Book Jewish and non-Jewish Comedians for your Temple / Synagogue Comedy Night, JCC Fundraising Event, Federation Dinner or Youth Group.

To find clean, funny Jewish (or non-Jewish) comedians for a synagogue fundraiser, temple event or kosher comedy night, The Ivy League of Comedy's roster has plenty of experienced comics who are very familiar with performing for synagogues, temples and other Jewish organizations. We're experts at arranging these shows (we've been doing it for more than two decades) and we're happy to recommend the right mix of comedians for your specific event. We will give you guidance and provide you information you hadn’t even thought to ask for. Remember, we do this for a living. Advice is always free.

No, and in fact we suggest you don’t have only Jewish comedians. I (Shaun Eli, the founder and head of The Ivy League of Comedy) am Jewish. I suggest that if you have more than one comedian for your synagogue show, don’t have them all be Jewish. You want variety in background, experiences, viewpoint, topics and style. Not three Jewish male comedians who all grew up on Long Island and have had the same life experiences and whose comedy is from the same point-of-view.

Have some variety. We did a show at a synagogue: two Jews and an Italian Catholic. During the post-show Q&A an audience member commented that he was surprised that Catholic families are just like Jewish families. Joe DeVito’s response? “Our food’s better.” (That said, Joe’s one of the few comics I work with who hasn’t come to one of my barbecues, so he can’t say for sure)

And remember that probably half your audience will be women. They’ll notice if the show is four guys. Depending on scheduling and other factors it’s not always possible to have women in the show (they’re less than a third of pro comedians, and probably even a smaller percentage of clean comedians) but I try very hard to balance a line-up.

I believe very strongly in balancing a show so you get as much variety as possible.

Entertainment for a Jewish community event? What’s more fun than laughing? The Ivy League of Comedy provides everything you need to have a fun, successful evening (or afternoon) professional stand-up comedy fundraising event. We don’t just provide the talent. With our more than two decades of experience, we can also provide guidance and advice to make your event as successful as it can possibly be.

Yes. We’ve given a lot of synagogues great first comedy experiences. Not only is laughing close to the most fun you can have, but comedy is pretty much a Jewish art form! Here’s an article I wrote for Reform Judaism magazine on Jews in comedy.

Comedy is more mainstream. Not everybody likes to gamble, and some people like to gamble way too much. But nobody has a comedy problem. And people’s musical taste differs. But solid, mainstream comedy appeals to just about everyone.

Gosh yes. That’s the reason I started The Ivy League of Comedy. I was a clean comedian starting out, and at the time I had a day job in finance. Colleagues would come see me at a comedy club and often their comment was “You were the only clean comic in the show. Where can I find a show that’s all clean comics?”

There really weren’t any. I saw a demand for a product, but no supply. So I created The Ivy League of Comedy and started producing clean shows. We perform at theatres and performing arts centers, at houses of worship, at corporate events and at charity fundraisers.

Of course: The Ivy League of Comedy is proud that our shows can be clean enough for very devout audiences. It’s funny to us that sometimes someone says “It has to be super-clean because the rabbi will be there.” The rabbi listens to people’s marital problems for a living. It’s not the rabbi who’d be offended by racy jokes. It’s the people sitting next to the rabbi who would be embarrassed for laughing at those jokes (but to be clear, our shows are clean).

Pretty much, but you don’t want an entire show to be Jewish material. You want a lot of variety in what the comedian(s) talk about. About a third of us at The Ivy League of Comedy are Jewish. Most of us live or grew up in the NYC area, so even if they’re not Jewish they would have an understanding of Jewish culture. I’m Jewish, I’m in most of the shows, and I have a significant amount of Jewish material.

To be clear, to me “Jewish material” absolutely excludes jokes that perpetuate negative stereotypes. Even if the person telling the joke is Jewish. Maybe especially so. It irks me when comedians perpetuate a bad stereotype about their own group, because it justifies bigotry (“He said it, so it must be true.”).

The Ivy League of Comedy has a few comedians who are good for 12- and 13-year-old audiences, but in general most stand-up comedy is probably best for 14 and up. Not because of racy jokes, but kids who still think that the opposite sex is yucky probably don’t want to listen to stories about dating.

Yes, The Ivy League of Comedy is experienced at comedy shows for Men’s Club, Brotherhood and Sisterhood events.

Oh, absolutely. Comedians from The Ivy League of Comedy make great emcees and will keep your gala or tribute dinner fun and moving.

The length of a stand-up comedy show depends on your budget and whether the show is the main focus of the evening or part of something larger and longer, like an awards dinner. A typical show from The Ivy League of Comedy is three or four of us, for 90 minutes. We also often do a post-show Q&A with the audience, and that can lengthen what we’re giving you. But if the show is part of a larger event, like an awards dinner, or your budget allows for only the cost of one or two of us, we can provide a shorter show. That said, our shows are not expensive so if you expect a hundred people to show up, you can afford three of us. And if you book us you'll get a great turn-out!

You probably have everything The Ivy League of Comedy needs. The only requirement is a decent sound system and a hand-held microphone (with a back-up mic). A stage and stage lighting are nice to have but they’re not mandatory. We’re not divas. As long as you can see and hear us, we’re good. Oh, the audience also needs to be seated. We can provide details on how to set up the room once you book us.

Oh, and if you don’t have a sound system, we may be able to provide one (at an extra cost for having to lug it all there, set it up and take it back down afterwards). We can also provide advice for buying and renting. But if you have musicians in your congregation they may have what we need.

