NOVEMBER 2 • 2023 | 51

in the office, and a friend 
suggested he try his talents 
in standup comedy and orga-
nized that start.
“The owner of the club 
said that I was very good and 
should stick with it,
” Modi 
said. “While I was working at 
the bank during the day and 
appearing at comedy clubs in 
the evenings, I decided to do 
comedy full time.
”
The Comedy Cellar in New 
York is considered Modi’s 
home club, and he performs 
there when he’s away from 
touring clubs around the 
world, presenting his act on 
television or interviewing 
other comedians in his “
And 
Here’s Modi” podcast. 
Wherever Modi is telling 
jokes, his approach involves 
noticing how the audience 
reacts at first and following 
through with the direction of 
responses. 
“We all know that Jewish 
people have gone through the 
hardest times in the world 
and found laughter,
” he said. 
“There’s a flavor of a Jewish 
comedian on the stage, and the 
audience finds a way to laugh. 
I know there is a language 
barrier for some people listen-
ing to me in other countries, 
but they are able to follow the 
cadence of the comedy.
”
Two Jewish comedians who 
had a special cadence and 
inspired Modi’s act were Alan 
King and Jackie Mason. Modi 
liked the way Alan King came 
from a place of doing well and 
was proud of it. He liked the 

way Jackie Mason connected 
with an audience by being true 
to what they represented. 
Besides doing standup, 
Modi has appeared on TV 
(Madam Secretary and CSI: NY), 
in films (One, Two, Many and 
Horrorween) and with video 
games.
“I write my whole act 
myself,
” said the comedian, 
a performer sponsored at 
Shaarey Zedek by the Irving 
and Beverly Laker Concert 
Fund. “I’m not one who sits at 
the computer and writes. I’ll 
sit with friends and hear a bit 
of laughter from them. I pick 
up on a premise and try it on 
stage with added sidelines. 
It’s observational comedy, 
and being a comedian is a 
preparation for acting because 
you learn how timing is very 
important.
”
Living in New York, Modi 
is affiliated with the Sixth 
Street Community Synagogue. 
Whether in town or on the 
road, he likes to go to a gym 
and exercise. 
When Modi thinks of what 
audience members have said 
to him after a show, he recalls 
a well-dressed woman using a 
walker and attending an event 
sponsored by several Ohio 
synagogues.
“She said to me, ‘I don’t 
know if you were funny or not 
because I didn’t bring my hear-
ing aids. They seem to have 
enjoyed you; but I will tell you, 
you’re pleasant to look at.
’”
“I will take that any day,
” 
Modi said. 

Details
Modi will appear at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. Free 
admission for the general audience; $150 per family 
for patrons invited to an afterglow with the comedian. 
To register attendance, go to shaareyzedek.shulcloud.
com/event/modi/html or tinyurl.com/modinov.

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ATTENTION 
Business 
Owners

Cancer Thrivers Network for Jewish 
Women Presents the Sandy Schwartz 
(Z’L) Education Series

WHERE: Temple Shir Shalom 3999 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township 48323
WHEN: Wednesday, November 14, 2023, at 10:30am

A CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED, AND SECURITY WILL BE PROVIDED.
Please RSVP to cancerthriversnetworkmi.org/events by 10/10/23

Genetic Testing: Changes and Enhancements 

Our featured speaker is Dr. Dana Zakalik. 

Dana Zakalik, M.D. is the Corporate Director of the Nancy and James Grosfeld Cancer Genetics 
Center and a Professor in the Oakland University William Beaumont Medical School. She is Board 
Certified in Internal Medicine and Oncology.
Dr. Zakalik completed her undergraduate and Medical School studies at the University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she went on to do her residency and Chief Residency in Internal 
Medicine. She completed a Fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at the University of 
California, San Francisco, where she became faculty and conducted NIH funded research in 
the area of gene regulation in cancer development. Dr.Zakalik was instrumental in developing a 
Cancer Genetics Program at Beaumont at a time when the understanding of Cancer Genetics 
was coming into the forefront of Oncology.

