UNCONVENTIONAL SHTICK ON TOUR
What does Robert Tannenbaum like about “What I Like About Jew,” the comedy-songwriter series he founded with musician Sean Altman? “It presents a set of fun and ironic songs about modern Jewish culture and life,” Tannenbaum, a journalist-songwriter, told the Forward. The duo have been bringing their tongue-in-cheek series to audiences since Christmas Eve, 1999.
This year the duo is taking “What I Like About Jew” on the road, with stops in Philadelphia, New York and Cambridge, Mass. Cynthia Kaplan, an actress and author (“Why I’m Like This”) joins the creators in all three cities; Rene Risque of the pop group Rene Risque and the Art Lovers performs in New York; Rick Berlin of the Shelley Winters Project plays in Cambridge, and anti-folk singer Adam Brodsky is part of the Philadelphia lineup.
Among Tannenbaum and Altman’s many comic creations is the song “Hot Jewish Chicks.” It begins, “There’s Roxy looking Foxy in a mink/ There’s Becky Tishman giving me a wink/ Esther’s nose and teeth are false/ But dig those silicone matzoh balls/ Check out all the hot Jewish chicks.”
Doc Watson’s Pub, 216 South 11th St., Philadelphia; Sept. 25, doors open 8 p.m., show 8:30 p.m.; $10. (215-922-3247 or www.plainparade.org) Fez, 380 Lafayette St., New York; Sept. 26, doors open 9:30 p.m., show 10 p.m.; $12. (212-533-2680 or www.feznyc.com ) Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge, Mass.; Sept. 27, doors open 6:30 p.m., show 8 p.m.; $14. (617-492-7679 or www.clubpassim.org)
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
