18Forty Podcast15 Mar 2022

Alex Edelman: Taking Comedy Seriously: Purim

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David is joined by comedian Alex Edelman for a special Purim discussion exploring the place of humor and levity in a world that often demands our solemnity.

A Modern Orthodox Jew from Brookline, Massachusetts, who’s “tried cocaine,” but has “never tried bacon,” Alex stars in the one-man Off Broadway show Just For Us, which has to be one of the only top-tier comedy specials to mention Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

In this episode, we discuss:

—How does a Modern Orthodox kid become a mainstream professional comic?
—What makes particularly Jewish stories resonate so much with wider audiences?
—Why hasn’t he left traditional Judaism amid his secular fame?

Tune in to hear how a bona fide star holds onto both his humor and his values to bare to the world his authentic self.

Interview begins at 26:56.

Alex Edelman is a product of Massachusetts’s Maimonides School and has been featured on Conan and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In 2020, he was the head writer and executive producer of the “Saturday Night Seder” YouTube extravaganza, which raised over $3.5 million for the CDC Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. His show Just For Us is running at the SoHo Playhouse in New York City. While nights tend to sell out quickly, tickets are available here: https://ci.ovationtix.com/35583/production/1107251.

References:

The World as Will and Idea by Arthur Schopenhauer

Is It Funny for the Jews? by Jason Zinoman

Here All Along by Sarah Hurwitz

My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander

Dinner at the Center of the Earth by Nathan Englander

Kaddish.com by Nathan Englander

Baseball as a Road to God by John Sexton

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(284)

Carmi Schwartz: The Road That Got Us Here [American Jewish History 4/4]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Jewish communal executive Carmi Schwartz about lessons he’s learned in his 90-plus years as a member and leader of the Jewish community. In this epis...

14 Jul 1h 33min

Jenna Weissman Joselit: Being Jewish in America [American Jewish History 3/4]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Jenna Weissman Joselit, a professor of Jewish studies and history, about the everyday expressions of Judaism that reinforce the identity and distinct...

7 Jul 1h 27min

Zev Eleff: 250 Years of American Judaism [American Jewish History 2/4]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to historian Zev Eleff about what 250 years of Jewish life in America can teach us about religion, identity, and the future of American Judaism.In this ...

30 Jun 1h 26min

Elana Moskowitz: In Appreciation of My American Jewish Childhood [American Jewish History 1/4]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Elana Moskowitz, an educator at Michlelet Mevasseret Yerushalayim, about how her American Jewish upbringing shaped her life and worldview.Moskowitz g...

24 Jun 1h 36min

Finance Debate: Larry Rothwachs and Leslie Ginsparg Klein

In this annual debate episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin moderates a discussion on finances within the Orthodox Jewish community. The specific resolution is: The current state of semachot...

16 Jun 1h 16min

Listener Feedback with David Bashevkin

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin responds to listeners’ feedback and comments, in conversation with Denah Emerson.In this episode we discuss:—Should every Jew be Orthodox?—Is th...

9 Jun 1h 34min

David Bashevkin: ‘We are meant to teach the world how to embrace unchosen identity’ [18 Questions, 40 Mystics]

Ahead of the next episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we invite you to hear David Bashevkin's appearance on 18 Questions, 40 Mystics.What does it mean to live a Judaism that fits into our lives? David Bas...

26 Mai 1h 28min

Agunah Revisited: How To Avoid High Conflict Divorce

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we revisit the topic of agunot by talking to Sarah Nissel and Yona Elishis, who run the Jewish Divorce Assistance Center of Los Angeles.We’re also joined by Kes...

19 Mai 1h 20min