WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.599
<v Speaker 1>Hear me, oh, hear me, oh paied the Lord, the

2
00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.240
<v Speaker 1>Lord Jehovah has given unto you.

3
00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:11.119
<v Speaker 2>He's fifteen.

4
00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:35.679
<v Speaker 1>Hey, ten ten commandments fall to pay. Welcome to this

5
00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.240
<v Speaker 1>special passover episode of Amusing Jews, where we celebrate Jewish

6
00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:43.520
<v Speaker 1>contributors and contributions to American popular culture. Passover Sadyers can

7
00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:49.560
<v Speaker 1>be a drag, long, slow, repetitive, inscrutable, leaving attendees young

8
00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:52.840
<v Speaker 1>and old snoring to the finish line. Of course, that

9
00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.280
<v Speaker 1>wasn't the case when the sator was held at Sid

10
00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.039
<v Speaker 1>Caesar's house, with a guest list that included mel Brooks,

11
00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:04.719
<v Speaker 1>Carl Reiner, Richard Lewis, Laney Kazan, Theodore Bikel, Connie Stevens,

12
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.959
<v Speaker 1>Monty Hall, Arthur Hiller, Jeff Ross, and today's guest, I'm

13
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:11.280
<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Friedman.

14
00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:12.439
<v Speaker 3>And I'm Joey Angelfield.

15
00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:16.200
<v Speaker 1>Producer engineer Mike Tomren is working somewhere behind the scenes.

16
00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:19.519
<v Speaker 1>Amusing Jews is a project of a Dad Javerin, Congregation

17
00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:23.079
<v Speaker 1>for Humanistic Judaism, the Jewish Museum of the American West,

18
00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:25.079
<v Speaker 1>and Atheist United Studios.

19
00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:28.400
<v Speaker 3>We're excited to chat again with Rena Strober, a Broadway

20
00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.799
<v Speaker 3>television film and voice actor who's currently working on a

21
00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:36.640
<v Speaker 3>memoir singing for Sid and other Wow moments. Rena, welcome

22
00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:37.799
<v Speaker 3>back to amusing Jews.

23
00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:40.280
<v Speaker 4>Thank you. You guys have not aged a bit.

24
00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:43.400
<v Speaker 3>That's so nice of you to say so. Rena, tell

25
00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:45.920
<v Speaker 3>us how'd you get to know the legendary said Caesar.

26
00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:50.439
<v Speaker 2>Oh my gosh, it just gets more and more Jewish.

27
00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.480
<v Speaker 4>I was doing a musical review in Los Angeles.

28
00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:57.200
<v Speaker 2>I just moved to LA from New York in twenty

29
00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.879
<v Speaker 2>twelve or twenty thirteen, and Jason Legs and cast me

30
00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:01.920
<v Speaker 2>in a.

31
00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:03.480
<v Speaker 4>Musical review called when You're in Love.

32
00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:06.439
<v Speaker 2>The Whole World is Jewish, based on the Bob Booker

33
00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:09.439
<v Speaker 2>albums A fear of that age. There were these records

34
00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.599
<v Speaker 2>that sort of broke down the traditional Jewish jokes into scenes,

35
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:16.960
<v Speaker 2>and Jason directed sort of a stage version of it.

36
00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.919
<v Speaker 2>And I just moved from New York where I had

37
00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:22.840
<v Speaker 2>a lot of cool things going on in my life,

38
00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:25.360
<v Speaker 2>and one of them was I was a member of

39
00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:27.599
<v Speaker 2>the Friars Club because.

40
00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.919
<v Speaker 4>I am obsessed with old Jewish men. Not obsessed. I

41
00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:33.479
<v Speaker 4>think I am an old Jewish man. Let's just say that.

42
00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:37.120
<v Speaker 2>Born and raised in the Catskills, I'm a borsch belt person.

