New generation of Jewish comedic talent

Melbourne’s Jewish comedians have teamed up with Kadimah’s most prolific performers and klezmorim to present The Kadimah Purim Shpiel – a heymish meshugas of music, satire and sharp community humour, celebrating Purim in true Yiddish style.

Written and performed by a new generation of Jewish comedic talent, this year’s shpiel sees the infamous Haman (boo, hiss) hatch an evil plan to infiltrate the Yiddish community and sabotage the promotion of Yiddish once and for all. It’s up to Esther and Mordechai to fight back – with wit, song and more than a little chutzpah.

Blending traditional Purim shpiel elements with contemporary alternative comedy, the production breaks the fourth wall, leans into meta humour, and lovingly pokes fun at Melbourne’s Jewish community.

The show is written by professional comedians including Beth Paterson (Niusia), winner of the Scotsman’s Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Jude Perl, four-time Green Room Award winner (Best Cabaret, Melbourne Fringe 2018); Jacob Sacher, whose show Promising Young Mensch was nominated for Best Comedy at Melbourne Fringe Festival 2024; and Dom Weintraub, general manager of the Centre of Jewish Artists and member of Ponycam, whose show Burnout Paradise holds an off-Broadway residency.

The cast features Uma Dobia as Haman – a comedian and professional opera singer, Rising Artist with the Australian Contemporary Opera Company and Developing Artist with Melbourne Opera – alongside Hugo Friedman, Josh Reuben, Sacher and Yoni Ringelblum.

Perl is musical director and is joined by Adam Starr in the band. Sacher is the director with Cecilia Low joining the production as producer.

This production marks a distinctive moment for Kadimah. For the first time, the writing team and much of the cast are young comedians currently succeeding on the wider comedy circuit, bringing a sensibility that echoes the radical roots of Yiddish comedy itself.

“The show we’ve created is gender-bending, meta, uses elements of clowning, and satirises the community,” said Sacher. “While this seems like a cutting-edge alternative comedy show, better suited to the stages of the Comedy Festival than the shtetl, the reality is anything but. Yiddish theatre has always included elements of the above, so Kadimah is the perfect place to continue to push the envelope of what’s possible with Jewish comedy.”

The Kadimah Purim Spiel is on Sunday, March 1 at 5pm and 8pm.

Tickets: trybooking.com/1532492