Everyone's A Comedian
Or Tries To Be

news. The good news is, there are only
strode purposefully up the aisle, stop-
t felt like a kick in the stomach.
10 com-mahnd-ments. The band
ping
next
to
the
woman.
This
will
be
I was on stage in London,
news is, adultery is forbidden.'"
I anticipated
interesting,
I
thought.
my first time before an English
I chatted with the vicar afterwards.
he'd offer a stern lecture, in clipped
audience, performing stand-up
He's a lovely man, deeply committed
accent, filled with righteous
at a Jewish Comedy Night.
to Jewish-Christian understanding and
indignation. Instead, the
The very talented master of
to the homeless shelter run by his con-
man paused for a moment,
ceremonies had the audience
gregation.
then addressed the woman,
rocking. He introduced me,
But his sermon reminded me:
"Why, your lipstick is a par-
then we passed one another
Seems everyone's a comedian.
ticularly lovely shade this
as he left the stage and I
Hooray for the vicar! He stormed. ❑
evening, matching your coat
entered. We shook hands
in a most fetching way. You
briefly, at which point he
do look quite enchanting!"
whispered, with a smile, "I
He bid her a Good
do hope you storm.
Shabbos, then returned to
Huh?
RABBI
his seat. And with that scene
Turns out, the audience
BOB ALPER
before me, I enjoyed a deli-
was very receptive, and I had
Special to The
ciously sweet service.
by Martha Jo Fleischmann
a terrific night. My opening
Jewish News
On Sunday morning, I
A husband hyena named
joke seemed to grab them:
went to the famous St.
Scheckter
"I've oft,a been told that I
Martin in the Fields Anglican Church.
Snapped, "How was I s'posed to
look like your former prime minister,
The music was splendid, and the wor-
respect her?
John Major. I guess that's right,
ship richly formal. At the appropriate
Each word that I said,
because the minute I set foot in
moment, the vicar climbed the stairs
She laughed off her head.
Heathrow Airport, people started run-
into the high pulpit to deliver his ser-
By her, allesdink's ah glechterr*
ning up and slapping me."
mon, "Moses descended the moun-
Later, I learned that in England, "to
tain, carrying the Lawh of the Lawd,"
* everything's a joke
storm" is a good thing, a genteel
he declared. "And when he reached
expression similar to our comedians'
the Children of Is-ra-ail, he said unto
less attractive hope that we "kill" the
enf e tbAS M I S MEORM A g a niag m
them, 'I have good news and band
audience.
I really love England and
the contrasts it offers. Prior to
Shabbat services in a presti-
gious, ornate London syna-
gogue, I noticed an elderly
"No one has the right to write any Jew out of Jewish peoplehood. This is a time when we
woman sitting directly in front
should be speaking and acting to preserve what little Jewish unity we have left, despite
of me accompanied by a small
ideological disagreements."
dog on a plaid leash. People
—Bar-Ilan University President Professor Moshe Kaveh,.in response to Israeli Sephardic
glanced at her, some quizzical-
Chief Rabbi Bakshi-Doron's harsh remarks regarding the Reform Movement.
ly, though nobody reacted
overtly to her canine compan-
ion.
"I was always late to campaign appearances and remember saying, 'I'm hoping you folks
But just before the service
are on Jewish time here tonight.' I then told of the time when, while in Israel, I called
began, a dapper gentleman
the time service. The voice on the other end said 'it's 8 o'clock — 8:30 at the latest.'"
—US. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), recounting when he first ran for the Senate in
Rabbi Bob Alper is a stand-
1978 and injected humor while on the stump as an ice breaker and as a sign of his pride
up comic and author based in
in being Jewish.
Vermont.

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Detroit Jewish News

3/12
1999

5