43
00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:41.639
<v Speaker 2>So in my bio it's talked about stuff I'd done,

44
00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:43.240
<v Speaker 2>and then it said I was a member of the

45
00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.120
<v Speaker 2>Friars Club. And afterwards at adorable couple came over to

46
00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.280
<v Speaker 2>me and they said, oh my god, you were great.

47
00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.759
<v Speaker 4>We used to run the Friars Club. Here, would you

48
00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:54.800
<v Speaker 4>want to meet Sid Caesar?

49
00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:57.840
<v Speaker 2>And I was like, I had been stalking Sid at

50
00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:01.800
<v Speaker 2>Factors Deli every Wednesday for good six months because he

51
00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:02.520
<v Speaker 2>was meeting his.

52
00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:03.800
<v Speaker 4>Writers there every Wednesday.

53
00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:07.840
<v Speaker 2>I've loved Sid Caesar since Greece, History of the World.

54
00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:11.039
<v Speaker 2>And then I got to know Caesar's hour, and I

55
00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:14.159
<v Speaker 2>knew that he had not met anyone in at least

56
00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:16.439
<v Speaker 2>in a year or so, because he was sort of

57
00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:19.960
<v Speaker 2>house bound and getting older. But this couple said that

58
00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:21.919
<v Speaker 2>they were his caretakers and would.

59
00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:23.919
<v Speaker 4>I want to go up and meet him? And they'd

60
00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:27.000
<v Speaker 4>never done this before, but something about me because.

61
00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:30.599
<v Speaker 5>I'm an old Jewish man, So yes, I said, And

62
00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:33.560
<v Speaker 5>the next day I was given the address and I

63
00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:37.240
<v Speaker 5>met Arthur Hiller actually in the driveway and we walked

64
00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:40.560
<v Speaker 5>in and there was Sid in a hospital bed.

65
00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:47.560
<v Speaker 2>Giant, He's still a giant, giant, hand giant, eyebrows, and

66
00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:51.680
<v Speaker 2>Arthur sat down next to him, and Arthur just started crying,

67
00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:54.319
<v Speaker 2>actually because the Sid looked.

68
00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:58.080
<v Speaker 4>Very old and frail and sort of not there. And

69
00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:02.000
<v Speaker 4>I stood and I let the men just have a moment.

70
00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.080
<v Speaker 2>And then lou this friend said, Brina sick because I

71
00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:07.919
<v Speaker 2>sung in the show for Jason, sing for him, sang

72
00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:08.360
<v Speaker 2>for him.

73
00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.120
<v Speaker 4>My whole life, I've been forced to sing in funny situations.

74
00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:14.159
<v Speaker 4>But so I started to sing.

75
00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:17.519
<v Speaker 2>Sid's eyes popped open and his giant eyebrows went up,

76
00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:19.519
<v Speaker 2>and he looked to me and and in like a

77
00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:23.560
<v Speaker 2>gravelly voice, he said, oh wow, which is the name

78
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:26.439
<v Speaker 2>of the book I'm working on? And he started to

79
00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.199
<v Speaker 2>sing No very long.

80
00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:47.680
<v Speaker 4>There actual, and everyone was sort of shocked a bit.

81
00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:50.560
<v Speaker 2>And to make a long story short, for a year,

82
00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:53.360
<v Speaker 2>I went by his house every week and I sat

83
00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:56.560
<v Speaker 2>next to him, and I sang, and I sang Gershwin

84
00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.319
<v Speaker 2>and Rogers and Hart and Hammerstein, and the me music

85
00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:03.199
<v Speaker 2>started to bring him back, and he then in return

86
00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:07.079
<v Speaker 2>would tell me stories and I sort of became part

87
00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.279
<v Speaker 2>of the meshbucha and I was there a lot, and

88
00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.560
<v Speaker 2>Mel and Carl would go on other days. We all

89
00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:15.360
<v Speaker 2>had our days that we went, and the village loved

90
00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:16.399
<v Speaker 2>him and took care of him.

