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haveri t
Gloria Allred changed all that. "In
1988 she filed a sex discrimination
suit against the Friars Club and won,
becoming the first woman member,"
Ward says.
And while women may have been
kept out, no such restrictions were
promulgated against Jews. In fact,
since its inception, the Friars Club has
been predominantly Jewish.
"While [the Friars Club] is not
Jewish by any particular design, 20th-
century comedy in America has been
dominated by a Jewish influence,"
Ward notes. "Jewish humor has always
been very popular, thanks to guys like
Jack Benny, George Burns, George
Jessel and Milton Berle, who were the
kings of comedy.
"I think a lot has to do with the fact
that comedians draw from their back-
grounds, and many of them had a hard
upbringing and learned to laugh at life.
"I know Milton Berle and Red
Buttons grew up on the Lower East
Side and Harlem, and there are stories
about George Burns and Red Buttons
singing on the street corner for pen-
nies. A lot of their humor comes from
that.
"A couple of years ago they roasted
Mickey Rooney, who is not Jewish, and
Milton Berle quipped, 'You are proba-
bly wondering why we are roasting
Mickey Rooney. Well, we finally ran
out of Jews!"'
Comic Freddie Roman, the New
York Friars dean, or president, says
Jewish humor is at the heart of the
famous Friars roasts. "There's some-
thing innate in the Jewish personality
Jack C .°t
arter: "IlGing
eorag:je estDsesla: :—
man. lie just got his first anti-Semitic
it's in Yiddish!"
Buddy Hackett: "
testimonial roast
don't deserve that either!
Jack E. Leonard: When mobste
informed that the Firs Club was *
What a shame. T . at l inc
you buy for a d
Phil Silvers: Johnny
• .
the dais, and right of
4
tO take him out and circumci.i.k t-,
Jan Murray: Roasffn Jerrt.
ar?
that allows us to laugh at our-
Above: Dean Ward,
selves, no matter how miserable
director of "Let Me
In, I Hear Laughter:
we are. We've carried that
A Salute to the
through the pogroms and
Friars," learns and
through the Holocaust," he says.
laughs with Milton Berle.
In recent years there has been
a concerted effort to bring in
Right: Comedian Jefo9ey Ross
younger comedians, like Billy
represents the younger generation:
Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Gary
7 Love the vibe o [the Friars Club),
Shandling, Jon Stewart and
yo
the
une gn e rp the s‘,0 r
Janeane Garofalo. "It still may be
perceived as an old-timers club,
like I was really
but it is changing," Ward says.
New members and young
comedians want to learn from
poker and I fell in love with
the older entertainers. The old-timers
the place. I love the tradition.
still around are the last of a dying
I love the pictures on the wall.
breed. They were so well rounded and
I love the restaurant. I love
well versed. Bob Hope could break
the vibe of it, the energy, the
into a tap dance and sing. There was
older comics, the younger
so much camaraderie back then,
comics. It made me feel like I
unlike today. Still, much of the
was really in show business.
humor remains the same."
"I had lunch there yester-
The documentary belies the con-
day. I eat matzah brei every
ventional wisdom that the Friars Club
time I'm there, with salami
is an old man's club by featuring inter- and onions. If I did that
views with a number of younger
anywhere else, they'd look at
comics, including Jeffrey Ross.
me as if I was nuts. There I
Ross, 33, grew up in New Jersey.
am telling a waiter who
His father was a kosher caterer.
speaks Spanish, who tells a
Currently, in addition to stand-up, he
French cook, and nobody
has the recurring role of Carl on The
bats an eyelash."
Cosby Show.
But, while the accent may be on
In a phone interview, he explains,
youth these days, Ward hopes that by
"I walked [into the Friars Club] a
the end of the documentary, people
week ago, and there was Adam
will have a sense of the extreme talent
Sandler and Jon Lovitz. At another
and influence of the great comedic
table, Alan King was there. That does-
legends. "I hope viewers will feel like a
n't feel old to me. That feels broad.
fly on the wall, seeing those well-
"I joined the Friars about five years
known personalities in different ways
ago. Somebody invited me to play
— their friendships, the fun they had
;IV
behind the scenes and the love that
they had for each other. I think the
Friars Club represents all that." ❑
Let Me In, I Hear Laughter:
A Salute to the Friars premieres
7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26,
on Cinemax.
10/22
1999