Saturday, March 26, 7 pm

Guest Speaker: Joyce Antler, Brandeis University

From vaudeville and burlesque, to radio, TV, films, and stand-up comedy, Jewish women have helped to shape American comedy. Taking us from Sophie Tucker, Gertrude Berg, and Molly Picon, in the immigrant generation, to Elaine May, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, in the “Second City” generation, and to such contemporary comics as Sarah Silverman, Judy Gold, and Amy Schumer, this talk explores the female tradition in American Jewish comedy and explains why it has been so powerful and subversive.

Joyce Antler is the Samuel J. Lane Professor Emerita of American Jewish History and Culture and Professor Emerita of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University. She is the author of Jewish Radical Feminism:  Voices of the Women’s Liberation Movement; The Journey Home: How Jewish Women Shaped Modern America; You Never Call! You Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother, and many other books and articles on American Jewish history and women’s history.