91
00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:18.720
<v Speaker 1>I know the era died in the Wold in New

92
00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.399
<v Speaker 1>Yorker and La is still not one hundred percent comfortable

93
00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:24.959
<v Speaker 1>for you. What is the difference or what was the

94
00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:28.680
<v Speaker 1>difference between the Friars Club in New York and in LA.

95
00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:31.439
<v Speaker 2>I never went to the Friars Club here from what

96
00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:33.480
<v Speaker 2>I know, because the New York Club made the La

97
00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:35.759
<v Speaker 2>Club shut down many years ago.

98
00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:38.199
<v Speaker 4>The New York Club was very exclusive.

99
00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:40.560
<v Speaker 2>You could only walk through those doors if you were

100
00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:44.279
<v Speaker 2>a member or with a member. We were fairly strict

101
00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:46.120
<v Speaker 2>about it. And for those who don't know the Friars Club,

102
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.040
<v Speaker 2>we did the roasts, all the famous roasts we had.

103
00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:53.279
<v Speaker 2>Milton Burrell left his five story townhouse to us on

104
00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:57.720
<v Speaker 2>fifty fifth and actually all just shut down and it's gone.

105
00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.360
<v Speaker 2>But during the Hey today there were the roasts and

106
00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:06.240
<v Speaker 2>Freddie Roman. We would have lunch there, we would have

107
00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:09.040
<v Speaker 2>chopped liver, Happy Hour. I sang there every week.

108
00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:12.680
<v Speaker 4>But it was exclusive. It was a club for entertainers.

109
00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.199
<v Speaker 2>I say I brought the average age down to seventy

110
00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:17.680
<v Speaker 2>because it was mostly old people.

111
00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:20.879
<v Speaker 4>Then there was Jeff Ross and me and a few

112
00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:22.879
<v Speaker 4>other people. So the one in La.

113
00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:28.360
<v Speaker 2>Was open to everybody sort of towards the end, and

114
00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:29.839
<v Speaker 2>I think that was the problem.

115
00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:31.920
<v Speaker 4>Anyone could go sort of as a restaurant.

116
00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:36.279
<v Speaker 1>Enjoining the show, click like and subscribe. So how did

117
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:39.399
<v Speaker 1>you end up doing a passover Satyr with Sid Caesar.

118
00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.759
<v Speaker 4>I'd heard that his satyrs were famous.

119
00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:45.839
<v Speaker 2>Him and Florence were very social people, and they had

120
00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:48.480
<v Speaker 2>this beautiful house in Beverly Hills, and they were infamous

121
00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.639
<v Speaker 2>for throwing a second I think it was mostly the

122
00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:51.680
<v Speaker 2>second night Satyr.

123
00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:52.920
<v Speaker 4>And I'd heard that.

124
00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:55.879
<v Speaker 2>Sid would only talk in his gibberish, and these were

125
00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.839
<v Speaker 2>famous satyrs, and at this point I don't know.

126
00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:03.560
<v Speaker 4>If they had been doing them, but we decided to

127
00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:05.480
<v Speaker 4>bring it back. That year.

128
00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:08.279
<v Speaker 2>It was his actually final satyr. I did two there,

129
00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:11.079
<v Speaker 2>but the following year he had already passed away. So

130
00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.120
<v Speaker 2>he was there in a jar with his wife in

131
00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:15.720
<v Speaker 2>a jar and his dog in a jar.

132
00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:18.720
<v Speaker 4>And I say that lighthearted because he would love that.

133
00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:24.439
<v Speaker 2>But the year that he was there, Theo Biquel, who

134
00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:26.720
<v Speaker 2>had just played My Father and Fiddler on the Roof.

135
00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:28.120
<v Speaker 4>I was on the national tour with.

