use standup comedy and visual aids to lampoon Jewish life. They read transcripts of phone conversations with their mothers (who didn’t know they were being recorded) and offer tips on how to pick the perfect table at a restaurant (hint: not too close to the air conditioner). What’s the most important lesson? “Get out while you can,” says Wolfson. “If you’re anything else, life will be a lot easier.”

World of Jewtopia leans heavily on a number of common stereotypes (Jewish mothers are overbearing), as well as ones that are more obscure (Jews are finicky orderers at restaurants).

According to Wolfson, audiences respond well to the show because so many of the stereotypes ring true: “Occasionally you’ll meet a Jew who can change a spare tire — but not many.”

To anyone who might be offended by the show’s generalizations, Fogel and Wolfson are quick to point out that they’re both members of the tribe. “We would have a hard time getting away with it if we weren’t Jewish,” says Fogel.

When Jewtopia came to Scottsdale, Ariz., there were protesters lined up outside the venue, but it wasn’t the stereotypes that made them kvetch. “They were protesting not the show, but Jews in general,” says Wolfson. “I mean, to take things that seriously that you make signs that say ‘I hate Jews’? They’re probably not a barrel of laughs.”

Fogel and Wilson point to Jewish comedians like Mel Brooks and Larry David to argue that they’re carrying on a long and proud Jewish tradition of poking fun at themselves. “Jews have been persecuted so much that their only defense mechanism was to be funny,” says Wolfson.

“Somebody’s always trying to kill us,” agrees Fogel. “If you can’t have a laugh at that, you’re in trouble.”

(lauren.friedman@citypaper.net)

Thu., Dec. 24, 7:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., Dec. 25-26, 3 and 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 27, 2 p.m.; $44.50-$52.50, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org.

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