History Main / BorschtBelt

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The actual Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination in the 1920s through the 1970s for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi heavily Ashkenazi ancestry]] of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht (pronounced "borsh" in East Slavic languages, and "borscht" in Yiddish), a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The actual Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination in the 1920s through the 1970s for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi heavily Ashkenazi ancestry]] of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht (pronounced "borsh"), a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

* Robert Smigel's Triumph the Insult Comic Dog character is based on a particularly blue Borscht Belt persona, as evidenced by his accent and use of Yiddish, such as "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar schtupping]]."

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The actual Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination in the 1920s through the 1970s for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi heavily Ashkenazi ancestry]] of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht,[[note]]the "t" is silent[[/note]] a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Borscht Belt" is a style of Jewish comedy. The actual Borscht Belt is a region in the Catskill Mountains of [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState upstate New York]] that was a popular resort destination in the 1920s through the 1970s for Jews who were excluded from other resorts. Due to the [[AllJewsAreAshkenazi heavily Ashkenazi ancestry]] of New York Jews, the area is named for borscht, a type of beet soup popular in Central and Eastern Europe.

* ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'''s [[ThePornomancer Danny]] will invoke this at times and will often tell stories of his FishOutOfWater father which can resemble this.

* In ''{{Film/A Walk On The Moon}}'', a vast majority of the film is set in a Borscht Belt bungalow colony during the summer of 1969. There is a brief scene where several of the parents are in a ballroom watching a Borscht Belt comic: "Now I want to invite you all up on the floor to dance, because it's my turn to laugh!"
* Catskill from ''{{Film/Heartbeeps}}'' is a standup comedian robot modeled after a bad Borscht Belt comedian, complete with a database full of horrible Henny Youngman style jokes.

[[folder:Theater]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' has a subplot in one episode where Hilda puts on a [[VisualPun belt]] that forces her to tell these types of jokes ("I took my ex-wife everywhere. It was easier than having to kiss her goodbye!") and she ends up with a stand-up routine on the Other Realm network. What's the name of this belt she puts on? [[CaptainObviousReveal You should have guessed by now]].

* Boris and Minka, Tommy's maternal grandparents in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''

* Henny Youngman voiced a caricature of a chicken caricature of himself in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures,'' where he comments about his jokes hitting "below the Borscht Belt."

* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Midge's family goes on vacation in a Jewish resort in the Catskills every summer. During her first summer after starting her stand-up comedy career, she tries to stick to her normal traditions, but is eventually pressed by Susie into doing gigs at the local Borscht Belt resorts. Her first gig ends up being a "naughty" late-night spot at the Concord where she's expected to "work blue", and after its success, she ends up working a few more gigs at other resorts.

* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Midge goes on vacation in a Jewish resort in the Catskills and, naturally, books a stand-up comedy gig there. She notably appears in a "naughty" late-night spot where she's expected to "work blue."

* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Midge goes on vacation in a Jewish resort in the Catskills and, naturally, books a stand-up comedy gig there. She notably appears in a "naughty" late-night spot where she's expected to "work blue." [[spoiler:And then she discovers her father in the audience...]]

* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Midge goes on vacation in a Jewish resort in the Catskills and, naturally, books a stand-up comedy gig there. She notably appears in a "naughty" late-night spot where she's expected to "work blue."

* Mel Brook's ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' features a lot of Borscht Belt style comedy, including a sequence where Brooks plays a stand-up comedian in ancient Rome. There are cameos by a number of Borscht Belt comedians, including Sid Caesar, Jackie Mason and Henny Youngman.

* Parodied in ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' with Fozzie Bear, whose entire identity is wrapped up in being a Broscht Belt style comedian [[GiftedlyBad who is so awful at telling jokes that his failures are hilarious]].

* In his pursuit of a comedy career, [[WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill Bobby Hill]] adopts a Yiddish accent, and turns "Vat are you talkin' about?" into his catchphrase.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/borschtbelt_9256.jpg]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

* Parodied in ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' with Fozzie Bear, whose entire identity was wrapped up in being a Broscht Belt style comedian [[GiftedlyBad who was so awful at telling jokes that his failures were hilarious]].

[[folder: Theatre ]]

* The musical ''Top Banana'' gives this sort of background to its comedian protagonist, Jerry Biffle, in the OpeningChorus: "He was found on a Catskill peak / Where they booked him for one split week."

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' features Borscht Belt style comedian Billy Knight, complete with an inexplicable New York accent.

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'''s [[ThePornomancer Danny]] will invoke this at times and will often tell stories of his FishOutOfWater father which can resemble this.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Dr. Zoidberg in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is a thinly-veiled [[SpaceJews Space Jew]] of a Borscht Belt-style mooch.
* Boris and Minka, Tommy's maternal grandparents in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''
* [[JewishMother Sheila Broflovskii]] of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' speaks this way, though the accent is a little more subdued in later seasons.
* In some iterations of his backstory in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', this is where Krusty the Klown's career began.

* In some iterations of his backstory in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', this is where Krusty the Klown's career begqan.

* The blacklisted comedian Hecky Brown in ''Film/TheFront''.

-->-- '''Cornfed''', ''Series/{{Duckman}}''