136
00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:31.040
<v Speaker 2>Topel and Theo came in to fill in so I

137
00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:35.639
<v Speaker 2>knew the Theo, So me and THEO sort of put

138
00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:39.879
<v Speaker 2>this satyr together for Sid and all of his friends.

139
00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:43.160
<v Speaker 2>And I was the youngest by far, so I got

140
00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.560
<v Speaker 2>to sing the four Questions for the first time in decades.

141
00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:50.160
<v Speaker 2>So these satyrs were infamous, and they had about twenty people.

142
00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:55.279
<v Speaker 2>It was catered at from Brent's Delhi and they were

143
00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:58.519
<v Speaker 2>the same people. And just a few moments that I

144
00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:02.439
<v Speaker 2>want to share is mante Hall, who was one of

145
00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:05.319
<v Speaker 2>the kindest, Like I knew him a little bit, but

146
00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:10.519
<v Speaker 2>he is such a Nashama like he all he wanted

147
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:13.079
<v Speaker 2>to do was the Schehriano, Like can I please do

148
00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:15.480
<v Speaker 2>the cheriano? Like that meant so much to him.

149
00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.560
<v Speaker 4>And he did it. We would have dinner parties there too.

150
00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.480
<v Speaker 2>We had a dinner for Sids ninetieth, his ninety first

151
00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.720
<v Speaker 2>and this satyr and and MANTSTI always.

152
00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:24.839
<v Speaker 4>Wanted to bring the cheeriano.

153
00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.199
<v Speaker 2>So I just I always love that. And like you said,

154
00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:32.879
<v Speaker 2>Lady Kazan was across from me. Connie Stevens Artie Butler,

155
00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:38.120
<v Speaker 2>theo bikel who's just I mean. I did fiddler with

156
00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:39.879
<v Speaker 2>him when he was eighty six. And this is a

157
00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:46.639
<v Speaker 2>man who's eighty nine at the time, who at first

158
00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:49.480
<v Speaker 2>feels very old, and then when he opens his mouth

159
00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:55.279
<v Speaker 2>to saying, he goes back to his forties. It's it's magical, magical.

160
00:08:55.399 --> 00:09:00.240
<v Speaker 2>He had an old, old Yiddish hagada. He's all so

161
00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:04.320
<v Speaker 2>incredibly progressive. He sounds like he wouldn't be, but the

162
00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:08.600
<v Speaker 2>orange was there on the satyr plate. He challenged every story,

163
00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:13.720
<v Speaker 2>he challenged every cashrew rule. He had a laptop on

164
00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.159
<v Speaker 2>the table because he had just met this woman and

165
00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.919
<v Speaker 2>in India, so he had her face timing on there

166
00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:21.399
<v Speaker 2>like and uh and.

167
00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.919
<v Speaker 4>Mel brooks Uh was what I called Melijah.

168
00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:27.919
<v Speaker 2>He was a few minutes late, and so we left

169
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:34.480
<v Speaker 2>a chair for Melijah. And then I was because I

170
00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:37.960
<v Speaker 2>was the youngest, and I sat to theo's left, and

171
00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.559
<v Speaker 2>I had to do the four questions, And so before beforehand,

172
00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:43.440
<v Speaker 2>I thought, well.

173
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:45.879
<v Speaker 4>I have to make this night different from all other nights.

174
00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:50.480
<v Speaker 2>And I rewrote the four questions to the tune of Pardon,

175
00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:54.440
<v Speaker 2>Pardon Me Miss, which was Sid's big song on Broadway

176
00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:55.960
<v Speaker 2>and from Little Mee.

177
00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:57.759
<v Speaker 4>And then I did too too.

178
00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:00.200
<v Speaker 2>If I were a rich man, I actually was to

179
00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:02.360
<v Speaker 2>do the fourth one to springtime for Hitler in honor

180
00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:03.519
<v Speaker 2>of mel But I was.

181
00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:08.399
<v Speaker 4>Like, maybe maybe not the best choice. So I did

182
00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.120
<v Speaker 4>if I were a rich man, and pardon me miss

183
00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:11.159
<v Speaker 4>to the four questions.

