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March 9, 2007
Not for family viewing
Altman sends up stereotypes in comedy show.
KATHARINE HAMER EDITOR
Warning: Sean Altman's show is not for those who are easily offended.
"Kids love it because it's naughty, but parents get a little
bit uptight about it - they don't want their kids to hear songs
about circumcision," said the New York musician in an interview
with the Independent.
Altman is bringing his show Jewmongous to Vancouver, where he's
launching his West Coast tour, later this month. It's a comedy send-up
of serious material, with song titles like "Taller Than Jesus,"
"What the Hell is Simchas Torah?" "Christian Baby
Blood" and "Reuben the Hook-Nosed Reindeer."
"The stereotypes that people have used to denigrate Jews throughout
time, everyone knows what they are – Christians and Jews alike,"
Altman explained, "and I reference them frequently to show
how ridiculous they are. "Christian Baby Blood" is a perfect
example, because I made it into an Irish drinking song with a fake
Irish accent and everything. The idea is to defuse the impact of
the blood libel by writing this absurd song about it."
It's part of Altman's bid to connect with people like him. "I'm
secular," he said, "meaning that I'm not observant, but
I've always felt very close to my Jewish roots and being Jewish
is a big part of my identity, whether I'm performing Jewish music
or not. So I think I was sort of looking for something that would
make me closer to my people. In the absence of going to shul, I
found Jewish comedy songs. I realized that there are other people
like me who, even if they're not religious, they are longing to
connect with something to do with their Jewish roots."
Altman spent six years as part of the comedy music duo What I Like
About Jew, which broke up last year. He and musical partner Rob
Tannenbaum made a splash across the United States with their material.
Their first number, "Chanukah with Monica," about the
Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal, was played on National Public
Radio and hit the Top 50 on Amazon.com – all without the power
of a big-name record label.
"Especially in the Jewish music business – except for
Matisyahu, who's in his own stratosphere of hype – there aren't
really major labels who take an interest in Jewish music,"
said Altman. "At least not now – I think in the aftermath
of Matisyahu's success, all the labels will be rethinking that.
They're all probably out there now, scouring, like, 'Ooh, we need
a Jewish act! Who can we get?' "
Altman, who previously sang with the group Rockapella, also writes
non-Jewish pop music and sings with a modern Orthodox a capella
group and with Voices for Israel, which does concerts of religious
music to benefit the victims of terror in Israel. But Jewmongous
holds a special place in his Jewish musical world.
"This is the one that feels the most natural for me, because
it's my own music," he said. "I think the audiences are
typically comprised of people from the most secular to Orthodox
and everybody seems to enjoy it."
His performance, he noted, "works best as a variety show, with
me and a few guests," including his wife, a professional opera
singer whom he met on JDate. "One of the things that we had
in common was that we're both singers," he said, "even
though she's a legitimate singer and I'm sort of a lowbrow pop singer.
Sadly, I'm never able to join her in her opera gigs, because those
are big fancy gigs."
Jewmongous plays at the Yale Hotel at 8 p.m., Tuesday, March 20.
Tickets are $16 in advance and $18 at the door. Call 604-681-9253
or visit www.theyale.ca.
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