History Main / BorschtBelt

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The actual Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

** Ah, vhaddaya know from funny, ya bastard.

* ''ComingToAmerica'' features Eddie Murphy performing as an old New York Jew who tells a classic Borscht Belt joke: As a husband and wife are getting into bed, the husband hands the wife two aspirin and a glass of water. The wife says, "What's this for? I don't have a headache." The husband smirks triumphantly, "Ah ha!" [[DontExplainTheJoke If you don't get it:]] [[spoiler: They never have sex because the wife always says she has a headache. Now she has no excuse.]]
** The movie includes a somewhat similar joke: An old Jew asks a waiter to taste his soup. He won't say what's wrong with it; he just insists until the waiter agrees. Then, "Where's the spoon?" "Ah ha!"

* {{Buddy Hackett}}

* ''ComingToAmerica'' features Eddie Murphy performing as an old New York Jew who tells a classic Borscht Belt joke: As a husband and wife are getting into bed, the husband hands the wife two aspirin and a glass of water. The wife says, "What's this for? I don't have a headache." The husband smirks triumphantly, "Ah ha!"
** [[DontExplainTheJoke If you don't get it:]] [[spoiler: They never have sex because the wife always says she has a headache. Now she has no excuse.]]

** [[DontExplainTheJoke If you don't get it:]] [[spoiler: They never have sex because the wife always says she has a headache. Now she has no excuse.]])

* ''ComingToAmerica'' features Eddie Murphy performing as an old New York Jew who tells a classic Borscht Belt joke: As a husband and wife are getting into bed, the husband hands the wife two aspirin and a glass of water. The wife says, "What's this for? I don't have a headache." The husband smirks triumphantly, "Ah ha!" (ie [[DontExplainTheJoke now she has no excuse not to have sex with him]])

* Dr. Zoidberg in ''{{Futurama}}'' is a thinly-veiled [[SpaceJews Space Jew]] of a Borscht Belt-style mooch.

* Alan interviewed Borscht Belt style comedian in the Las Vegas episode of ''KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge''. This being Alan, he failed to get most of the comedian's humour and then told an offensive Jewish joke.

* Alan interviewed Borscht Belt style comedian in the Las Vegas episode of ''KnowingMeKnowingWithAlanPartridge''. This being Alan, he failed to get most of the comedian's humour and then told an offensive Jewish joke.

The Jewish comedians who performed at these resorts developed a style of humor that became very popular in the entertainment industry. Borscht Belt humor is characterized by stereotypical Jewish traits, such as self-deprecation, insults, [[JewishComplaining complaints]], hypochondria, wordplay and liberal use of [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Yiddish]].

* ''ComingToAmerica'' features Eddie Murphy perfoming as an old New York Jew who tells a classic Borscht Belt joke: "As a husband and wife are getting into bed, the husband hands the wife two aspirin and a glass of water. The wife says, 'What's this for? I don't have a headache." The husband smirks triumphantly, "Ah ha!" (ie [[DontExplainTheJoke now she has no excuse not to have sex with him]])

* In ''{{Goodfellas}}'', Henry and Karen watch a Borscht Belt style comedian after their famous steady-cam walk into the theater. He tells a classic joke, "I take my wife everywhere, but she finds her way home!"
** The comedian is played by Henny Youngman, a genuine BorschtBelt staple. (Also, Youngman getting his lines straight was the biggest obstacle to getting TheOner shot.)

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The literal Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The literal Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe. (Interestingly, borscht is the unofficial national dish of Ukraine, the Eastern European country where the Yiddish language is supposed to have originated.)

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The literal Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe. (Interestingly, borscht is the unofficial national dish of Ukraine, the Eastern European country where Yiddish is supposed to have originated.)

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The literal Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Jewish comedians who performed at these resorts developed a style of humor that became very popular in the entertainment industry. Borscht Belt humor is characterized by stereotypical Jewish traits, such as self-deprecation, insults, complaints, hypochondria, wordplay and liberal use of [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Yiddish]].

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The literal Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe (it's actually Ukrainian in origin).

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The literal Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The literal Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York that was a popular resort destination for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the heavily [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi Ashkenazi]] ancestry of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

Works featuring Borscht Belt comedy or characters include:

* Don Rickles