184
00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.039
<v Speaker 3>It sounds like it was more of a secular cultural

185
00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:15.440
<v Speaker 3>event than a religious one.

186
00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:18.320
<v Speaker 2>Well, I will preface this by saying, I think in

187
00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.960
<v Speaker 2>that room, if they, if these were people who knew

188
00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:25.840
<v Speaker 2>what humanistic Judaism was, they would sign up. Mel would

189
00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:29.200
<v Speaker 2>always say, you know, there's no He would say there's

190
00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.279
<v Speaker 2>no mel Brooks without Sidsey's, or there's only Melvin Kaminski.

191
00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:35.519
<v Speaker 2>And then he would talk about how he was raised

192
00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.960
<v Speaker 2>by Jewish parents, but he wasn't a religious Jew. He

193
00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.519
<v Speaker 2>was a cultural Jew. And I think that went for

194
00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:45.320
<v Speaker 2>everybody in the room. Maybe Monty Hall was probably your

195
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:50.759
<v Speaker 2>more religious Jew. Rabbi Jerry Cutler, may he rest in peace.

196
00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.240
<v Speaker 4>May his memory be for a blessing who passed away

197
00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.960
<v Speaker 4>just last month. He was the rabbi there reform rabbi.

198
00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:03.080
<v Speaker 2>Though this was a culture event, this was a ritual

199
00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:08.879
<v Speaker 2>Even to theo Bakel, it felt very ritualistic in what's

200
00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:09.759
<v Speaker 2>on the sat or plate.

201
00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:12.080
<v Speaker 4>Whenever we said why, you know, why is this night

202
00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:12.960
<v Speaker 4>different from all others?

203
00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.639
<v Speaker 2>Mel Brooks would scream because we wait so long to eat,

204
00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:19.039
<v Speaker 2>Like the people were just yelling things out and Sid

205
00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:21.759
<v Speaker 2>was not doing it this time, but he was known

206
00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:25.440
<v Speaker 2>to just do the whole Hagada in Gibberish, like he

207
00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.639
<v Speaker 2>would tell the story of the Exodus in Gibberish. I'm

208
00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:32.399
<v Speaker 2>sure most of these people hadn't been to a satyr,

209
00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:35.919
<v Speaker 2>probably in a long time, but this gave them this

210
00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.120
<v Speaker 2>sense of connection the food, the bris kit. Even like

211
00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:43.320
<v Speaker 2>in this book that recently came out about Sid Caesar,

212
00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:45.960
<v Speaker 2>my quote that they use was when I walked in,

213
00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:52.039
<v Speaker 2>it smelled of shallamar and chop liver. It's this old

214
00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:55.799
<v Speaker 2>feeling and this old smell, and but that's what it

215
00:11:55.879 --> 00:11:56.320
<v Speaker 2>was about.

216
00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.120
<v Speaker 4>And to me, I think that's what Passover is about.

217
00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:04.440
<v Speaker 2>Ninety nine point nine percent of homes, that it's about

218
00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:05.240
<v Speaker 2>these rituals.

219
00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:09.919
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and Passover is the most celebrated of the Jewish

220
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.840
<v Speaker 1>holidays in the United States. And partly it's for all

221
00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:15.720
<v Speaker 1>the reasons that you're mentioning that it is self directed.

222
00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:17.679
<v Speaker 1>You don't really need a rabbi, even though there was

223
00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.399
<v Speaker 1>a rabbi there who I'm sure was just enjoying being

224
00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:24.399
<v Speaker 1>around all these legends just as viewer. But it can

225
00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:26.440
<v Speaker 1>be done however you want to do it. You can

226
00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.240
<v Speaker 1>do it in gibberish, you can do it quickly, you

227
00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.399
<v Speaker 1>can do it with a lot of sarcasm and humor,

228
00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:37.559
<v Speaker 1>which is I think something that outsiders don't necessarily understand

229
00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.679
<v Speaker 1>about the Satyr, that it really is kind of a

230
00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:46.360
<v Speaker 1>choose your own adventure cultural event. More than anything else.

