Leave it to the New York Times.
Really. LEAVE IT. The Times just ran another of those "hey, Jews, feel good while you read us over that BAGEL AND SHMEAR" articles. What's worse, the author, Dauber, picked on the death of Jerry Lewis to promote his new book, which, of course, panders to Jewish readers.
Sprinkling chicken soup and gravy on Jerry's grave, the author insists that obits and tributes didn't place enough emphasis on Jerry's religion. He was a JEWISH comedian, and his comedy, of course, came from 2,000 years of angst. And a shmear.
See you after the break.
You didn't read all of it, did you?
Found it pretty boring, professorial, pedantic and ridiculous, right?
Yes, there's plenty of ways to "play the race card." Isn't it a sign of equality that when some people die, their race or religion isn't placed above their accomplishments? "Joan Rivers, Jewish comedienne Dies." Ridiculous. "Charlie Callas, Greek comedian dies." Huh? Buried in the obit would be the obligatory lines about birth date, education and heritage. It need not be more than that. "Jerry Lewis, born Joseph Levitch..." gives you enough of a clue.
It seems pretty craven to start complaining about Lewis NOT being considered a "Jewish" comedian when he wasn't. To do it in order to sell a book called "Jewish Comedy" smells a bit like gefilte past its expiration date. Or gefilte still within its expiration date.
The author admits that Lewis wasn't known for Jewish humor, but still has to be a yenta and belabor the point.
The guy thinks he's going to whet the (kosher) appetite for yet ANOTHER book on Jewish comedy. As if "The Haunted Smile" wasn't enough?
I helped the author of "The Haunted Smile." This was a well-meaning professor who basically wanted an excuse to get the home phone numbers of Jackie Mason, Joan Rivers, Shelley Berman, etc., get some photos, have a chance to hear a lot of tapes of comedy, and have a nice time. His advance was nearly nothing. The book company knew he'd do it for nearly nothing. And for my mitzvah, I got a nice mention in the acknowledgements.
I never did read the whole thing, because the title (which he didn't mention) was such a turn-off, along with the stereotypical photo of Woody Allen in Orthodox drag. The premise seemed to be that Jews all have haunted smiles, and their humor comes from persecution and anti-Semitism.
Isn't it possible that Jewish comics were simply fueled by the same angst or misanthropy that led Jonathan Swift or Mark Twain to twist the mask of tragedy into comedy? The fact is, most Jewish comedians taking the stage presented themselves simply as funny guys. Henny Youngman told one-liners. Rodney Dangerfield got "no respect" in a variation on sad-sack (and not Jewish) Jackie Vernon.
Woody Allen got very tired of the "schlemiel" tag. A few visual gags in "Take the Money and Run" and "Annie Hall" stereotyped him for life. The percentage of "Jew jokes" in his stand-up act was fairly small. After all, he was more influenced by Mort Sahl (who didn't dwell on religion) than Lenny Bruce. Ultimately Woody sued a clothing company that used a photo similar to the Orthodox-drag photo in "Haunted Smile" without his permission for an outdoor billboard. Woody's not interested in being pigeon-holed as a small, brainy, horny Jew with a "haunted" smile.
Jerry Lewis didn't fit the stereotype of the small, fretful Jew, ala neurotic Woody Allen, aggressive little Mel Brooks or pushy little Jackie Mason. Why indulge in Academia-babble about how Lewis needs to be acknowledged more for his religion than anything else? Just to reinforce the notion that most comedians are Jews? Just as most doctors and accountants are Jews? Or (ask any Nazi) "all the bankers are Jews."
Stereotyping is so much fun. It's hilarious. It gives you...a haunted smile.
I asked Joan Rivers, "Why are so many comedians Jewish?" She stared at me. "You mean like Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Richard Pryor?"
