Irishman and a Jew: Difference between revisions

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''If it wasn't for the Irish and the Jews!''|From the song "If it Wasn't For the Irish and the Jews"}}

No, this isn't [[I Thought It Meant|a place to list stale old jokes]], though it does have a very important connection to them. An [[Irishman and a Jew]] is much subtler (and older) variation on [[Salt and Pepper]] (by comparison, [[White Dude, Black Dude|think of the Irishman as the "black dude" and the Jew as the "white dude"]] -- [[Dissimile|although the Jew will usually have slightly darker skin]]); it is a fairly common but typically low-key form of [[Odd Couple]] pairing that largely originated in [[Vaudeville]], making it [[Older Than Radio]].

No, this isn't [[I Thought It Meant|a place to list stale old jokes]], though it does have a very important connection to them. An '''Irishman and a Jew''' is much subtler (and older) variation on [[Salt and Pepper]] (by comparison, [[White Dude, Black Dude|think of the Irishman as the "black dude" and the Jew as the "white dude"]] -- [[Dissimile|although the Jew will usually have slightly darker skin]]); it is a fairly common but typically low-key form of [[Odd Couple]] pairing that largely originated in [[Vaudeville]], making it [[Older Than Radio]].

Simply put, it refers to any situation in which there is extensive collaboration or pairing between an [[Ireland|Irishman]] or [[The Irish Diaspora|Irish-American]] (the latter is ''much'' more common) and a [[Judaism|Jewish]] person. This can apply either to an onscreen pairing of two fictional characters or to a [[Show Business|behind-the-scenes]] collaboration in [[Real Life]]. Interestingly, the latter seems to be ''far'' more common, and the full [[Odd Couple]] potential of this trope is rarely exploited, probably ''because'' the ethnicities are those of the performers themselves, and not so important to the characters they play.

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* A late 1960s/early 1970s British sitcom, ''Never Mind The Quality, Feel the Width'', used a fictional variant of this trope, with two tailors; one Irish and one Jewish, going into business together. A Rabbi and a Catholic priest were among the supporting cast. [[The Other Wiki]] mentions the series was not shown on all parts of the [[ITV]] network, but it was transmitted in [[Stroke Country|Northern Ireland]].

* Used on one episode of ''[[Good Eats]]'', of all things. A scene explaining how corned beef came (erroneously) to be associated with Irish cuisine employed a Jewish rabbi and and Irish priest sitting in a bar. After some dialogue and an explanation<ref>Before the Great Famine, a fairly typical Irish dish was boiled ''bacon'' with potatoes and cabbage; when destitute immigrants arrived in New York City, they found that bacon was too scarce and expensive, so they replaced it with corned beef, which they purchased from stores owned by their new Jewish neighbors.</ref> from [[Drop-In Character|Alton's nutritional anthropologist]], we get the set-up to a corny old-fashioned joke: "A priest, a rabbi, and a nutritional anthropologist walk into a bar..." Then Alton, the priest, and the rabbi all roll their eyes and get up to leave.

* A rare modern-day example is found in Comedy Central's two fake news shows, ''[[The Daily Show]]'' and ''[[The Colbert Report]]''. [[Jon Stewart]] ([[Stage Names|born]] Jonathan Liebowitz) takes news stories heavily laden with corruption, stupidity, and disaster, and handles them with [[Deadpan Snarker|sarcasm and exasperated]] <s>ranting</s> [[Yiddish as a Second Language|kvetching]]. [[Stephen Colbert|Stephen Colber]]'''[[Stephen Colbert|T]]''', despite the French-sounding pronunciation of his character's name, is predominantly Irish-American and unapologetically Catholic, and watching his [[Patriotic Fervor|onscreen persona]] is like watching every single patriotic [[George M Cohan|George M. Cohan]]<ref> Despite what it sounds like, the name "Cohan" is Irish: the Jewish name is usually "Coh'''e'''n".</ref> musical [[Up to Eleven|all at the same time]]. He also shares Gracie Allen's [[The Ditz|obliviousness to reality]].

* A rare modern-day example is found in Comedy Central's two fake news shows, ''[[The Daily Show]]'' and ''[[The Colbert Report]]''. [[Jon Stewart]] ([[Stage Names|born]] Jonathan Liebowitz) takes news stories heavily laden with corruption, stupidity, and disaster, and handles them with [[Deadpan Snarker|sarcasm and exasperated]] <s>ranting</s> [[Yiddish as a Second Language|kvetching]]. [[Stephen Colbert|Stephen Colber]]'''[[Stephen Colbert|T]]''', despite the French-sounding pronunciation of his character's name, is predominantly Irish-American and unapologetically Catholic, and watching his [[Patriotic Fervor|onscreen persona]] is like watching every single patriotic [[George M Cohan|George M. Cohan]]<ref>Despite what it sounds like, the name "Cohan" is Irish: the Jewish name is usually "Coh'''e'''n".</ref> musical [[Up to Eleven|all at the same time]]. He also shares Gracie Allen's [[The Ditz|obliviousness to reality]].

** Interestingly, in the 1999 comedy ''[[Big Daddy]]'' [[Stereotype Flip|Stewart played Irish-American corporate lawyer Kevin Garrity, while]] [[Adam Sandler]] [[Stereotype Flip|was his "tough," blustering Jewish roommate, Sonny Koufax]].

* [[Conan O'Brien]] and his former bandleader Max Weinberg would do a lot of comedy bits together on both ''[[Late Night]]'' and ''[[The Tonight Show]].'' [[Inverted Trope]] because O'Brien was neurotic and self-deprecating while Weinberg was the morally-loose [[Casanova]].

