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At Chosen Comedy Festival in Brooklyn, comics lean into nuances of identity
(New York Jewish Week) — When comedian Modi Rosenfeld took the stage as co-host of the second annual Chosen Comedy Festival in Brooklyn on Tuesday evening, he stuck to an approach that has brought him success with Orthodox audiences: leaning into specificity.
“People want to hear us talk about antisemitism, they love to hear us make jokes and make fun of it,” he told the New York Jewish Week following the festival, which drew a lineup of Jewish comics to the Coney Island Amphitheater to perform for a crowd of thousands, many of them Orthodox Jews.
“They love specific humor,” Rosenfeld said. “When you mention the Persians, the Syrians, the Ashkenazim, the Hasidim — they love to be called out. People love that kind of attention when it’s in a positive way.”
But when he did a set at the festival, he also joked about another part of his identity that hasn’t usually shown up when he performs at Orthodox venues: His marriage to a millennial man.
“My husband’s younger — 10, 12 years younger — 22 years younger. Ten and 12…” he said in a shrinking voice that trailed off as the audience laughed.
Going there, in front of that audience, was a change for Rosenfeld, who discussed being gay in a “Variety” interview in January, but explained that he didn’t incorporate that part of his life into his act for Orthodox crowds. He said he tailors his comedy to meet his audience — recognizing what they will find funny and what subjects are appropriate for each room or club.
On Tuesday, Rosenfeld felt that this audience was ripe for the jokes, which he said he had been working on for an upcoming standup special.
Related: Deeply Jewish comedy is having a moment, even as antisemitism rocks pop culture
“This is my audience. They came to see me,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s my festival. I’m a producer, I’m a performer, I’m the host. So whatever I do is okay, ’cause it’s my show. It’s not a show that somebody else brought me in.”
He added, “And so I felt the room and they were amazing. They were there and they were ready.”
Rosenfeld’s 10-minute set came during the middle of the show, which he co-hosted with comic Elon Gold. It featured some of the lineup from last year’s festival, including Rosenfeld, Gold, Jeff Ross and Jessica Kirson, in addition to newcomers such as Eunji Kim, Eli Leonard, Rich Vos and Ari Shaffir — who self-released his standup special, titled “Jew,” last year.
There was a surprise appearance from Dave Attell, the former Comedy Central personality and “Saturday Night Live” writer. The show also included musical performances from the band Emotional Intelligence and Hasidic folk group Zusha, and was DJed by Lady Blaga.
The acts ran the comedy gamut from Kirson’s raunchy impressions of elderly grandparents having sex to Kim reflecting on the nuances of being an Asian Jew.
In one bit, Kim related that her young son was surprised that a classmate, named Silas, was Jewish. After all, he told her, “Silas doesn’t look Jewish!”
“I said, ‘What do you think a Jew looks like?’” Kim continued. “And my son looked at me and he said, ‘Asian.’”
Leonard’s act featured bottle dancing and an unusually timely joke about Jesus’ death — made just days after Oscar winner Jamie Foxx ignited a debate on social media with an Instagram post on the same topic.
“If we kill our only carpenter,” Leonard said, “who nails him to the cross?”
Since its founding in New York last year by Dani Zoldan, the owner of the Upper West Side comedy club Stand Up NY, the Chosen Comedy Festival has gone on tour in Miami and Los Angeles. This year, it grew to include nine shows in New York City — including a performance of comedian Alex Edelman’s Broadway show, “Just For Us” — and one show in the Catskills.
“Jews are so dying to show how proud they are of being Jewish,” Rosenfeld told the New York Jewish Week. “What an amazing outlet to do it through comedy.”
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The post At Chosen Comedy Festival in Brooklyn, comics lean into nuances of identity appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.