Various screenshots via YouTube; photos courtesy; design by Jackie Hajdenberg via JTA.org
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As antisemitism spends months in the pop culture spotlight,
Jewish comedians tackle the hate onstage and on social media.

Deeply Jewish Comedy Is Having a
Moment, Even as Antisemitism
Rocks Pop Culture
JACKIE HAJDENBERG | JTA.org
T wo weeks after a Trump-supporting
heckler threw a beer can at Ariel Elias at
a club in New Jersey over her politics, the
Jewish comedian’s fortunes took a turn for the better.

A video of the incident went viral and she made her
network television debut on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-
night talk show.

She spent most of her fi ve-minute set talking about
her Jewish identity and how it clashed with parts of
her upbringing in Kentucky.

“I’m Jewish from Kentucky, which is insane, it’s an
insane origin story,” she said last month before getting
to jokes about how Southerners mispronounce her
name and how badly her parents want her to date Jews.

Even though the crowd found it funny, Elias’ tight
fi ve wasn’t particularly groundbreaking. In the world
of standup comedy, discussing one’s Jewish identity
in a deep way has become increasingly common on
the mainstream stage over the past several years.

Jewish comedians are going beyond the bagel and
anxiety jokes, discussing everything from religiosity
and traditions (and breaking with those traditions) to
how their Jewishness has left them prone to awkward
situations and even antisemitism.

Ari Shaffi r calls his most recent special, which
was released in November and titled “Jew” — and
racked up close to 4 million views on YouTube in two
weeks — “a love letter to the culture and religion that
raised [him].” In his recent one-man show “Just For
Us” — which drew widespread acclaim and a slew
of celebrity audience members, from Jerry Seinfeld
to Stephen Colbert to Drew Barrymore — Alex
Edelman discussed the details of growing up Modern
Orthodox (and infi ltrating a group of white national-
ists). In 2019, Tiff any Haddish released a Netfl ix spe-
cial called “Black Mitzvah,” in which she talks about
learning about her Jewish heritage.

At the same time, the current uptick in public
displays of antisemitism — punctuated by a series of
celebrity antisemitism scandals and comedian Dave
Chappelle’s controversial response to them — is
complicating the moment for comedians who get into
Jewish topics. Jewish comics are even debating what
kinds of jokes about Jews are acceptable and which
cross a line.

“I fi nd it ironic that at a time where more Jewish come-
dians feel comfortable expressing their Judaism (i.e.

wearing a yarmulke, making Jewish-oriented content)
and not hiding it (by changing their name for example),
we also see an up-swelling of outright antisemitism,”
said Jacob Scheer, a New York-based comedian. “I don’t
think — and hope — those two things are not related,
but I fi nd it really interesting and sad.”
Th e two phenomena could be related. Antisemitic
incidents nationwide reached an all-time high in
2021, with a total of 2,717 incidents, according to an
April 2022 audit from the Anti-Defamation League.

Th ose incidents range from vandalism of buildings to
harassment and assault against individuals.

“Now that [antisemitism is] a headline, it actually
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