Ever go to a comedy club to find you're on the outside of inside jokes?

[unicorn]

We live near the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, and often go to the shows there. I found out that one of my favorite (and hottest) comedians was part of a set, so we went to the show. It wasn't advertised as such, and I didn't pay any attention to the fact that all of the comedians were Jewish. Who would have thought that a comedian called "Tehran" was a Jew? Yes, he was an Iranian Jew. Some of the comedians made comments in Hebrew, to which at least half of the audience responded. I still enjoyed the show (my fave Michael Blaustein didn't make any inside Jewish jokes). I kinda felt, though, that if they were going to be jokes only Jews would know, that the show should have been thus advertised. What do you think?

https://www.facebook.com/blaucomedy

 

 

[unicorn]

Here's a Facebook video about a woman at one of his shows who admits to shouting "Michael Blaustein" when she has sex with her husband!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/851746204410575

[unicorn]

https://www.instagram.com/blaucomedy/

https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/michael-blaustein.html

[jimmie50]

3 hours ago, unicorn said:

I kinda felt, though, that if they were going to be jokes only Jews would know, that the show should have been thus advertised. What do you think?

Kinda of agree with you.  Seems like they made an assumption that everyone in the audience was Jewish and would understand Hebrew.  

[PeterRS]

Back in the mid-1960s our family found this LP made by a Jewish comedy group based somewhere in the USA. We are not Jewish but we found the short sketches absolutely hilarious. When I saw it had come out on CD, I immediately purchased it and still find much of it hilarious, as do most of my friends. Typical is The Reading of the Will starting at 3'35".

On the other hand, in the 1990s I attended a Club in Singapore called the Boom Boom Room. This was fronted by a local comedian named Kumar and was incredibly popular. I went with a friend, got a table and we were enjoying our drinks when the show started. We were so surprised that we could understand less than half of what was being said. It was all so fast and in Singlish, not a language but a sub-language best described as the local patois based on English and including elements of other languages of native born Singaporeans. The mainly young Singapore audience absolutely adored it and laughed themselves almost on to the floor!

[jimmie50]

Hilarious.  Thanks for sharing that!   

[Olddaddy]

39 minutes ago, jimmie50 said:

Hilarious.  Thanks for sharing that!   

Oh very hilarious isn't it jimmie

[Pete1111]

I'm curious, why only Jews would get it. 

I'm thinking about Sarah Silverman.  A lot of her routine relates to being Jewish.  I love her shtick and I'm not Jewish.

One of her jokes on her latest HBO special was about Hitler's Mein Kampf .  
 If you can't get TikTok, the joke is elsewhere, all over the Internet.  Yeah she can be edgy but so was Lenny Bruce right?

 

That said a lot of Persians in Southern California are Jewish or Christian.  Many of the characters on Shahs of Sunset were Persian Jews.

[jimmie50]

4 hours ago, Pete1111 said:

I'm curious, why only Jews would get it. 

My understanding from @unicorn original post is that some of the 'inside jokes' were made in Hebrew.  I doubt anyone other than Jewish individuals would know or understand Hebrew.  Not many of the general non-Jewish population is going to have any clue about Hebrew.  Perhaps I misunderstood his post.  

[unicorn]

9 hours ago, Pete1111 said:

I'm curious, why only Jews would get it...

Aside from the obvious, mentioned by @jimmie50, that only someone who grew up in a Jewish household can understand Hebrew (well, perhaps an Old Testament scholar as well), there were other cultural references which, again, only someone who grew up in a Jewish household would get. I'm not saying that most of the jokes needed Jewish upbringing to understand. We just felt left out for those that did. The most successful and professional comedian in the group, Michael Blaustein, didn't make any inside jokes. He's now 37, but if you want to see him when he was a very cute 22 year-old, the movie Attack of the Alien Jelly Monsters from the Depths of Uranus is available for free on the Tubi platform... 😉

 

[Pete1111]

7 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

My understanding from @unicorn original post is that some of the 'inside jokes' were made in Hebrew.  I doubt anyone other than Jewish individuals would know or understand Hebrew.  Not many of the general non-Jewish population is going to have any clue about Hebrew.  Perhaps I misunderstood his post.  

That makes sense, if the show was in Hebrew or even Persian.  That could be a challenge to get the humor in that case.