KEY Information :1500 words.

Why is it that there are so many Jewish comedians/comediennes? How do their routines show engagement with American society, and also their own identity as Jews? A note here, the hiding/effacing of Jewishness is also a viable topic, but when you look at this, try to see why/how it’s done, and is it effective? You could also look at stand-up as a very Jewish delivery, or perhaps more on the issue of incivility – why does Jewish humor often transgress the social boundaries established by others? You could also look at the relationship among Jewish and Black comedians. You could look at the Friars Club – and the concept of “roasting”. You could also look at the White House Correspondents Dinner (at least since the late-70s when comedians were invited to perform, before that, it was mostly musical numbers) as an extension of Jewish incivility (I would recommend Al Franken’s two appearances as well as Stephen Colbert’s and Seth Meyers