LAWRENCE
J. EPSTEIN Looks Behind the
Haunted Smile…
At Jewish Influences
on American Comedy
by Joanne Johnson / Humor Editor T a l k i n g C o m e d y . c o m
F
or generations, American audiences have seeked to
escape the struggles and stresses of day to day life by turning to laughter
as a main source of relief…and, in the past, more often then not,
the professional laugh makers American audiences have turned to have been
of Jewish decent. But before beginning his research Lawrence Epstein,
author of The Haunted Smile, says he hadn't actually given much
thought to why Jewish comedians were so successful in America.
"I like these people…" admits Epstein of the affection
he feels for the Jewish performers who have devoted their lives to making
Americans laugh. “I didn't set out to write a critical book…
It was an attempt to… present anecdotes about them… and to share
some of their routines… and in as kind a way as I could, to show
all the contributions that they've made and how they've made us laugh."
Jewish immigrants began entering
America's doors in noticeable numbers right when Vaudeville, radio and
motion pictures were all in their infancy. The sons, and to a lesser degree
the daughters, of these Jewish immigrants began entering into the world
of comedy. The Marx Brothers, Jack Benny, George Burns, Milton Berle,
Ed Wynn, Burt Lahr, The Three Stooges, Sophie Tucker and Fanny Brice …
all these comics began their careers in Vaudeville and all were Jewish.
What was it about these young Jewish immigrants that made them more likely
to succeed in the world of Vaudeville comedy than other immigrants of
that day? Part of it may be explained in Eptein's choice of a title for
his book. In his title, The Haunted Smile, Epstein is referring
to the fact that "whenever Jews are smiling that smile is always
accompanied… it's always haunted, in a way… by a collective
memory and by personal pain.
Epstein advises when listening to Jewish comedians "while you're
laughing, while you're thinking the jokes are funny, while the lines are
good… look behind the laughter, too. Because behind it is a whole
load of pain …pain and anger and fear. All those emotions congregate
to fill the memory of Jews."
How does this explain the extraordinary success Jews have had in American
comedy in the past? A memory of pain and anger and fear in and of itself
did not make Jewish comedians successful. What made them so popular with
American audiences was the ability of the great Jewish comic minds to
"draw on Jewish subjects to meet American's emotional needs."
What surprised Epstein most, when doing research for his book, was how
often that happened throughout the 20th century. "How frequently
it was precisely the Jewish experience that met the needs of an American
audience," says Epstein. "I don't know if that's an accident
of history, or what it is… but I think it helped me to explain why
the Jewish comedians were so unbelievably successful in this country."
"Imagine you're a little
kid in high school and a big bully's coming after you, But, if you tell
the bully some jokes the bully won't hurt you. That's kind of the situation
the Jews were in, in Eastern Europe," explains Epstein."They
were totally powerless… economically, militarily… totally powerless.
And they were surrounded by people who were much more powerful then they
were. They found that if they could somehow entertain… that could
relieve some of the attach on them."
"If you want to joke with the bully, to get that bully not to attack
you, you really have to have a very good sense of what that bully is like,"
says Epstein, painting a picture of how he feels the Jewish experience
may have helped Jewish comedians read their audiences. "You really
almost have to be a tremendous psychologist. And I think what happened
to Jews is they kind of developed this ability to understand the majority
culture around them almost better than the majority culture understood
themselves. It was for self-protection."
If someone has the capacity to anticipate what reaction they are going
to get they'll be able to relieve the anxieties of the majority before
the anxieties overcome the majority. "So for comedians that's a tremendous
psychological advantage," suggests Epstein, "if you can grasp
the anxieties before those in the culture can grasp them."
"Comedians who can't read an audience are doomed," warns Epsteim.
"If you remember Burns and Allen started out with Allen being the
straight one and Burns telling the Jokes." George Burns immediately
sensed that audiences were laughing at Gracie even when she was telling
straight lines more then they were at Burns jokes so he reworked the act.