The Ivy League of Comedy has a lot of marketing strategies specifically geared towards comedy shows. Our founder Shaun Eli majored in marketing at Wharton and he’s been producing stand-up comedy shows at theatres and houses of worship for more than two decades. Marketing comedy is different from marketing music, and there are some things that make a big difference. He also has some techniques he’s developed (plus, if you’re selling drinks, a way to sell more drinks at a comedy show).

You’ve pretty much mentioned it: raffles, live or silent auctions (or both, especially for what didn’t sell during the silent auction), selling sponsorships, selling tables at a discount, advertising.

The Ivy League of Comedy synagogue shows are often Saturday nights (after sundown) but Sunday afternoons and evenings work too (and they’re less expensive). You might also consider a Thursday evening if your budget is low (or if you are scheduling the show over the summer, when a lot of people go away for weekends).

Yes, The Ivy League of Comedy is very happy to perform daytime shows for seniors groups, and daytime shows are often less expensive than evening shows.

The cost of a synagogue comedy night from The Ivy League of Comedy depends on the night of the week, the line-up (some of us are a little more expensive), how many of us (typically three, sometimes four, or just one or two if your budget is smaller than usual), where you are (we’re almost all in the NYC area but some of us are in Los Angeles), and to a small extent the size of the congregation. There are no hidden fees (we do charge extra if you need us to provide the sound system, or if you want to pay by credit card).

Feel free to ask— it’s often the first question we’re asked. I’ll probably ask you some of the above and then I can quote a price. And I’m quite responsive.

The Ivy League of Comedy suggests charging as much as you think you can charge for tickets to a comedy fundraiser. We believe that people are less price-sensitive than most people think, when you consider what live entertainment costs (concerts, theatre tickets, etc.), and that the cost of tickets is often less than a meal out. If you double the price do you think you’d lose half the audience? If you’re pricing in multiples of 18, try $54 instead of $36. And of course you could also offer discounts for seniors or those less fortunate, and have premium-priced tickets, maybe with an extra meet-and-greet after the show.

Yes, we do it all. The Ivy League of Comedy puts together a full line-up. Frankly you should not be booking the comedians separately because, based on your own preferences, you’d probably get similar comedians and you want variety and balance. Other people in your congregation would have different tastes. You’ll all find all of us funny, but you want different varieties of funny. We’re very experienced at putting together great, hilarious, balanced shows.

And also, to a very small extent, there are a couple of comics who just don’t like each other, and you don’t want any animosity or unhappiness in the room. It’s rare, but it could happen (but it’s never happened to me). Believe me, if comics don’t like each other, they let me know.

In more than two decades as a comedian running The Ivy League of Comedy I’ve never been late to a show. I’m usually way early because I build in time for traffic and even changing a flat tire.

Once a comedian got the venue wrong and went to the wrong place (one of three comedians in the show) but he still made it on time. Of course I had sent the exact address but he just saw the name of the theatre and the state and went to a theatre with the same name in a different town. (I don’t think you get this level of honesty and openness from other people in this business)

On rare occasions of course there can be an emergency. People do get sick, although we’re a pretty healthy bunch (we get a lot of sleep). One advantage of working with us is that if something does happen, I have the phone numbers of lots of comedians and I can find someone else. My practice is to do everything I can to find someone a bit more famous, because I never want to be accused of bait-and-switch. And yes, that often costs me money, but in business sometimes you lose money on a deal. That’s life. My reputation is more important than a few hundred dollars.

I’ve always been able to replace a comic if there’s an emergency. That said, all of us at The Ivy League of Comedy are headliners and you would still get a full show if someone doesn’t show up. We can all perform A quality material for much longer than our usual 30-45 minutes. I’ve been a comedian for over two decades and I have more than 90 minutes of solid material. What my contract actually says, and I think I’m the only one who does this, is that if the show has fewer comics than agreed-upon, we’ll endeavor to give you the same quality and length of show, but would pro rate the fee (yes, this is much to your advantage, but please don’t hope for someone to get sick just to save money).

And as far as material, we’re all very experienced at clean shows for all sorts of organizations.

The Ivy League of Comedy’s Testimonials page speaks for itself. (Also I suggest you be skeptical of testimonials that don’t have a person’s full name and organization. If “Joey F., Teaneck, NY” was so enamored of the show, why aren’t they giving you his last name and affiliation?)

The Ivy League of Comedy handles everything for you, from booking the comedians to providing promotional guidance, marketing materials (high-resolution photos, professional biographies and some other items that help sell tickets), and even help with the media if you have contacts at newspapers (including Jewish publications) and local radio stations, plus how best to set up the room for a comedy show, and other things you won’t even think of.

The Ivy League of Comedy does a lot of work with non-profits. Of course if you need our W-9 we send it. We can send you formal invoices if you need them. As is the industry standard we ask for a 50% deposit but we’re reasonable if you need to cancel or reschedule, as long as it isn’t close to the show date (weather emergencies, of course, are a different story). We also take credit cards, but we do have to add on our bank’s 3.3% fee.

Of course. There really isn’t anything inherently funnier about dirty comedy (Jerry Seinfeld hasn’t had a problem making a living, has he?). The Ivy League of Comedy’s clean comedians are very experienced at performing for synagogues and at corporate events. We've also done shows for a lot of military groups, people who are unlikely to be offended by dirty jokes, but they still loved our clean humor.

A comedy night fits perfectly as the theme for a Chanukah or Purim event. What’s more fun than laughing? What’s more Jewish Than Comedy? The Ivy League of Comedy’s clean stand-up comedy shows are perfect for most Jewish holidays.