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Letter to the Editor: doing shtick on Blogfinger

Posted in Blogfinger Presents, tagged on March 21, 2025| 4 Comments »

Hot Soup recorded The Heebie Jeebie Blues. Ain't they sweet?

“Hot Soup” recorded “The Heebie Jeebie Blues.” Ain’t they sweet?

 

To the Editor:

Paul,

Thought you would be interested in the origin of this joke. See attachment below from the Huffington Post. Humor at it’s best.

Came to mind when I saw Eileen’s recipe for chicken soup. It’s an old saying and ties in with your observation that it can ease the symptoms of a cold. Keep the comfort food recipes coming. Your blog is most informative and enjoyable.

PAULIE D.

Part time resident of Ocean Grove, heading south

Feb. 7, 2016

IMG_1963 (1)

Editor’s note:    Paulie D.  As I read this joke, in my mind, I hear a Catskill Mountain (Borscht Belt) comic telling the joke.  It has to be told only by a Jewish comedian and with just the right timing and a shpritz of body language—perhaps a shrug or a frown or a raised eyebrow.  Think of Zero Mostel  singing “If I Were a Rich Man” with the following line:

“Dear God, you made many, many poor people. I realize, of course, that it’s no great shame to be poor……. but it’s no great honor, either.”

The humor has a rhythm and a style which has cultural roots that go back generations.  There was Yiddish theater in Eastern Europe, then on 2nd Avenue in New York,  and then into the “mountains” of the Borscht belt at those fabulous resort hotels such as Grossingers, The Concord,  and Kutschers.

The latter was known for sports, and Lew Alcindor was a bellhop there.  I went with the basketball team from the Hotel Nemerson to play Team Kutscher.   It was a blowout!  I felt like my head was spinning around, from one end of the court to the other.  No mercy for their fellow Jews, although Kareem Abdul Jabbar was hardly Jewish.

There was even an official comedian at those hotels.  The guy who walked around the resort telling jokes and organizing fun activities for the guests was called a “tummler.”  He was sort of a rabble-rouser with jokes.

When I worked for two summers at The Hotel Nemerson in South Fallsburg, NY, I was on the athletic staff by day and then  I manned the spotlight in the nightclub  at night, getting to hear an almost endless array of Catskill comics.  So many great comedians received their basic training  there including Jerry Lewis, Marty Alan, Shecky Greene, Jackie Mason, Buddy Hackett, Mel Brooks. Jerry Stiller, Sid Caesar and many more. That was where they all went to comedy college and  learned to “do shtick.”
That’s why I can hear Paulie D’s joke being told in my head by one of them or even by a funny uncle. You simply can’t just read it, and only Jewish comics can “do shtick” properly.
So Paulie—-thanks for the joke, and take my wife (—-pause)  please.
Here’s a song about a funny honey by Renee Zellweger from  Chicago

 

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