Two weeks after a Trump supporter threw a can of beer at Ariel Elias at a club in New Jersey because of her political views, the Jewish comedian's luck has changed for the better.
The documentation of the incident set the network ablaze and paved the way for her to debut on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show on ABC.
Most of the interview dealt with her Jewish identity and her childhood in a decidedly non-Jewish environment in the state of Kentucky.
"I'm Jewish from Kentucky, which is a crazy origin story," she said before moving on to jokes about her parents wishing she would date Jewish guys.
Jewish identity has long since become part of the mainstream in the American stand-up world.
Comedian Ari Shapir's "Jewish" special is called: "A love letter to the culture and religion that raised me."
In his latest show "Just For Us", Alex Edelman deals with growing up within modern orthodoxy (and infiltrating a group of white nationalists).
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Ariel Elias (@ariel_comedy)
"It is ironic that precisely at a time when more Jewish comedians feel comfortable expressing their Jewishness and not hiding it, we also see an increase in anti-Semitism," notes Jacob Scher, a comedian from New York.
"I hope the things are not related to each other."
Anti-Semitic incidents in the US reached a peak in 2021, with 2,717 incidents, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League published in April of this year. The nature of these incidents ranged from vandalizing buildings to harassing and assaulting people.
"Now that anti-Semitism is in the headlines, it helps me do what I need to do. Be more proud," said Dina Laffert, a comedian from Los Angeles.
"I hid who I am just so I could survive in this environment. But if the price is that I have to hide, then this environment is not worth it."
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Jessica Kirson (@jessykirson)
According to Jacob Sher, "Jews, who emphasize Judaism, are now enjoying a moment of prosperity. I would not say that the 'Jewish' world is dead."
Sher explains that he means comedians like Seinfeld and Larry David, who sometimes incorporated content from secular Jewish culture.
He points out that there is a genre of "Jews who do comedy for other Jews about Jewish things."
In August, at the Chosen Comedy Festival, the first of its kind, held at the Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn, a series of comedians, mostly Jews, presented a repertoire ranging from imitations of old Jewish women to detailing the differences in the way Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews say "Shabbat Shalom".
Kanye West.
The crowd cheered, photo: AP
But the rise in anti-Semitism also makes it difficult for comedians.
In late October, at a stand-up show in Los Angeles, a comedian who appeared before Dina Lepert asked the audience, "Is there anyone still rooting for Kanye (West) at this point?"
The audience responded with roars, applause and cheers.
Laffert got on stage and only managed to tell a few jokes before getting off.
"I don't want to make fun of anti-Semites," she said.
Laffert, who openly defines herself as a Zionist, said that these days she also notices a certain level of anti-Zionism in the stand-up clubs, which she interprets as anti-Semitism.
"They don't criticize Israel," she clarifies.
"It slips into anti-Semitism very quickly."
During the "Guardian of the Walls" operation in May 2021, Lepert said, she was flooded with comments online with PLO flags specifically on posts that dealt with Jewish holidays.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us