Comedy

Judd Apatow grew up idolizing Mel Brooks. Now he’s telling Brooks’ story in an HBO documentary

Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!, a two-part HBO documentary debuting this week, is a career-spanning portrait of one of American comedy’s most influential figures.

|BySTEPHEN SILVER/JTA
MEL BROOKS and Judd Apatow attend the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Documentary Films' Mel Brooks: 99 Year Old Man! at Ted Mann Theater at the Academy Museum on January 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
OMER ETZION, acting as US President Donald Trump on Eretz Nehederet.

‘Maybe we’ll bomb them, maybe I’ll just dance’: Eretz Nehederet laughs at Trump’s Iran attack plan

As it seems possible that a US attack on Iran may lead to another Iranian attack on Israel, there’s very little any of us can do except stock up on groceries and try to laugh about it all.

|ByHANNAH BROWN
Photo from Murder at the Dead Sea

What to watch in Israel: War is over with ‘Murder at the Dead Sea’

TV TIME: Israeli satire, British scandal, and classic dramas converge as television cautiously moves back toward escapism.

|ByHANNAH BROWN
Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar in a promotional photo for "Your Show of Shows," in 1952. The television show ran on NBC from 1950 to 1954.

Before ‘SNL,’ there was Sid Caesar and a roomful of Jewish writers

Legendary Jewish comedian Sid Caesar dominated the television screen beginning in the 1950's and left a lasting mark on American showbusiness as we know it.

|ByANDREW SILOW-CARROLL/JTA

Comic Gianmarco Soresi mines his mixed Jewish background for laughs

The 37-year-old Gianmarco Soresi has seen his online popularity explode in recent years, as he joins a generation of comics finding audiences outside the comedy clubs.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2025BySTEVE NORTH/JTA
Gianmarco Soresi

Martin Winiar: Economist by day, stand-up comic by night

"If you come with the realistic expectation that people are people and countries are countries, you will notice that most Israelis are good, and it’s a wonderful country."

SEPTEMBER 6, 2025ByABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN
MARTIN WINIAR, 32 From Buenos Aires to Tel Aviv, 2015

Wes Anderson’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ disappoints - film review

Wes Anderson’s latest movie lacks a compelling, comprehensible storyline, or characters viewers would care about.

AUGUST 21, 2025ByHANNAH BROWN
A SCENE from Wes Anderson’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme.’

How an Israeli kidnapping comedy sold a million tickets

Saving Shuli-San was set for a June release, but the war with Iran made United King Films, the movie’s distributor, postpone the much-awaited film.

AUGUST 16, 2025ByHANNAH BROWN
FROM LEFT, Ben Bachar, the film’s director, with actors Shalom Michaelshwilli and Avi Israelof, producer Moshe Edery, and actors Tzion Baruch and Emma Medding, as they toast ‘Saving Shuli-San’s millionth ticket sale.

Is this for real? Food for thought at 4th Israeli Comedy Fesitval

Ephraim Kishon Israeli Comedy Festival takes place at its perennial base of Beit Mazia, and various other locations dotted around town, for the fourth time, August 17-21.

AUGUST 9, 2025ByBARRY DAVIS
‘DONALD AND ABDUL’ and Attention, Sergeant Major! will be two of the performances at the Israeli Comedy Festival.

Israeli Comedy Festival returns for its fourth year to bring laughs for everyone

From August 17 to 21, the Israeli Comedy Festival is back for its fourth year, featuring a mix of stand-up, improv, and five brand-new theater shows.

AUGUST 3, 2025BySARA SIOUNI
‘DONALD AND ABDUL’ and Attention, Sergeant Major! will be two of the performances at the Israeli Comedy Festival.

'A huge betrayal': Jewish comedian speaks to 'Post' after Edinburgh venue cancels show - interview

"The staff said, 'If you are attracting issues that need extra security, it puts everyone in the venue in danger,'" Creeger recounted.

JULY 28, 2025ByMATHILDA HELLER
Anti-Trump demonstrators gather during a rally organised by the campaign group Stop Trump Coalition, protesting the visit of US President Donald Trump, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, July 26, 2025.

Arrays of hope: Israel Festival's offerings in a year full of woes

This year’s festival opens in Jerusalem on July 16 under the aegis of returning artistic directors Michal Vaknin and Itay Mautner, and in the Galilee and Western Negev, through to August 1.

JULY 20, 2025ByBARRY DAVIS
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED jazz trumpeter Avishai Cohen teams up with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra to assuage some post-Oct. 7 angst.

‘Saving Shuli-San,’ sequel to comedy blockbuster ‘Saving Shuli,’ opens Thursday

The sequel to mega-hit comedy 'Saving Shuli' promises more fun.

JULY 17, 2025ByHANNAH BROWN
UNCOVERED: ‘SAVING Shuli-San,’ the sequel to the Israeli mega-hit, ‘Saving Shuli,’ opens today.

Humor, Israel’s secret weapon for maintaining morale - opinion

Humor, in the most Jewish way, allows us to go beyond what is visible. Humor, in Israel, is not just a survival tactic; it is a weapon of the spirit.

JUNE 21, 2025ByDEBORAH DANINO HARKHAM
COMIC INFLUENCER Stav Naftali appears dressed as an IDF spokeswoman, above a caption saying she is spokesperson of ‘Worn Out Parents,’ and speaks of ‘survival with kids at home.’