Top 10 Jews In Space!

We've already found our Top 10 Jewish Super Heros, and nerded it up with  Jewish video games and even Jewish inventions. But we just couldn't stop ourselves. There is a final Jewish nerdy category where we feel compelled to boldly go.  There are so many that we love so dearly, but we've narrowed it down to the

TOP 10 JEWS IN SPACE !

10. Andy Samberg singing about the Space Olympics
Our Jewish comedy goofball dreamboat sings quite possibly the most ridiculous space song ever, all about the terrible organization of the Space Olympics.



9. The Beastie Boys go Intergalactic
So we're not sure if Adrock, Mike D, and MCA ever actually leave earth in this video, but we like to imagine they travel back into space with the giant robot at the end. Regardless of the video, we know that the boys know all about the final frontier, 'cause they say, "Your knees'll start shaking and your fingers pop/ Like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock!"



8. Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama
Futurama's company Doctor has a lot going on. He's clearly Jewish, but he's also a crustacean, making him treif (not kosher). With an inner conflict like that, it is no surprise that he is completely insane. Since he is Jewish, treif and insane, it is no surprise that we adore him.




7. Sarah Silverman awesomely half-asses it in Most Extraordinary Space Investigations
Channel 101 is known for creating comedy television with zero time, zero budget and zero interference from "the man". In the series Most Extraordinary Space Investigations, they added zero effort and zero sobriety to the mix. Using nothing (and we mean NOTHING) but their storytelling skills, Sarah Silverman and the MESI crew string together some tin-foil space comedy for the ages.



6. Martain Landau in Space 1999
If Thunderbirds, and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey had a baby, it would be Space 1999. Landau was an awesome Jew in space from 1975–1977 as Commander John Koenig, leader of Moonbase Alpha.



5. Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Dreyfuss is at his best in Steven Spielberg's classic. He's both hilarious and heartbreaking. And though he spends most of the movie simply obsessing about UFOs, but by the end of the movie (SPOILER ALERT!) he's totally a Jew in space.



4. Dr. Hans Zarkov from Flash Gordon
Our minds completely melted when we realized that (at :41) Chaim Topol, the same Topol who played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof was one and the same as Dr. Hans Zarkov in the cheesiest movie ever, Flash Gordon. Amazing!



3. Spock
Need we say more?



2. Jeff Hoffman Took the Torah into space!
"Wherever Jews have wandered, they have taken the Torah with them," said Hoffman, a Jewish astronaut who carried the holy scrolls during the space shuttle Columbia's voyage in Feb., 1996. "Astronauts are human beings and when we travel, we take with us our culture and heritage," he said. "It is important to me to take my Jewish heritage with me as well." On other space-shuttle missions Hoffman carried , a pendant inscribed with the Jewish prayer for a safe journey, a mezuzah, Torah pointers and, of course, a dreidel.



1. The cast of "Jews in Space"
The inspiration for this whole darn list comes from the tail end of Mel Brooks' History of the World Part I. They're Jews. They're Jews In Space.

Read more...

Classic Kosher Comedy Corner: 2000 Year Old Man

Mel Brooks & Carl Reiner. Two great tastes that go great together. And never were they more deliciously funny than in the classic sketch series, "The 2000 Year Old Man." Truly a masterpiece of Classic Kosher Comedy.

After some inspired riffing at a party, Brooks and Reiner took their antics to TV. Brooks had just had surgery on his foot and said as an aside, "I feel like a 2000 year old man." Reiner jumped right on the joke train, interviewing Brooks about his experience as the oldest man in the world, and they rode it all the way through five albums, an animated special and comedy history.

Read more...

We Have Been Commanded To Induct Mel Brooks As Moses Into the Jewish Comedy Hall Of Fame

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the Jewish holiday Shavuot, where we celebrate the anniversary of Moses getting those 10 Commandments.

Who is better suited to honor this auspicious day than good ol' Mel Brooks? On this Jewish comedy blog, no one.

Seriously, the man's one of the few people to ever win Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. In addition to all that, even his non-award winners make up some of our favorite films of all time. He's amazing.

So it is no surprise that when we realized that it was Shavuot today, this Mel and the 10 Commandments clip (from History of the World Part I) was the first thing that popped into our heads. Short, sweet and classic.

Mel, we'll follow whatever remaining commandments you have. We'll even follow you through the desert for 40 years. You'll keep us laughing all the way.

Read more...