Al Murray headlines Jewish comedy night in London

A special comedy event in support of the Jewish community and to raise money for volunteer services Our Fight and Stop the Hate took place at Leicester Square Theatre earlier this week.

Andy Shaw, who runs Comedy Unleashed at Backyard Comedy Club in Bethnal Green, masterminded the event and the comedians – both Jewish and non-Jewish – Al Murray, Lee Hurst, Mark Maier, Adam Bloom, Jonathan Kogan and Simon Evans gave their time for free. The event was expertly compered by Josh Howie.

Every seat was taken for an event that sold out almost as soon as it was announced, with a surprisingly large number of non-Jews in the audience.

Adam Bloom hilariously shared shared his experiences with OCD, hypomania and dating, including a transgender encounter and a Bumble date. Mental health, social media and the challenges of modern relationships formed a large part of his set.

Jonathan Kogan humorously discussed his recent marriage, the absurdity of paternity tests in France (generally they are illegal) and the rewriting of classic literature by sensitivity readers. He also pointed out that seeing so many Free Palestine stickers on lamp posts has made him consider going into the sticker business.

Pub landlord Al Murray sloshed a pint of beer over the front row and then brought the house down with his trademark joke patter about bald men, British culture and the challenges of aging.

Mark Maier opened by saying it’s a bit of a danger asking a Jewish audience how you are as they see it as an opportunity to offload. “I’ve done shows to Jewish audiences before that overrun by four or five hours because I foolishly asked, ‘How are you?'” He had everyone in stitches as he pontificated over the show timings vis-a-vis a Jewish audience debating whether to eat before or after and needing “something to tide me over”. He went on to point out that “doing security” was once the bastion of good standing in community in the heady days before we had to being CST on board for almost everything.

Lee Hurst focussed on senior moments and male issues such as being tested for prostate cancer, explaining that an MRI is not for the claustrophobic as it involves having to go into a tunnel. “When I had my one done, there was a bloke from Hamas in there.”

Simon Evans explained that he discovered through a DNA test that he is half Jewish through sperm donation, and highlighted with great humour the challenges of his newfound identity.

Show organiser Andy said: “It was wonderful seeing people howling with laughter again and again – a truly uplifting night, amongst friends. ‘I haven’t laughed so much in years’ is the comment I got from one person after another as they filed out of the gig. All the comedians, the video guys and the production team did it all for free and we raised a lot of money for groups that challenge antisemitism. We hope to put the gig out on the Comedy Unleashed YouTube channel, so everyone can see what they missed… and we’ll definitely do another one.”