When Jews Were Funny

When Jews Were Funny
Directed byAlan Zweig
Written byAlan Zweig
Produced by
  • Jeff Glickman
  • Jesse D. Ikeman
Production
company
Sudden Storm Entertainment
Distributed byKinosmith
Release dates
    • 10 September 2013 (2013-09-10) (TIFF)
    • 15 November 2013 (2013-11-15) (Canada)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryCanada
Languages
  • English
  • Yiddish

When Jews Were Funny is a 2013 Canadian documentary comedy film, directed by Alan Zweig. It was produced by Jesse Ikeman and Jeff Glickman for Sudden Storm Entertainment.[1][2] The film features two dozen interviews with a variety of Jewish comedy professionals in North America and explores the role of Jewish humour in the context of North American comedy. The filmmaker asks whether earlier generations of Jews were funnier than the present generation and, if so, why. The film becomes more personal as its focus shifts to the filmmaker's desire to reconnect with a culture that has changed.[1]

The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on 10 September. It won TIFF's award for the best Canadian feature film and was named on TIFF's year-end Canada's Top Ten list.[3][4] The film had a limited theatrical release on 15 November 2013.[5]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference RealScreen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference LondonerReview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference ScreenIntTIFF2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference CBCTiff2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference PlaybackBoxoffice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).