On February 22nd, 2017 I gave a talk on the Origins of Jewish Comedy in America tracing how the American comedy scene evolved from the often tragic experiences of European Jewry. In Western Europe, Jews were struggling with the issues of assimilation versus identity. In the East, the expansion of the Russian Empire had relegated the Jewish populations of Russia and Poland into the Pale of Settlement. Fleeing to America, Jewish immigrants found themselves living in the ghetto of the Lower East Side. Yet somehow these same conditions gave rise to generations of comics that changed theater, film and television in America.
Follow the story of some of these comic geniuses who learned to Laugh Through The Tears:
On January 19th, 2017 we officially launched a new game development focused Meetup. Attendance was excellent with students from Eastern Michigan University, Lawrence Technical University and the University of Michigan, as well as local game developers, all attending. Two presentations were given by speakers:
Larry Kuperman, Dir. of Business Development, Nightdive Studios
Presented at the JCC of Ann Arbor on July 14th, 2016.
“On August 13th, 1942, the government of the United States began the project that changed human history, the development of the Atomic Bomb. The project was begun under the urging of Jewish physicists Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein, would proceed under the direction Robert Oppenheimer and would involve literally dozens of Jewish physicists, chemists and mathematicians. They were aware that they were in a race against the German team that was also engaged in developing a weapon of mass destruction. The fate of the Jewish people and of all humanity hung in the balance.
Presented February 25th, 2016 at the JCC of Ann Arbor
In 1938 the character of Superman would make his first appearance in Action Comics, ushering in the Golden Age of comics and helping to create an industry that is today valued in the billions of dollars. Few people realize that the Man of Steel was created by two Jewish boys out of Cleveland and that he was, in many ways, a direct response to Adolf Hitler.
