Six legends, one question: why did Jewish women have to be funny to survive showbiz?
A documentary film about three generations of female Jewish comedians and the complexity and challenges of their relationship to comedy, Judaism, and gender. The film profiles Molly Picon, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, and Wendy Wasserstein, as well as contemporary comedians Judy Gold and Jackie Hoffman.
Acting
Archive performances that outshine most scripted roles.
Editing
Seamless century-hopping between Yiddish theatre and SNL.
Writing
Judy Gold's commentary cuts like her mother's guilt.
Director
Rachel Talbot
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rachel Talbot made this for $150,000 after every studio told her 'nobody cares about dead Jewish ladies.' It played Tribeca.
The 'funny Jewish woman' archetype emerged partly because early Hollywood wouldn't cast Jewish women as romantic leads—ugly became their only available category.
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