231
00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:49.480
<v Speaker 2>It really reflected who those people were in the room,

232
00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:51.200
<v Speaker 2>and everybody had a voice.

233
00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:53.480
<v Speaker 4>We were at three round no no, I was.

234
00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:56.279
<v Speaker 2>At a rectangle table in the front, and then there

235
00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:58.279
<v Speaker 2>were like two round tables I think.

236
00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:00.720
<v Speaker 4>But it was a big event. I mean it was loud.

237
00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:06.120
<v Speaker 2>People are screaming, Landy's yelling whatnot, and and uh, you know.

238
00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:08.360
<v Speaker 4>Jeff Ross was just I've never seen him so quiet.

239
00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:10.559
<v Speaker 2>I knew him from New York in the Friars Club,

240
00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.200
<v Speaker 2>but he was in a state of awe.

241
00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:17.240
<v Speaker 4>Just watching all of these these legends.

242
00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.200
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I tell people, if I ever have a like,

243
00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:22.519
<v Speaker 2>if you ever have one of those dreams where you're

244
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.080
<v Speaker 2>sitting at a table with all of your heroes, you.

245
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:27.279
<v Speaker 4>Know, and then you wake up like that was this

246
00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:27.720
<v Speaker 4>for me.

247
00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.440
<v Speaker 2>I just was like, how how am I at a

248
00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:35.000
<v Speaker 2>Jewish event, which I love with these people like I

249
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:38.399
<v Speaker 2>would not choose anyone else to be at a satyr with.

250
00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.879
<v Speaker 4>And then at one point mel Brooks called me over.

251
00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:44.799
<v Speaker 2>I hadn't really spent a lot of time with him yet,

252
00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:47.320
<v Speaker 2>and he has me sit down, and I was like,

253
00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.559
<v Speaker 2>I mean, he is he's my hush em.

254
00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:53.679
<v Speaker 4>I pray to mel Brooks and.

255
00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:56.000
<v Speaker 2>He said, so, I heard you're coming by weekly to

256
00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:58.799
<v Speaker 2>sing to Sid and I said yeah, and you know

257
00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:00.320
<v Speaker 2>and I said to him, I know he told me

258
00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:02.480
<v Speaker 2>the joke or the story the other day that when

259
00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:04.200
<v Speaker 2>he hung you out the window in Chicago.

260
00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.080
<v Speaker 4>And he goes, what do you mean he told you

261
00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:08.559
<v Speaker 4>that story? I said, well, we just.

262
00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:11.480
<v Speaker 2>Finished singing all of show Boat, and then he started

263
00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.240
<v Speaker 2>to tell me that story, and he got very sort

264
00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:19.519
<v Speaker 2>of quiet, and he took my face in his hands,

265
00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.519
<v Speaker 2>and I was like, oh my god, Oh my god,

266
00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:24.519
<v Speaker 2>what is happening. And he kissed me on my forehead

267
00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:30.240
<v Speaker 2>and he just sort of blessed me, uh like I

268
00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:32.440
<v Speaker 2>don't know how Moses felt when he had his stuff

269
00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.159
<v Speaker 2>going on, but this was this was biblical.

270
00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:40.360
<v Speaker 4>He thanked me because mel and Sid and Carl were

271
00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:44.879
<v Speaker 4>a trio, and then when Sid was the first one

272
00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:49.120
<v Speaker 4>to really succumb to age and dementia in a way.

273
00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:52.120
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to use that word medically because I

274
00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:55.159
<v Speaker 2>don't know if that was the diagnosis, but it really

275
00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:55.879
<v Speaker 2>affected them.

