"Old Jews Telling Jokes" is worth seeing

“Old Jews Telling Jokes” is a show that would have easily fit in the Catskills years ago. If that region, along with the Lower East Side’s Ratner’s, conjures up a nostalgic image, then this is definitely a show for you.

By virtue of its title, “Old Jews Telling Jokes” has limited its appeal. Undoubtedly, the majority of the audience at the Wednesday matinee I attended was Jewish and senior. And that’s a shame because many of the jokes are really quite funny. Ironically, this show was inspired by blip.tv and its show “Old Jews Telling Jokes” where older people were videoed telling familiar old jokes. The show was viewed by thousands on podcasts.

Once production began, it was almost non-stop laughs with the jokes and original songs coming fast and furious during the 90-minute production; many of the jokes were one-liners. Although many were familiar, the show still was funny.

The talented cast is composed of three older performers, David Wolpe, the over-the-top Marilyn Sokol and Todd Susman, who are joined by two young performers, Bill Army and Audrey Lynn Weston.

The jokes are grouped in categories — sex before marriage, sex after marriage, doctors, etc. Of course there are the typical Jewish mother jokes and Jewish women and marriage jokes. (“If a Jewish husband states his opinion in the woods, is he still wrong?”) Often, the actors use Ashkenazi-type accents to play their characters and on occasion, the jokes are sprinkled with Yiddish words like ‘goy’ and ‘schlong.’

The play begins with a song advising that, “You’ll feel better qvelling than if you qvetch.” And there are times that “it’s okay for a Jew to be a ham.”

Would a younger audience find the show entertaining? I think so. (“A young woman is sitting in her restaurant with her much older husband. Ma’am, what would you like to eat? I’ll have the chicken. And what about your vegetable? He’ll have the chicken, too.”)

Gently interspersed through the hilarious are some tender stories as characters tell about how humor got them through hard times like a father’s cancer or how humor is a connection with the past. There’s a gentle theme reminding us that humor connects people and that even in tragedy “there are no inappropriate moments for humor.”

So, Nu, what could be so bad?

For more information, visit http://oldjewstellingjokesonstage.com