Amelia (Hannah Einbinder) and Bessie (Wanda Sykes) enjoy a drink in The History of the World, Part II. Photo by Patrick Wymore/Hulu

By PJ Grisar March 6, 2023

Maybe it was a fluke of the programming calendar, but Mel Brooks’ long-awaited History of the World, Part II is debuting on Hulu in time for Purim, a holiday where Jews recount our own history with a satiric twist. It’s also a day where Jews get really, really drunk.

In honor of the occasion, which feels too perfect to be purely accidental, I thought a drinking game was in order. What Nick Kroll, Ike Barinholtz and Wanda Sykes prepared for us is many magnitudes better than Drunk History, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it buzzed. Having watched the show in its entirety, I have curated a drinking game for the first four chapters (parts one and two will air on Erev Purim, March 6, with the second two arriving on March 7.)

If you plan to treat yourself after hearing from the scroll, here’s a nifty way to enhance your viewing of an all-star spiel. Please drink responsibly in the manner described:

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Drink and say “mmm, so good”

Every time Ike Barinholtz appears as Ulysses S. Grant, who expelled the Jews from Southern states, and who, in the show, is charged with staying sober until the Civil War is over

Take a shot of Manischewitz

Every time Grant mentions a Jewish holiday

Drink twice

Every time someone bursts out into song

Drink and say “l’chaim!”

Every time Nick Kroll’s Schmuck Mudman pays homage to Fiddler on the Roof

Drink and say “That’s not kosha” like Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Critic

Whenever someone eats or references something treyf (like a bacon cheeseburger or a war oyster)

Drink and say “I liked it better the first time” 

Every time History of the World, Part I, is mentioned

Drink and point like Leo 

Every time an actor’s other projects are referenced — be they Curb Your Enthusiasm or The League

Drink and say “whoops!” in an Austrian accent

Every time Taika Waititi’s Sigmund Freud has a Freudian slip

Take a shot (of vodka)

When Jewish actor Jack Black first appears as a tormentor of Jews who died on Purim

Drink and chase with hamantashen

Whenever a traditional Jewish food is mentioned

And, finally, fitting for the holiday…

Drink and boo and sound your grogger

Whenever a known antisemite from history is ridiculed (it’ll happen a lot)

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