Interested in Jewish Humor? An ever growing list of sources for study.
Books
Cohen, Sarah B. Jewish Wry. Indiana University Press, 1987.
Berger, Arthur Asa. The Genius of the Jewish Joke. Jason Aronson, 1991.
Dauber, Jeremy. Jewish Comedy: A Serious History Kindle Edition. NY: W.W.Norton. 2018.
Davies, Christie. Jokes and Targets. Indiana University Press, 2011.
Friedman, Hershey H and Linda W Friedman. God Laughed: Sources of Jewish Humor. Transaction 2014.
Greenspoon, Leonard J. (ed.). Jews and Humor. Purdu University Press, 2011.
Herzog, Rudolph. Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler’s Germany. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2011.
Lipman, Steve. Laughter in Hell: The use of humor during the Holocaust. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1991.
Novak, W. and M. Waldoks. Big Book of Jewish Humor. Collins, 2006.
Ostrower, Chaya. It Kept Us Alive: Humor in the Holocaust. Jerusalem, Israel: Yad Vashem, 2014.
Raskin, Richard. Life is Like a Glass of Tea. New Orleans, LA: Quid Pro Books, 2015.
Shatz, Mark and Mel Helitzer (2016). Comedy Writing Secrets: The Best-Selling Guide to Writing Funny and Getting Paid for It 3rd edition. NY: Writer's Digest Books. (General humor)
Sover, Arie (ed.) The Languages of Humor: Verbal, Visual, and Physical Humor. NY: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Telushkin, Joseph. Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say about the Jews. Morrow, 1992.
Wisse, Ruth. No Joke: Making Jewish Humor. Princeton University Press, 2013.
Ziv, Avner (ed.). Jewish Humor. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1998.
Ziv, A. and A. Zajdman (eds.). Semites and Stereotypes: Characteristics of Jewish Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993
Articles
Devorah Baum (2017). We Are All Jew-ish Now (Opinion). The New York Times, October 1. p. SR7. Accessed from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/opinion/sunday/we-are-all-jewish.html
Ben-Amos, Dan. The "Myth" of Jewish Humor, Western Folklore, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1973), pp. 112-131.
Dance, Daryl Cumber. "Wit and Humor in the Slave Narratives," Journal of Afro-American Issues 5, no. 2 (Spring 1977); pp. 125-134.
Ariel David. Stan Lee May Be Gone, but His super-Jewy Superheroes Live On. Haaretz. Nov 13 2018. https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-stan-lee-may-be-gone-but-his-super-jewy-superheroes-live-on-1.6652039
Davies, Christie. "Exploring the Thesis of the Self-Deprecating Jewish Sense of Humor." In Ziv, A. and A. Zajdman (eds.). Semites and Stereotypes: Characteristics of Jewish Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993, pp. 29-46.
Friedman, Hershey H., Talmudic Humor and the Establishment of Legal Principles: Strange Questions, Impossible Scenarios, and Legalistic Brainteasers (March 20, 2004). Thalia: Studies in Literary Humor, Vol. 21, 2004, 14-28 . Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=223645
Friedman, Hershey H. and Friedman, Linda Weiser, Humor in the Torah (February 6, 2015). Friedman, H. H. & Friedman, L. W. (2015, February 6). Humor in the Torah. Qol Ha'Qa'hal, 15(3), 20-22.. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2561917
Friedman, H. H. & Lipman, S. (1999). Satan the Accuser: Trickster in Talmudic and Midrashic Literature, Thalia: Studies in Literary Humor, Vol. 18, March, 31-41.. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2737460
Friedman, Hershey H and Linda W Friedman, The Humor of Divine Discourse in the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic Literature. International Studies in Humour, 4(1), 2015. Available at http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/ephraim/Humor-E-Journals/IntStudiesHumour/Vol2015-1/Articles/FriedmanFriedman2015.pdf
Friedman, Linda Weiser and Friedman, Hershey H., I-Get-It as a Type of Bonding Humor: The Secret Handshake (2003). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=913622
Friedman, Linda Weiser and Friedman, Hershey H., Jewish? You Must Be Joking! the Jewish Take on Humor (July 27, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1439936
Friedman, Linda Weiser and Friedman, Hershey H. How to Create Witty, Anti-Semitic Jokes: A Primer for Nitwits. Helios.(2017). https://heliosliterature.com/2017/09/10/how-to-create-witty-anti-semitic-jokes-a-primer-for-bigots/ Also at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319311819_How_to_Create_Witty_Anti-Semitic_Jokes_A_Primer_for_Nitwits.
Friedman, LW and HH Friedman (2018). The Pious Fool: A Sometimes-Hermetic Jewish Humor Trope. International Studies of Humour, 7(1), Forthcoming. Also available on Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326689921_The_Pious_Fool_A_Sometimes-Hermetic_Jewish_Humor_Trope
Keiles, Jamie Lauren (2018). Reconsidering the Jewish American Princess. Vox (Dec. 5). https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/12/5/18119890/jewish-american-princess-jap-stereotype
Halkin, Hillel. “Why Jews Laugh at Themselves,” Commentary (121, 4), Apr 2006, pp. 47-54.
Bernard Saper. “Since When is Jewish Humor Not Antisemitic?” In Ziv, A. and A. Zajdman (eds.). Semites and Stereotypes: Characteristics of Jewish Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993, pp. 71-84.
Shani, Ayelett. What makes Jews so funny. Haaretz. February 20, 2016. https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium.MAGAZINE-what-makes-jews-so-funny-1.5406163
Waisanen, Don J., Friedman, Hershey H., and Friedman, Linda W. (2014). What’s so Funny about Arguing with God? A Case for Playful Argumentation from Jewish Literature. Argumentation: An International Journal on Reasoning, 28(4).
Movies
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). Director: Dennis Dugan.
The Producers (1967). Director: Mel Brooks.
Borat (2006). Director: Larry Charles.
Life is Beautiful (1997). Director: Roberto Benigni.
Television Shows
§ "The Survivor," Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 4, Episode 9 (7 Mar. 2004)
§ "The End," Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 5, Episode 10 (4 Dec. 2005).
§ “Yada, Yada, Yada.” Seinfeld, Season 8 Episode 19. Aired April 24, 1997.
§ “The Soup Nazi,” Seinfeld Season 7, Episode 6. Aired November 2, 1995.
§ “The Man in the Street.” All in the Family, season 2 episode 11. John Rich, Dir. Teleplay by: Don Nicholl and Paul Harrison & Lennie Weinrib. Aired December 4, 1971.
§ "The Germans," Fawlty Towers, Season 1 Episode 6. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tnzc8