There's so much to this ... Vaudeville was key to the development of Jewish showbiz in America. Together with black, Irish, Italian, and Asian performers, Jewish entertainers like the Marx Brothers got their start on the Vaudeville stages, which were arguably the first fully integrated performance venues in America.
After Vaudeville died out in the 1930s (mainly because of the growth of cinema), upwardly-mobile Jews who were barred from mainstream resorts ("No Hebrews, No Negroes, No Dogs," as the signs used to say), built the Catskill resorts, where Jewish culture, food and entertainment was the norm. Black entertainers were often hired to perform shows at the Catskills, and they would frequently incorporate Yiddish expressions and songs into their acts.
At that time, there was a lot of solidarity between minority groups, since they were all equally restricted from participating in mainstream WASP culture. Decades before the Civil Rights movement, Benny Goodman, a Jewish jazz musician, was the first bandleader to break the color barrier by hiring a black musician (phenomenal pianist Teddy Wilson), and later other black musicians such as Lionel Hampton. Legend has it that Goodman was so opposed to racism, that when an associate used the n-word to refer to Wilson, Goodman told him "if you ever say that word again to me, I'll knock you out."
Legal integration removed many of these barriers, which is good of course, but it also led to widespread destruction of minority cultures in America. In my opinion, Seinfeld is probably the last distinctly "Jewish" comedian, in the sense that his mannerisms and worldview reflect the legacy of urban Jewish culture.
There's so much to this ... Vaudeville was key to the development of Jewish showbiz in America. Together with black, Irish, Italian, and Asian performers, Jewish entertainers like the Marx Brothers got their start on the Vaudeville stages, which were arguably the first fully integrated performance venues in America.
After Vaudeville died out in the 1930s (mainly because of the growth of cinema), upwardly-mobile Jews who were barred from mainstream resorts ("No Hebrews, No Negroes, No Dogs," as the signs used to say), built the Catskill resorts, where Jewish culture, food and entertainment was the norm. Black entertainers were often hired to perform shows at the Catskills, and they would frequently incorporate Yiddish expressions and songs into their acts.
At that time, there was a lot of solidarity between minority groups, since they were all equally restricted from participating in mainstream WASP culture. Decades before the Civil Rights movement, Benny Goodman, a Jewish jazz musician, was the first bandleader to break the color barrier by hiring a black musician (phenomenal pianist Teddy Wilson), and later other black musicians such as Lionel Hampton. Legend has it that Goodman was so opposed to racism, that when an associate used the n-word to refer to Wilson, Goodman told him "if you ever say that word again to me, I'll knock you out."
Legal integration removed many of these barriers, which is good of course, but it also led to widespread destruction of minority cultures in America. In my opinion, Seinfeld is probably the last distinctly "Jewish" comedian, in the sense that his mannerisms and worldview reflect the legacy of urban Jewish culture.