Comedian Mikey Greenblatt wants to help us all stop worrying

New York comedian Mikey Greenblatt is coming to London this weekend to “give people an hour off from worrying”.

He is headlining at a one-off comedy special organised by the Jewish Dramatic Association of London on Sunday night. Hosting will be David Lewis, and the line-up will include comedians Jonathan Kogan and Tomer Shaw.

Mikey says he knows many Jewish people in the UK are experiencing a lot of worry. “My aim is to give them a break, when they can put the worry behind them and have an hour of laughter.”

Mikey, whose wife Debbie is from Manchester, is that rare thing – an observant Jew who wears his religion and his kippah on stage with great pride.

A master of improv, he studied performance and cut his comedy teeth with the Upright Citizens Brigade, the improvisational and sketch comedy group whose alumni include Tina Fey and many of the Saturday Night Live stars.

“I realised that, as an observant Jew, acting was not going to work for me because I wouldn’t work on Shabbat and the Jewish holidays,” he says. “So I turned to improv and this led me to comedy.”

Mikey has tried to break away from the traditional Jewish comic stereotype and says he says he never knows where a show will take him.

“I would go to standup shows and often Jewish comedians would come on stage and the first thing they would say was that they had been brought up as Jewish and that they now were self-hating Jews. I did not want to be that person. I am Jewish and proud of it. I am proud of my religious observance, I guess you would call me a modern orthodox Jew.”

Mikey says that he feels comedy is particularly important at the present time. “Comedy is a distraction from what is going on in the world – but it also comes from pain and persecution,” he says. “So it is hardly surprising that there are so many great comedians who are Jewish. They have so much material to tap into.”

Mikey has also seen a shift within the orthodox Jewish communities, which are now much more open to seeing stand-up. But that does not mean that his shows are solely for Jewish audiences. He performs across the world and has an enormous following in venues and online with both Jewish and non-Jewish fans.

He feels fortunate that he has not personally experienced antisemitism, despite performing right across America. But he has empathy with communities in the UK who are not so fortunate.

He says performing in London is a challenge. “I know UK audiences are very different to US ones because you are more formal and buttoned up.”

After five years on the comedy circuit Mikey says he still looks forward to every gig. “It’s what I like – the challenge of figuring out an audience. It’s like a puzzle that I have to solve. I never have a set piece – it is the improv performer in me. Every show is different and I respond to the audience. I will touch on subjects like travel, dating, antisemitism, and when I play to Jewish audiences there is always the feeling that we have so much in common, but until I stand up on the stage, I never know what I am going to say.”

Stand Up for Comedy is on 21 June at Karma Sanctum Hotel. Click here for tickets and use code JDALJOKES for £5 off