If you do bother to take a closer look, you'll find Jack Paar, Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, Jonathan Winters, Bob Newhart, Bob Hope, Dick Van Dyke, W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, Robert Benchley, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Harold Lloyd...and many more who are not members of the tribe. Being Jewish isn't an automatic pass on an open mic night. These days, the number of Jews in comedy is small and, as usual, doesn't include any of the late night comedy hosts (Kimmel, Fallon, O'Brien and Colbert). Even when I was editing RAVE back in 1988, the covers featured a large amount of Gentiles, including Margaret Smith, Jay Leno and Eddie Murphy, and I ran articles on Emo Philips, Judy Tenuta, Sam Kinison, Bob Goldthwait and Brett Butler.
Joan Rivers was sick and tired of the fatuous chicken-fat blab about how The Chosen People were chosen to make everybody laugh. Perhaps she thought that it took away from her talent and genius: Oh, Joan Rivers, well, of course she's funny, she's a Jew. You know, like Blacks are natural singers and dancers with their born sense of rhythm.
Jerry Lewis made people laugh by being outrageously childlike. That's how he was in his solo career. Teamed with Dean Martin, Dean was the "parent," just as Bud Abbott was to Lou Costello. Tommy Smothers acted like a kid with his "Mom Always Liked You Best" catch-phrase. It's a style, it's not a religion. If Buster Keaton was Jewish, some professor would have a treatise about how the Jew has a "stone face" to the hardships of life. If Harold Lloyd was Jewish, it would be "with his glasses, he portrayed the brainy immigrant Jew, a "what makes Sammy run" aggressive fellow eager to get the gentile girl." If W.C. Fields was Jewish, it would be, "driven to drink, in reference to Passover wine, he used his brilliant Jewish wit to insult the Christian world around him, and to take pride in his prominent nose."
Jerry Lewis worked hard for Muscular Dystrophy. He didn't do the Chabad telethon. His philanthropy was not restricted to his people. Most Jewish comedians are out to make everyone laugh, not just Jews. Only a few comics (Benny Bell, Allan Sherman, Mickey Katz) offered comedy that included a lot of Jewish in-jokes.
I spoke to Jackie Mason at length about Jewish comedy, and his point of view was that the more you degrade Jews the louder he'll talk about being one. With his accent, it was hard NOT to. He and Lenny Bruce were among the most vocal in dealing with anti-Semitism. Most others mentioned being Jewish only in proportion to the average comedian referencing personal traits. Alan King, David Brenner and Robert Klein didn't dwell on being Jewish any more than George Carlin did on being Catholic. I discussed this with George, and he told me he was simply more interested in words than in talking about his personal life.
For 20th Century America, the generations of performers reflected the "melting pot," and assimilation was more important than accentuating differences. "Cohen on the Telephone," among the first successful recordings, was saying, "I'm like any of you. I can't figure out a telephone." Old 78's included ethnic Irish, German, Italian, Scots, "Negro" and "rube" comedy as well as Jewish comedy.
Jerry Lewis was a funny guy. That's all that needs to be said. Pointing out that he was Jewish serves what purpose? To try and encourage Jews to try and be like him? Adam Sandler is Enough. Jerry influenced Gentiles too. One of Jerry's first bits was miming to records and making faces. Chevy Chase adopted that routine to mocking and miming how others talked. He'd sit next to someone and do his best to be distracting, irritating and disruptive, and you can't say he had a "haunted smile" or did it out of 2,000 years of persecution.
The fact is, Jewish comedy petered out years ago. It's over. The same with Chico Marx-type Italian dialect. The same with Yogi Yorgesson's Swedish novelty songs. Jews have assimilated. Jerry Seinfeld never made being Jewish a big part of his stand-up act and resisted making it a big part of his TV show. His parents and George Costanza's parents were just...PARENTS. Today, Louis C.K. is considered the major stand-up, along with Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle. "Saturday Night Live" rarely had a Jew in the cast. Sitcoms, most of them Gentile ("I Love Lucy," "Honeymooners," "Dick Van Dyke Show") have rarely starred a Jew in the past 10 years.
It's possible that a more interesting book would be on the DECLINE of Jewish comedy, and why discussing the Jewishness of Jerry Lewis is irrelevant, if not pandering and insulting.
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