arts & culture
Jackie Hajdenberg | JTA.org
This article contains spoilers for
“History of the World Part II.”
I n a scene now streaming on Hulu,
a group of early Christian bishops
gathers to set a promotion strategy
for their newish religion — to “make
the Bible an international block-
buster,” as one puts it.

But the plot is unclear: “Who are
the bad guys in this story?” asks one.

He and his fellow clerics consider two
options: the Jews and the Romans.

“Let’s make them the Jews, for
sure,” says a bishop. “They run every-
thing,” says another.

And thus the First Council of
Nicaea, a gathering in 325 C.E. that
is considered the birth of Christian
antisemitism, gets the Mel Brooks
treatment in “History of the World
Part II,” the long-awaited sequel to the
classic Mel Brooks fi lm that revolves
around Jewish history — and skewers
it. The new four-part series even had
a Jewish premiere date — March 6,
the eve of the merrymaking holiday
of Purim.

As with the 1981 original — written,
directed and produced by Brooks,
who also stars — the new series is
littered with Jewish subject matter,
even in the sketches that aren’t
about Jews. And although comedy
mores have changed in the past four
decades, the series aims to retain
Brooks’ signature combination of
sharp parody, vaudevillian vulgarity
and Borscht Belt antics.

“We really tried to embrace what
we loved about [Brooks’] work and
apply that to the work that we were
doing, whether that was the themes
of funny character names, or break-
ing the fourth wall or anachronisms
20 MARCH 16, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
From left: Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Mel Brooks, Ike Barinholtz and David
Stassen at the Los Angeles premiere of "History of the World Part II"
or certain kinds of playful blocking,”
director Alice Mathias said. “The kind
of comedy work that I was doing
up until this point was a touch more
restrained and not quite as slapstick
in places. So it was really fun to get a
little sillier.”
And the creators aren’t concerned
about a show with repeated send-ups
of Jewish history at a time of rising
antisemitism. “Saying ‘the Jews are the bad guys’
is only funny because you’re making
fun of the people saying it,” said
showrunner David Stassen. “You’re
punching up, you’re making fun of
the bishops in power. That was the
intent.” Part of the series' Jewishness
is thanks to Nick Kroll, the Jewish
comedian who had been interested
in creating “History of the World Part
II” for a very long time and “nudzhed”
Brooks to agree, Stassen said, using
the Yiddish word for pester. Kroll
is the co-creator of the critically
acclaimed cartoon “Big Mouth,” which
was largely based on his experience
attending the Solomon Schechter
School of Westchester. He also grew
up in a Conservative, kosher-keeping
household. Kroll joins Brooks, 96, Wanda Sykes,
Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen as a
writer and executive producer, with
Mathias of Netfl ix’s absurdist sketch
series “I Think You Should Leave” as
director. “It wasn’t a matter of, is this the right
time for this?” Stassen said. “It was
just like, how do we honor Mel? How
do we do a show that’s diff erent than
current sketch shows, that is in Mel’s
tone?” “History of the World Part I” spoofs
the epic fi lms of the mid-20th century,
with sketches including a musical
number take on the Spanish Inquisition;
an alternate history of Moses receiv-
ing the Ten Commandments; and
cavemen discovering music. The new
series puts a 21st-century spin on that
idea, reminiscent of Comedy Central’s
“Drunk History” (and featuring many of
the same cast members, including Joe
Lo Truglio, who plays one of the bishops
at Nicaea) with hints of the Netfl ix series
“I Think You Should Leave.”
Audiences will see comedic sendups
of historical events including Black
congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s
historic run for president; Marco Polo’s
arrival at the palace of Kublai Khan in
China; the Russian Revolution; and the
signing of the Oslo Accords, the 1993
Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

Just a few of the Jewish jokes: Jason
Alexander appears as a notary-slash-
mohel who brings the wrong bag, full
of his ritual tools, to the offi cial signing
of the Confederate Army’s surrender
at the end of the Civil War.

“Useless. Unless somebody wants
to take a little off the top,” Alexander’s
character says, gesturing to his tools.

The story of Jesus Christ gets
parodied via multiple genres and
is arguably one of the most Jewish
recurring sketches of the whole series.

In a “Curb Your Enthusiasm”-inspired
sketch in the second episode, Judas
(Kroll) and Luke (JB Smoove) realize
that Jesus (Jay Ellis) has abandoned
keeping kosher when they catch
him publicly eating a bacon cheese-
burger. A subsequent sketch spoofs
the documentary “The Beatles: Get
Back,” in which fans of the apostles
eat matzah on sticks outside of the
Apples & Honey recording studio.

And a recurring sketch focusing on
the Russian Revolution and parodying
parts of “Fiddler on the Roof” features
a literal mud pie salesman named
“Schmuck Mudman” who lives in an
Eastern European shtetl. Mudman
sells his wares via Putz Mates, a
Yiddish play on the food delivery
app PostMates. After moving from the
village to Moscow, Mudman, played
by Kroll, is surprised to fi nd a meeting
of the Mensheviks, the opposition to
the Communist Bolshevik party, in his
apartment. “Your misery looks familiar to me.

Are we from the same shtetl?” Mudman
asks one of the Mensheviks in a
depressing round of early 20th-cen-
tury Jewish geography.

“No. I get this all the time,” the man
responds. “But I’m a miserable city
Jew.” 1
Tommaso Boddi via Getty Images via JTA.org
In Mel Brooks’ ‘History of the World
Part II,’ Jewish Jokes Reign
From BCE to the Beatles