Drew Friedman was called the “Vermeer of the Borscht Belt” by the New York Times, and indeed, his new book of caricatures, More Old Jewish Comedians (Fantagraphics, $16.99), strikes the right chord for anyone in Vegas nostalgic for those once-dominant stand-up performers.
The back cover has a dead-on portrait of George Jessel, who my father actually used to babysit for back in New York’s then predominately Jewish Harlem (my dad was born in 1894, if anyone cares), and the book is full of ripe, evocative renderings of luminaries like Melvin Kaminsky (Mel Brooks), Allen Konigsberg (Woody Allen) and that recently deceased member of the Rat Pack, Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (Joey Bishop).
This is a tasty edition for anyone who ever stayed at Grossinger’s or for any student of American comedy. Taking Jews out of comedy is like eating the shell of a hard-boiled egg and throwing the rest away.