'11 ••\.‘ 1:2 \ • ‘‘‘‘` \\. • • • • ` 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