Laugh Tracks 2026: A History of Jewish Musical Satire
Hosted By: My Jewish Learning
From the Gershwins to Rachel Bloom, Jews have given us generations of profound musical comedy.
Is there something distinctly Jewish about musical satire written by Jewish songwriters? No. Case closed, move along now, nothing to see here.
Or… Yes.
Popular music often reflects traditional Jewish values like social justice (“Sail Away,” Randy Newman’s horrifying/gorgeous evocation of the slave trade), love of learning (Tom Lehrer racing through the periodic table of the elements to a Gilbert and Sullivan melody), dealing with evil (“No Way To Stop It,” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s acerbic critique of political accomodation), and even the Holocaust (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” creator Rachel Bloom’s “Remember That We Suffered”).
In his return to My Jewish Learning, celebrated screenwriter David Misch is back with another multimedia presentation that features songs from a wide range of artists — Tom Lehrer, Stephen Sondheim, Phil Ochs, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Sheldon Harnick, Rachel Bloom and Bob Dylan (singing for Christmas) — in an equally wide variety of genres: movies, TV, Broadway, folk, polka and even country.
Plus, in the spirit of religious pluralism, we’ll hear from a few non-Jews, including John Lennon, Patti Lupone and an all-Nazi jazz band. So join us for a tuneful, laugh-filled show that asks the question “Wait, Dylan sang a Christmas carol? And John Lennon sang in Hebrew?!”
