When Jews Were Funny (Alan Zweig, 2013): Canada

Reviewed by Mirass Jalil. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival.

“What does a waiter say to Jewish women at a restaurant…?
Is anything all right?” This is one of many Jewish jokes that you can hear in When Jews Were funny.

The Toronto International Film Festival winner When Jews Were Funny is definitely the years funniest documentary with Alan Zweig as the writer and director, and his hilarious cast including Bob Einstein, Gilbert Gottfried and Howie Mandel. You will laugh non-stop from the classic but creative jokes, and they way there’re presented. As Zweig explores the Jewish culture I couldn’t stop relate and be constantly reminded of mine own childhood due to my middle eastern background.

When Jews Were Funny is a bunch of interviews with contemporary Jewish comedians talking about the history of Jewish comedians. Not only does Zweig surveys the 20:th century jews in the entertaining business but also the meaning of being a Jew and the whole culture surrounding jews. Throughout the documentary we hear jokes with the jewish stereotype in the center. We hear jokes about the stereotypical jewish mother, how they constantly nag, never stops talking and always makes their kids feel guilty about things that she suffers from. They talk about how jews can make everything funny even from the most absurd situations, but still be the most pessimistic people there is. A jew can’t for example say something positive without making grotesque face expressions.

The close-ups and the extreme close-ups on the different parts on the comedians faces makes everything so much funnier because we experience every expression in such a personal level that it makes it so much easier to relate to. Also by just filming a bunch of jews that tell jokes is a very simple concept but very effective because it feels that the comedians talk directly to us and it feels that you sit in the room with them and reminisce. The interview usually took place in a normal house or a fancy place. Zweig did this to give the comedians some sort of royalty but also wanted to give us characters that is equal to us, which makes it more real and we feel a bigger connection to the film. This is exactly what happened for me, I felt like they were talking about my life, about my culture but especially my mother. The classic mother stereotype fitted perfectly with my mother even though my mother is arabic. For example how she always makes me feel guilty for something I have done that made her suffer, or how she is always complaining about everything.

After the film it made me really thing about the prejudices towards Jews, all the antisemitism in the world and how we’re not so different after all. This is also something Alan Zweig intended to do, to make us rethink and not to judge. Great picture and great cast, once again go see it if you want to laugh your pants off.