Ruth R. Wisse

“Both mystic and comedian aspire to get the better of a world they are powerless to reform.”
― Ruth R. Wisse, No Joke: Making Jewish Humor

“The Borsht Belt became to stand-up comedy what New Orleans was to jazz -- an incubator of a new form of entertainment that gradually emerged from its formative center into the U.S. mainstream and beyond.

Not that this comparison of Jewish comedy with jazz should obscure the contributions of Jews to the development of jazz itself, or black Americans to the growth of native comedy. The two forms of entertainment were similarly informal and improvisational. But the value placed by each community on its special cultural pastime dictated the opportunities for talented individuals within that community. Comedy and jazz depend on patronage, which rewards what it craves.”
― Ruth R. Wisse, No Joke: Making Jewish Humor