Sometimes all you can do is either laugh or cry. “Laugh Through the Heartbreak,” a Jewish comedy showcase coming soon to the JCC of San Francisco, would prefer the former.
The show’s current national tour stops in San Francisco on April 27. It is headlined by British Jewish comedian Zach Margs and features Orthodox comedian Menachem Silverstein. The emcee is Erez Safar, a Los Angeles-based producer, musician and author who created the tour.
“The show blends sharp, irreverent humor with real themes, from rising antisemitism and collective grief to the strength of community,” according to organizers.
Margs’ social media shows off segments of his stand-up routines, which are often performed for Jewish audiences. His comedy includes standup, crowd work and short sketches, often focused on Jewish and Israeli culture and current events. In one recent Instagram video, he adopts an over-the-top Israeli accent while portraying a man trying to rent out an apartment damaged by a missile strike. In another, he mocks the differences between Passover seders in Ashkenazi and Persian families.
Silverstein’s material is also explicitly Jewish, including jokes about his own name. In one online clip, he jokes about stereotypically Jewish names like his own before landing on a punchline about Jeffrey Epstein. In another, he says: “My name is Menachem, and I’m not that famous… people say the easiest way to become famous is through word of mouth — and that’s hard when you can’t pronounce the word!”
Previous “Laugh Through the Heartbreak” tours have featured comedians such as Ronny Chieng, Elon Gold and Tiffany Haddish, with shows at famous comedy clubs including The Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store, and Jewish venues like the JCCSF.