August 26, 2013 – Page 45

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ottawajewish Section Two

Locals going for laughs at Ottawa’s comedy clubs

By Ilana Belfer

Rabbi David Rotenberg admits

“comedy clubs are not necessarily

the most kosher of places.” Yet,

that’s where you’ll often find him

– kippah, tzitzit and all.

And he’s not alone. At least

three other Jewish community

members are making rounds of the

local stand-up circuit.

“When I get up on the stage …

it takes people a moment to get

used to it,” said Rabbi Rotenberg,

30, who’s been doing stand-up on

and off for 15 years. In comedy

circles, he’s considered a semi-

professional. In other words, he

gets booked for paid gigs, but is

primarily a teacher (and a dad).

“One time, a woman was so

excited she yelled out, ‘Yay Jews!’

It’s like, oh, that’s fantastic. Not

only do we have anti-Semites to

deal with, but also overzealous

cheerleaders.” Another time, peo-

ple started shouting “Mazel tov!”

throughout the show. For the most

part, though, people are accepting,

he said.

“If I just went on stage looking

like a religious guy and I didn’t

say anything about it … it would

be kind of weird,” said Rabbi

Rotenberg. “But I deal with it

right away, and that’s sort of the

persona I have on stage.”

For instance, he wrote an entire

bit about the time a salesperson

wished him a “Happy Heineken”

during the holiday season.

“I take it to the most absurd

conclusion,” he said. “It’s about

not letting [misconceptions about

Judaism] slide and going really

sarcastic with it. That’s more or

less my style.”

He also doesn’t use profanity

or discuss anything that is too off-

colour.

“I like to think of myself as

edgy for a rabbi, but clean for a

comedian.”

Without the visible need to

confront their Jewishness head on,

other comedians, such as Lynne

Cohen and Dan Ciggy (Cigelnik),

play to the diversity of their

crowds by avoiding overtly Jew-

ish material.

“There are anti-Semites in the

world and there are anti-Semites

in comedy clubs … There are peo-

ple that are still going to think,

‘Hey, it doesn’t matter how funny

he is. Look at this Jew tell a

joke,’” said Ciggy, 28.

As a professional comedian, he

does sets at least five times per

week and often tours to Toronto

and Montreal, his hometown,

though he’s called Ottawa home

for the past decade.

Instead, he opts for racy mater-

ial, which he said all comes down

to delivery.

“The material is [only] half the

battle,” Ciggy said. “I say outra-

geous things, but in a silly, lovable

way.”

For Cohen, an Orthodox Jew,

religion is more about guiding her

comedic values: she steers clear of

sex and bathroom humour. On the

agenda, however, is poking fun at

IKEA, global warming, wheel-

chairs, marriage and marijuana

smokers.

“I don’t know what the line is,”

she said. “I try hard not to swear,

but sometimes swearing is just so

perfect.”

Cohen, 56, a lawyer and free-

lance journalist, has been perform-

ing at Yuk Yuk’s amateur night

once every two months since Jan-

uary 2009. Her goal, she said, is to

get paid, even $50, just to say she

“went pro.”

“I used to be a more serious

person … It didn’t really dawn on

me until I married my second hus-

band that most of life was really

very funny,” she said, mentioning

that it was a short while after she

became more religious that “I

realized comedy was the way to

go.”

Though he’s only 17, Itzy

Kamil has been making people

laugh for quite some time. In

2010, he won the Cappie award

for best comic actor for his role in

the Ottawa Jewish Community

School’s production of The LastNight of Ballyhoo.

For the past year, Kamil has

been giving his own material a

whirl during open mike nights at

comedy clubs like Yuk Yuk’s and

Absolute Comedy and other local

pubs (when he’s allowed in).

“I don’t remember my first 10

times on stage because I was just

so nervous,” he said. “But, after a

while, you get used to it,” noting

he’s getting bigger laughs as time

goes on.

“I have been cursed with being

the most generic: I am a white Jew

who complains. That’s like 40 per

cent of comedians … But you can

find your own style,” he said,

adding, with a smile: “I guess

that’s just part of the journey. You

never know. Maybe I’ll be a prop

comedian like Carrot Top.”

While being young is a theme

in his act, Kamil insists that it’s

not his shtick.

“I want to make jokes that, if I

told them 20 years from now,

they’d still be funny, not just

‘cause I’m 17,” he said.

The recent Ottawa Jewish

Community School grad, who

works nights at Rideau Bakery,

said he hopes to go from six-

minute amateur sets, which he

performs once or twice per month,

to paid 15-minute feature sets in

the coming year. As far as the rest

of his future goes, he’s less cer-

tain.

“I’m very bad with decision-

making, so I’ll probably be home-

less in five years … I don’t really

see myself anywhere. [Just] hav-

ing a good time, a dog,” he joked.

“I don’t know if I want to be

famous … I just want to be a

comedian. I guess I want to be(Continued on page 46)

Rabbi David Rotenberg is “edgy for a rabbi, but clean for a comedian.”

Lynne Cohen’s goal is to get paid as a comedian.

Dan Ciggy avoids overtly Jewish material