In the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas and rising antisemitism in America and around the world, there has understandably not been much of an appetite for humor as usual.
Comedian Ami Kozak put the jokes aside for a moment and showed his political knowledge, defending Israel and dispelling misconceptions on the podcasts of popular conservatives Candace Owens, Adam Carolla and Dave Rubin.
The man of many talents is a singer, guitarist and songwriter; he co-founded the music group Distant Cousins with Dov Rosenblatt (who fronted Blue Fringe), and Duvid Swirsky, who co-founded Moshav. Shortly after October 7, they recorded a heartfelt song with their patent impressive vocal harmonies called “Dimati” or “My Tear,” which takes words from Psalm 38 of Tehillim. The group will perform at City Winery on December 13.
Last week Kozak headlined “Stand Up NY” in Manhattan for the first time, and it was to a sold-out show where one could feel a palpable tension.
Rather than tiptoe around the tension, Kozak addressed it head-on.
“Being a Jew right now is scary, it’s terrifying,” Kozak said. “I actually assembled this not for a comedy show, but just to decide where we’re all gonna move.”
The LA native with four children who moved to New Jersey, blew up on TikTok and has more than 237,000 followers and eight million likes. A master impersonator, he got the crowd laughing with two impersonations of former President Donald Trump (with and without a teleprompter), Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mike Tyson, conservative Jordan Peterson, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, an Israeli tour guide who claims that David Ben Gurion sat on a particular bench and ate shawarma, as well as accents of people from different countries.
In a history-centered bit, Kozak went from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Naftali Bennett. He even did a highly credible Dr. Anthony Fauci praising Hamas for wearing masks. Kozak also did a nearly perfect imitation of anti-Israel pundit Norman Finkelstein, whom he described as someone who talks like “an old man who just woke up from a nap at an assisted living facility.” (Finkelstein is a child of Holocaust survivors and brings this up as if to give him some moral authority. He has been widely criticized for referring to Gaza as a concentration camp.)
Kozak also had a unique insult for Hamas and explained that he lost 4,000 followers after being pro-Israel on social media. He said Jew haters online are unskilled at keeping it a secret. “They respond to the charge of being an antisemite by being more antisemitic,” Kozak said. He said many on TikTok give their hot takes with little to zero knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kozak used a device with a small keyboard that allowed him to play beats and loop sounds, and he performed a catchy song based on his experience as a husband having to get up and get whatever his wife needs.
Humor Rules Across Many Platforms
At the top of the mountain of Jewish comedians who can go to the inside baseball element of Orthodox society, Elon Gold and Modi Rosenfeld (who hosted the Chosen Comedy Festival), stand at the top. Eli Lebowicz has risen as he honed his craft over the last few years, now headlining and touring across the country. He combined with Kozak and Mikey Greenblatt to form J-Sketch, which makes funny videos including skits about the pleasures of High Holiday davening and explaining the Jewish High Holiday schedule to your boss.
Lebowicz and Greenblatt shared their views with The Jewish Press.
Concerning the question of comedy in a time of tragedy, Lebowicz said one has to be sensible and sensitive.
“It’s dicey because everybody has Israel on their minds, front and center right now,” he said. “But I think if you can find ways within our shared experience to joke about…the entire situation is so heavy but there are some light moments you can grasp onto within a situation.”
He joked about when it could be okay to leave a Tehillim WhatsApp group but didn’t want anyone to think he was leaving to join a Neturei Karta group.
One of his best jokes of the night was when he said many Jews who have been buying mass supplies for the IDF may have gotten notices such as, “Based on your recent order of 100 tactical gloves, bullet-proof vests and Paw Patrol pajamas, we wanted to ask, ‘Are you okay?’”
Lebowicz said that with the war in Israel and antisemitism in America, nobody is really okay, but each person does what they can.
Greenblatt said during his set that it is ironic that some refer to him as “the Hamas guy.” In Manhattan, as part of a video for Facts For Peace, he approached people to get them to sign a petition to “help Hamas free Palestine.”
“You agree that every Jew, Christian and non-Muslim in the world must be slaughtered?” he asks a young man who responds: “I don’t know about that one.”
He approaches a young woman and asks: “You support strict Shariah Law which bans women from showing their knees or hair, playing sports in public, and being able to travel without a man’s permission?”
The woman apologizes and says she is not interested. The video got 15 million views on Instagram.
“I did it neutral without emotion,” Greenblatt said. “It was pretty clear that most had absolutely no idea what Hamas was.”
Comedian Elon Altman told the crowd nobody should be surprised that Hamas claimed 500 people died in an explosion at the Al-Shifa Hospital, because they like to haggle.
New Jersey resident Dovie Neuburger joked that someone once told him to make sure not to go to Tashlich where men and women were flirting, but he said he had never been to one like that. Elon Gold introduced Neuburger, 27, as one of the most handsome, young, new comics and that after many shows, including this one, women ask him questions to ascertain if he is single. He is.
Neuburger explained that we are living in tragic and horrific times and with a media often against Israel, impact may come from surprising places.
“Everyone at this show … knows how hard these last months have been,” Neuburger said. “Ami did a great job on Candace Owens, and that reached a huge amount of people. You saw Dave Chapelle did damage with things he said against Israel. Bassem Youssef, also, made an impact on Piers Morgan’s “Uncensored.” As comedians we want to make people laugh and give people a momentary break from stress, but also we see there may be a place for us in making an impact both from serious discussion, our comedy, or other videos or social media. We want to be the voice of morality and we are seeing that comedians are getting pushed to the front to make appearances.”
Youssef, a surgeon and comedian from Egypt, appeared with Piers Morgan using sarcasm, and it got 21.7 million views.
Neuburger has begun producing comedy shows, including an upcoming show headlined by Gold. He said he is excited to see what type of entertaining events he can put together for young Jews.
As For Kozak, don’t be surprised if one week soon you see him performing with Distant Cousins or a comedic set on late-night TV or doing a great segment on Morgan’s “Uncensored.” And don’t be surprised if at lunch you see a J-Sketch with Kozak, Lebowicz and Greenblatt that causes you to choke on your knish.
Kozak is confident but not arrogant and when he called out for the crowd to pick any language for him to mimic; while German was easy, he said, he did not get flustered when people called out “Swahili.”
“I’ve been working hard on my set and working hard on my impressions,” Kozak told The Jewish Press. “Some take longer. I was happy to get the music in, and I think it went well and it’s exciting.”