276
00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.960
<v Speaker 4>It affected Carl really hard that he didn't come by

277
00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:00.320
<v Speaker 4>a lot during the weekend. He more.

278
00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:03.840
<v Speaker 2>But mel had a hard time seeing his best friend

279
00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:08.759
<v Speaker 2>slowly die, and so he kissed my forehead and just

280
00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:12.279
<v Speaker 2>thanked me, and I was like, I need nothing else

281
00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:12.759
<v Speaker 2>in life.

282
00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:15.960
<v Speaker 1>I was gonna ask about that. It seems like this

283
00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:20.279
<v Speaker 1>is a peak experience and any other Satyr or any

284
00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:23.320
<v Speaker 1>other event at all is going to pale in comparison

285
00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.000
<v Speaker 1>for the rest of your life. Like how is that

286
00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:30.360
<v Speaker 1>sort of dealing with having that experience and then having

287
00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:33.559
<v Speaker 1>to do so many other things afterwards, you know.

288
00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.240
<v Speaker 4>I mean, I walk into Satyrs and I'm like, where's

289
00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.960
<v Speaker 4>mel Brooks? Because if he's not here, I'm leaving.

290
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.480
<v Speaker 1>I wouldn't even go to Satyrs anymore after that.

291
00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:45.840
<v Speaker 2>I sometimes I think about it as a fever dream.

292
00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:49.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, did that just happen? Like, speaking of Monty Hall,

293
00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:52.960
<v Speaker 2>his daughter's Joanna Gleeson, one of my favorite Broadway actresses,

294
00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:57.039
<v Speaker 2>and I always sort of quote her into the woods.

295
00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.399
<v Speaker 2>She goes, what was that was that me? That him?

296
00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:01.759
<v Speaker 4>Did a prince really kiss me?

297
00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:05.799
<v Speaker 2>That's jo Wanna Gleeson And I sometimes go into that,

298
00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:09.279
<v Speaker 2>but I am like a seven year old.

299
00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:10.679
<v Speaker 4>I don't know. You guys know this.

300
00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:16.039
<v Speaker 2>I get so excited by everything. So I still get

301
00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:17.799
<v Speaker 2>so excited to do a sator.

302
00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:18.480
<v Speaker 4>You know.

303
00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:20.519
<v Speaker 2>I have my daughter now, who's going to be nine

304
00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.559
<v Speaker 2>next month, and I get to pass down traditions to her.

305
00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.559
<v Speaker 4>I get to watch herbie board and try to leave

306
00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:30.679
<v Speaker 4>the table. But you're right, it'll never compare.

307
00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:35.600
<v Speaker 2>But I also can compartmentalize a bit and honor that

308
00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:40.000
<v Speaker 2>and not expect another one because the fact that I

309
00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:41.679
<v Speaker 2>had one of those in a lifetime, and then I

310
00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:46.080
<v Speaker 2>had his ninetieth I had was part of his funeral planning, unfortunately,

311
00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:49.759
<v Speaker 2>slash fortunately. And then the following year we all met again,

312
00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:53.759
<v Speaker 2>everybody met again, and had that satyr in which I

313
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:54.879
<v Speaker 2>led a lot more of it.

314
00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:55.799
<v Speaker 4>THEO wasn't there.

315
00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:59.039
<v Speaker 2>I think he was on his honeymoon, and so I

316
00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:04.039
<v Speaker 2>got to lead it and that was very meaningful, sort

317
00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:08.440
<v Speaker 2>of almost closure to end, you know, and knowing that

318
00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:14.000
<v Speaker 2>Sid and Florence and Carlin his dog, were there. And

319
00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:18.119
<v Speaker 2>it's been a while, but I hold it, you know,

320
00:17:18.839 --> 00:17:20.200
<v Speaker 2>I hold it in my heart.