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* In a strange meta-example, ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' (frequently called "''[[Seinfeld]]'' [[This Is Your Premise on Drugs|on crack]]") can also be seen as the Irishman to ''Seinfeld'''s Jew: despite using the same general sort of setup, the characters in ''It's Always Sunny'' have unmistakably Celtic names (and run an Irish-themed pub) and their brand of [[Comedic Sociopathy]] generally comes from overconfident, un-self-aware [[Idiot Plot|abject stupidity]], while the gang on ''Seinfeld'' were nit-picky about themselves, constantly whining and complaining, intellectuals/professionals, and consisted of three Jews (OK, one Jew,<ref>Jerry</ref> one Jewish-Italian half-breed,<ref>George</ref> and one guy who isn't supposed to be Jewish but totally comes off as Jewish<ref>Kramer</ref>) and one Eastern European Catholic played by a Jew.<ref>Elaine</ref>

* One of the all-time most popular detective pairings on ''[[Law & Order|Law and Order]]'' was Mike Logan and Lennie Briscoe (although Briscoe is only ethnically Jewish; he was raised Catholic). This trope also holds true for the tag team of the show's most popular detective (Briscoe) and attorney (Jack McCoy), who shared star billing for ten years. For that matter, both [[McCoy]] and predecessor Ben Stone were Irish-American prosecutors who consulted with Jewish District Attorney Adam Schiff.

* Mixed into one character to great effect in one ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' ~~sketch -- a~~ commercial parody of an album of ''Irish Drinking Songs''.

* Mixed into one character to great effect in one ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' sketch—a commercial parody of an album of ''Irish Drinking Songs''.

{{quote|'''They picked me face up off the floor and said now "Who'd be you?"'''

'''I"m Paddy O'Mally O'Reily O'Berg, the drunken Irish Jew!''' }}

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* ''Abie's Irish Rose'' was a stage play that was adapted for [[Film]] and [[Radio]], concerning a romance between a Jewish boy and an Irish-Catholic girl. It was a huge commercial success, and spawned many imitators, despite the fact that [[Critic Proof|the critics universally agreed]] that it was ''absolutely terrible'', not to mention ''deeply'' offensive to all ethnicities involved.

** Among the many imitators was the 1926 film (and subsequent film series) ''The Cohens and Kellys'', which inverted the sexes of the romantic pair (Irish-American boy, Jewish girl) and played up the "feuding families" aspects. The series was most famous for a lawsuit which resulted from it, in which the playwright who penned ''Abie's Irish Rose'' sued Universal Pictures for copyright infringement. Famously, Judge [[Awesome McCoolname|Learned Hand]]<ref> This was an opinion written for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. However, since the was written by Hand and was a copyright case originating out of New York (hence the appeal up to the Second Circuit), it is given deference by most Courts as if it were a Supreme Court case.</ref> ruled that copyright protection could not apply to [[Stock Characters]].

** Among the many imitators was the 1926 film (and subsequent film series) ''The Cohens and Kellys'', which inverted the sexes of the romantic pair (Irish-American boy, Jewish girl) and played up the "feuding families" aspects. The series was most famous for a lawsuit which resulted from it, in which the playwright who penned ''Abie's Irish Rose'' sued Universal Pictures for copyright infringement. Famously, Judge [[Awesome McCoolname|Learned Hand]]<ref>This was an opinion written for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. However, since the was written by Hand and was a copyright case originating out of New York (hence the appeal up to the Second Circuit), it is given deference by most Courts as if it were a Supreme Court case.</ref> ruled that copyright protection could not apply to [[Stock Characters]].

** A short-lived [[CBS]] sitcom called ''Bridget Loves Bernie'' ran from 1972 to 1973, riffing off of the themes in ''Abie's Irish Rose''. Like ''Abie's Irish Rose'', it was popular with the viewing public, but unlike ''Rose'', offended members of the ethnic groups in question managed to get ''Bridget Loves Bernie'' canceled.

* The Broadway musical version of ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'' was penned by [[Mel Brooks]] and Thomas Meehan, in a fairly recent behind-the-scenes example. As in many of these cases, the fact of their ethnicity has little to do with the finished product, but it is remarkable that the trope persists long after the death of Vaudeville and the disintegration of the old New York City ethnic enclaves.

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* [[Alyson Hannigan]]'s parents. Whoever they are.

* [[Ben Stiller]]'s parents had a comedy act based on this, and then they had him.

* Jeff Nimoy (yes, ''[[Leonard Nimoy|that]]'' ~~Nimoy -- he~~'s a second cousin once removed) and [[Quinton Flynn]].

* Jeff Nimoy (yes, ''[[Leonard Nimoy|that]]'' Nimoy—he's a second cousin once removed) and [[Quinton Flynn]].

* Israel’s former president, Haim Herzog, was an Irish Jew, and even spoke Gaelic.

* Ireland has had a Jewish community since at least the 13th century.

** But then, which country hasn't? Even Vatican City has had its share of Jewish popes and ~~cardinals -- besides~~ the obvious Peter, many sources recall the scholar-Pope Sylvester II/Gerbert d'Aurillac as being of Jewish descent.

** But then, which country hasn't? Even Vatican City has had its share of Jewish popes and cardinals—besides the obvious Peter, many sources recall the scholar-Pope Sylvester II/Gerbert d'Aurillac as being of Jewish descent.

** That was more than likely used as an insult, as the prevailing attitude of the time was that Jews were 'Christ killers' and thus [[Exclusively Evil]], and he was regularly demonized as a sorcerer after his death because of his impressive achievements, magic being another inaccurate trait prescribed to Jews by the superstitious, the uneducated and the stupid (most of Mediaeval society was at least two of these).

* Colin Quinn has recently done a one man show on Broadway, directed by Jerry Seinfeld.