New Content: Columns by McKim and Skene
Traci Skene is one-eighth Jewish? It’s a long story, but a very entertaining “Keep It Tight.”
A Jewish friend of mine told me that not all Jews will recognize my Jewishness anyway. Apparently, being Jewish is passed down through the mother and only Reform Jews accept Jewish paternal lineage. So to them, I’m a Jew. To the others, not so much. (It would help if you said the last two lines while doing a serviceable Jackie Mason impression.)
We dare you to resist reading the rest.
Brian McKim liked his recent sojourn to Buffalo. What’s not to like? But, as usual, he can’t resist reminiscing about weird gigs in upstate NY and making grand pronouncements about his experiences past and present. Fortunately, he has a column, “A Coupla Minutes Up Front.”
One of the first people to headline me was a guy named Bob D’Andrea who booked a ghastly little bar named the Outrageous Inn in Rochester. He’d put the comics up in a wretched little motel called the DeNonnville Inn and shuttle them to the club and back. I recall, while waiting for my set in the bar next to the showroom, on one of the nights of my Outrageous engagement, that a fight broke out not six feet away. I was aghast as two or three patrons gang-hugged the troublemaker and danced him past me, with not a half a foot between us, eventually tossing him out into the wicked Rochester night.
Find out what all this has to do with SHECKYmagazine’s recent pronouncement that the standup biz is back to its previous, healthy levels by reading the rest!
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Reply to: New Content: Columns by McKim and Skene
Dear Traci:I loved your column. Laughed out loud several times, disturbing my usually unflappable dog.Your remarks at the top, about discrimination against Irish and Jews, reminds me of one of Ahmed Ahmed’s lines: “After 9-11, hate crimes against Muslims went up 1000 per cent. Which put us in fourth place, behind blacks, gays, and Jews. So… what do we have to do?”So… though you’re not Jewish, even by Reform standards, you’re definitely an honorary Jew.Turns out that Ahmed and I finally have a few Philly shows: On April 10th we’re at Glenside United Church of Christ, and April 20th at Bryn Mawr College, (co-sponsored by the Muslim Student Association and the Jewish Student Association.) Would love to have you and Brian stop by for either.Best wishes,Your almost lantzman,Rabbi Bob Alper