321
00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.839
<v Speaker 3>And yeah, well that's, you know, a really wonderful story

322
00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:25.559
<v Speaker 3>that I've now heard you tell a couple of times, Rena,

323
00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:27.279
<v Speaker 3>and it gets better every time I hear it. I

324
00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:29.480
<v Speaker 3>want to take pieces of it into my statter this year.

325
00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:31.359
<v Speaker 3>But can you tell us a little more about your

326
00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:33.680
<v Speaker 3>memoir and what we can expect from it.

327
00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.759
<v Speaker 2>I hope it's normal that memoirs take a long time,

328
00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:41.039
<v Speaker 2>because I started writing my story with Sid the year

329
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.400
<v Speaker 2>he died and we're talking twenty thirteen, because I didn't

330
00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.480
<v Speaker 2>want to forget a thing. He imparted a lot of

331
00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.480
<v Speaker 2>wisdom despite people not thinking he was there. He talked

332
00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:54.039
<v Speaker 2>to me about love, He talked to me about writing,

333
00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:57.200
<v Speaker 2>He talked to me about comedy, all because of music.

334
00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:00.960
<v Speaker 2>And so I have all these stories and so, but

335
00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:05.559
<v Speaker 2>believe it or not, Sid Caesar was one of many

336
00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:14.880
<v Speaker 2>wonderfully random, powerful men that entered my life. Sid and

337
00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:18.319
<v Speaker 2>mel But so I started writing these stories because I

338
00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:21.680
<v Speaker 2>want people, first of all, not to forget about him.

339
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.319
<v Speaker 2>I want generations to know why they have the sitcom

340
00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:28.720
<v Speaker 2>like Sid Caesar is the reason we have comedy on television,

341
00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:31.680
<v Speaker 2>and I want him to be remembered for that. I

342
00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.000
<v Speaker 2>also am writing this book to encourage people to talk

343
00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:40.119
<v Speaker 2>to octogenarians. I don't just like celebrities at all, Like

344
00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.839
<v Speaker 2>I have an affinity for people who have lived in

345
00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:45.319
<v Speaker 2>our eighties and nineties.

346
00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:47.839
<v Speaker 4>It's why I loved the Friars Club.

347
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:50.319
<v Speaker 2>Actually, I would sit with this old man, his name

348
00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:53.319
<v Speaker 2>was Richard and he was a dentist. He was sponsored

349
00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.480
<v Speaker 2>to be in the Friars Club and I would spend

350
00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:59.000
<v Speaker 2>hours listening to stories. And I want the book to

351
00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:02.519
<v Speaker 2>encourage people to open in those conversations. And then it

352
00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:05.440
<v Speaker 2>actually goes a little bit into my time at REOs,

353
00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:10.119
<v Speaker 2>which is a whole other story, but about other legendary

354
00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:12.640
<v Speaker 2>older men that came into my life. And that was

355
00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:16.640
<v Speaker 2>a mob mobsters, older mobsters. But my life has had

356
00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:20.359
<v Speaker 2>this weird rollercoaster in and out of these stories that

357
00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:22.960
<v Speaker 2>because I always say, don't write if you don't have

358
00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:26.839
<v Speaker 2>anything to write about, you know, And between Sid and

359
00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:30.960
<v Speaker 2>the Friars Club and REOs, I want to encourage people

360
00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:36.519
<v Speaker 2>to look beyond age and see story and then see change.

361
00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.759
<v Speaker 1>Well, thank you so much, Rina, for joining us. We

362
00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:40.720
<v Speaker 1>look forward to reading your memoir eventually.

363
00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:42.880
<v Speaker 4>I'm going to do it. It's going to happen.

364
00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:45.400
<v Speaker 1>It's going to happen, and to our audience. Now back

365
00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:47.079
<v Speaker 1>to your regularly scheduled lives.

366
00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:51.440
<v Speaker 3>Amusing Jews is here to amuse you. If you like

367
00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:57.079
<v Speaker 3>being amused, go ahead and click like and subscribe,