Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

UNCONVENTIONAL SHTICK ON TOUR

What does Robert Tannenbaum like about “What I Like About Jew,” the comedy-songwriter series he founded with musician Sean Altman? “It presents a set of fun and ironic songs about modern Jewish culture and life,” Tannenbaum, a journalist-songwriter, told the Forward. The duo have been bringing their tongue-in-cheek series to audiences since Christmas Eve, 1999.

This year the duo is taking “What I Like About Jew” on the road, with stops in Philadelphia, New York and Cambridge, Mass. Cynthia Kaplan, an actress and author (“Why I’m Like This”) joins the creators in all three cities; Rene Risque of the pop group Rene Risque and the Art Lovers performs in New York; Rick Berlin of the Shelley Winters Project plays in Cambridge, and anti-folk singer Adam Brodsky is part of the Philadelphia lineup.

Among Tannenbaum and Altman’s many comic creations is the song “Hot Jewish Chicks.” It begins, “There’s Roxy looking Foxy in a mink/ There’s Becky Tishman giving me a wink/ Esther’s nose and teeth are false/ But dig those silicone matzoh balls/ Check out all the hot Jewish chicks.”

Doc Watson’s Pub, 216 South 11th St., Philadelphia; Sept. 25, doors open 8 p.m., show 8:30 p.m.; $10. (215-922-3247 or www.plainparade.org) Fez, 380 Lafayette St., New York; Sept. 26, doors open 9:30 p.m., show 10 p.m.; $12. (212-533-2680 or www.feznyc.com ) Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Cambridge, Mass.; Sept. 27, doors open 6:30 p.m., show 8 p.m.; $14. (617-492-7679 or www.clubpassim.org)

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.