Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

The 12-Year-Old Orthodox Comedian Who Shocked Howard Stern

It’s not every day that you see Howard Stern’s face register shock.

But that’s exactly what happened when Josh Orlian, a 12-year-old Modern Orthodox Jew from White Plains, New York, took the stage for his stand-up comedy debut on last night’s episode of “America’s Got Talent.”

The segment started pretty predictably: Jewish mom and dad kvelling over cute, nervous, shvitzing son. (“You’ll make them laugh, don’t worry. And If not, you know mommy and daddy will laugh.”)

But the whole thing veered into the wholly unexpected when the sweet-looking, red-haired, pre-bar mitzvah boy launched into a dirty — dare I say filthy — act. So. Many. Penis. Jokes.

After unsticking their jaws from the floor, the judges, including Heidi Klum and Howard Stern, voted young Josh to the next level. That boy’s got kishkes!

Watch the raunchy surprise act below:

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 during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.