But it wasn't just a kean
skill at reading an audience that made Jewish comedians successful. "People
like George Burns and Fanny Brice entered comedy and they carried with
them their Jewish tradition. They saw that they had to adapt it to an
American audience. So they figured out ways," says Epstein as he
returns back to George Burns to illustrate his point. In vaudeville the
women were known as ‘Dumb Dora’ acts but George Burns thought
of women in a much higher plane… like the old Yiddish Mama. So he
made Gracie much more to be looked up to. She was still funny, like the
‘Dumb Doras’, but you didn't laugh at her, so much as, you laughed
with her. And all the while you were laughing… you still admired
her.” Epstein points out that in those occurances you get to see
a kind of mixing of the DNA of Jewish comedy and American comedy.
"I think Jewish comedians, in order to succeed in America, had to
read the anxieties of the majority," explains Epstein, and then draw
on their Jewish tradition to deal with them. A good example is Jack Benny's
‘lovable cheapskate’ image during Depression-era America. "During
the Great Depression," says Epstein, "people were scared…
worried that they didn't have money. People were out of work and parents
couldn't afford toys for their kids and they felt guilty. Along comes
Jack Benny and he draws on his tradition. He comes from a people who stared
poverty in the face for two thousand years and emerged with their pride
and families in tact." In his humor Benny has lessons for his audience
… he draws on the Eastern European Jewish condition and applies it
to his American audiences' current circumstances. When his audiences laugh
at the lovable cheapskate character Benny has created they are making
it OK for themselves to have to pinch pennies to get by. Behind their
laughter they are not only relieving the pain of being poor but the guilt
of having to deny their families the things they would like to give them…
but can't afford to.
Author Lawrence Epstein
explains the classic definition of comedy is… tragedy plus time.
If the key reason for Jewish comedians' success in America has been their
ability to draw on Jewish subjects to meet Americans emotional needs then
it will be interesting to see whether today's comics will be as successful
as the Jewish comics of the past have been when they begin to tackle the
job of finding humor to relieve America's stress from the tragedy of 911
and it's aftermath.
"Well we had the tragedy …in a little more time we'll see…"
says Epstein. "I do think it will probably take more time then six
months… but eventually I do think that will emerge… comedians
drawing on Jewish experiences to meet those needs. When Americans are
ready to hear jokes about it. And that will take time."
I wondered whether, since today's Jewish comics are more distanced from
the hardships of their forefathers and are more assimilated into modern
American society, there will be as much of a Jewish traditional influence
on the comedy of Jewish comedians in the future.
"I know what you're saying … that makes a lot of sense sociologically.
As each generation assimilates more and more into the culture it has less
and less connection. And that would make common sense but I don't think
it's totally true. So even though I don't think the Jewish comedian in
20 years is going to necessarily connect to East European Jewish life…
I do think the successful comedian 20 years from now will connect to his
or her own comedic ancestor."
"I mean… when Rita Rudner, who is reflexively
extremely funny, was preparing to enter comedy she didn't say, ‘Gee,
I'm funny I'm just going to rely on myself.’ She went to the museums.
She got out all the old stuff. She listened to it. She watched the old movies.
And, I think anybody training to be a good comedian is simply going to watch!…
Do you think that person's not going to watch the Marx Brothers films…
not going to listen to Jack Benny radio programs …of course they are.”
Jewish comics today may not know the Jewish traditions that shaped the humor
of the comics of the past. They may not know why something is funny from
a traditional perspective. But they know when something works and so they
adopt it without knowing the origins of why it's funny. “To them it's
just funny because it's funny stuff. That's the first part to emphasize
in all this…" explains Epstein. "The reason these comedians
succeeded number one, two, and three was because they were funny people.
You can have all the heritage in the world … if you're not funny, you're
not going to make it."
"So, in the end, the Jewish tradition is going to stay alive…"
concludes Epstein, "ironically… I think, through its comedy."
You can read more about comics like
Jack Benny, George Burns, Milton Berle, Fanny Brice, Groucho Marx, Mel Brooks,
Mort Sahl, Jackie Mason, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne, Andy Kaufman,
Rita Rudner, Adam Sandler and many, many more.
‘The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America’
is available from your local bookstore or from the publisher, PublicAffairs
(www.publicaffairsbooks.com).
For
more information visit www.hauntedsmile.com
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