By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — As the McCarthy Era recedes into history, we lose sight of the days when “patriots” thought they were protecting our sacred American freedom by denying people their First, Fifth and Sixth Amendment Constitutional Rights. HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee) led by Senator Joe McCarthy was a national witch-hunt to root out any pinko commies trying to undermine the United States of America. At the top of their list: Hollywood writers.
“Red Channels” was a publication written by FBI moles outing anyone who attended a meeting of the Communist Party. Getting your name on it put you on the “Blacklist” and ended your career in show business. The infamous “Hollywood Ten” refused to coöperate with HUAC and each spent a year in jail for contempt. Jews –ever the outsiders- made easy targets. Six of the Hollywood Ten were Jewish.
This puts a spotlight on Bernie Lutz, a comedy writer with a really bad comb-over who writes shtick for MGM with his partner, Morris Frumsky. Bernie and Morris go way back. At thirteen, Bernie had to go out and make a living to support his family because his father had gotten himself fired … again. When he asked “Why me, Ma?” his mother replied, “When there is no mensch, you be the mensch.”
Bernie’s humor is not political. He just wants to make money by writing jokes. He wants to live in a bigger house and buy his wife a fur coat. Hardly a picture of a Red. But after being dragged by Morris to some meeting or other –he only went for the cocktail weenies- their names are put on the Blacklist and bloodhounds from the press are hot on his trail. Suddenly doors he worked so hard to open get slammed shut in his face.
Phil Johnson’s patter is fast-paced as he talks to us in rambling monologue, pulling jokes on 3 x 5 cards out of a box, spouting Yiddish expletives and making frantic phone calls. He riffs and shries like a klezmer on clarinet, evoking laughter through a fit of tears.
A Jewish Joke isn’t about the gags and punch lines he pulls out of the box. It’s a compelling tale about laughing to survive in a dark and fearful place.
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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)