What is it that makes Jewish humour simultaneously so Jewish and so universal? Ivor Dembina's show at the Albany, Old Jewish Jokes, provides some clues. The show takes a simple premise: at a charity gig for a synagogue some years ago, Dembina was asked not to do any material about a) the holocaust, b) religion, c) sex, d) money and e) Israel, which left him with pretty much nothing: so this set features all the jokes he didn't do.
Sample (a holocaust joke): some Jews are lined up to be shot by the SS towards the end of the war. One Jew steps forward and harangues the firing squad: “You bastards! You can kill us, but you'll never destroy the Jewish spirit! The Russians are coming for you, the Americans are coming, the British are coming – and you all have a date in hell!” His friend tugs his sleeve. “Morrie, don't make things worse!”
Or (a joke that ticks the sex/money/religion boxes): “When I had my bar-mitzvah, my father gave me two presents. He gave me a cheque-book. And he gave me a copy of Playboy magazine. And I couldn't help noticing that the pages were stuck together... (Pause) Of the cheque-book, I mean.”
The jokes are all, of course, old Jewish jokes, in line with Dembina's father's advice when he began his career - “Tell them the old jokes”. And sound advice it is too. They're funny because they're old. Some I knew already, others I could see coming a mile off. But I laughed at all of them.
The Jewishness resides not just in the subject matter but in Dembina's delivery - the conversational tone, the rhythmic repetitions, the addresses to the audience – and also in word-choice. There's something about the combination of informality and precise word-choice that seems peculiarly Jewish. Describing the synagogue gig, Dembina says that before the show “a small room with a small table and a glass of water were made available to me”. That phrase “made available” is just right: accurate but casting a faint slur on the generosity of the provision.
Yet this uniquely Jewish humour speaks to everyone. It's based on an understanding and a sophisticated, amused tolerance of human frailty. We're all human and we're all frail, so we get it. But I don't think anyone does it quite as well as the Jews.
Ivor Dembina is back at the Albany with Old Jewish Jokes on Sunday 28th November at 4pm. Tickets are £5 here.
Read liberal pedant Brandon Robshaw's blog here.
