Jay Firestone
Big Sunday looks good in green
Environmentalism may be trendy, but expensive hybrid cars and solar paneling aren\’t the only ways of being fashionably green.
Cartoonist captures comics
Friedman\’s new book, \”More Old Jewish Comedians\” (Fantagraphics Books, $16.99), a sequel to his 2006 \”Old Jewish Comedians,\” continues his humorous, highly detailed caricatures of the Jewish comedians who once dominated the Catskills circuit.
Comedy: Getting back at life with a one-two punchline
Mo Mandel had difficulties fitting in as a child. He grew up in the rural town of Boonville, more than 100 miles north of San Francisco, where his Jewish parents were hippies and he didn\’t have many friends. Between finding ways to rebel against his family and being the butt-end of anti-Semitic jokes by rednecks, the young social outcast eventually learned to channel his anger and frustration into comedy.
Richard Lewis, comedian from heaven
The husband from hell. The uncle from hell. The comedian from hell. Richard Lewis is fully aware he has problems. And by the end of his set, his stand-up audiences know he has problems.
‘Boychick’ puts bar mitzvah audience in the simcha
\”The Boychick Affair: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick,\” is the latest addition to the ever-amusing genre of interactive theater, known in the business as \”environmental theater.\” In such plays, the conventional fourth wall is broken as actors directly interact with members of the audience. Each character has a detailed background, either created on the spot or written prior to the performance. While the show is staged and scripted, about 30 percent to 40 percent is improvised, said playwright and director Amy Lord.
Mother pens memoir on life with heroin addict son
Rita Lowenthal raised her family in a nice Jewish home, lived in a nice Jewish neighborhood and belonged to a nice Jewish temple. So how did her son become a heroin addict at age 13?
The need for an answer to that question, as well as a desire for closure, is what inspired Lowenthal to pen \”One-Way Ticket: Our Son\’s Addiction to Heroin\” (Beaufort Books, $14), a memoir that compiles her experiences and correspondence with her son and his journal entries while in and out of San Quentin State Prison.
‘Shul for Kids’ redefines concept of youth services
Each week, a group of more than 120 congregants gather together at Kol Yakov Yehuda for their regular Shabbat prayer. The rabbi gives a sermon, the president makes announcements and the congregation follows along with the occasional chitchat, followed by a Kiddush. In addition to having its own Web site and an annual fundraising banquet, Kol Yakov Yehuda seems like any highly functional congregation.
Except the congregants are too young to vote or drive, and many can\’t see a PG-13 movie without a parent.
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