Re: self-hating comedians?

[Eliott Kahn <Elkahn...>]

>but there are times when Yiddish theatre songs will be sung with an affected, 
>vocal "blackface", which I find offensive, but some audiences seem to find 
>appealing. It's the difference between performing music that stands on its 
>own, and performing music that needs to be set off as shtick. Which would fit 
>with the comment with which the Svigals quote is ended, "We're not trying to 
>be comedians any more."
I would be the last person to accept "slapstick" or humor in place of sound 
musical technique, but I would wager that humor has a far greater hold on 
Jewish "tradition" than this notion of the serious artist. What made people 
like Arthur Rubenstein and Horowitz such great artists was their senses of 
humor--an indicator of intelligence and a healthy outlook on life.

Eliott Kahn

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