What's Taboo? Nothing, for These Comedians

On Monday, April 24 at 10:00 pm, Independent Lens premieres the documentary The Last Laugh, which asks the question “Can we make jokes about the Holocaust?” The film profiles a Holocaust survivor, examines the use of humor in cabarets set up in concentration camps, and interviews comedians, writers, and thinkers about what is taboo for comedy.

The film boasts an enviable line-up of stars. Meet some of them here.

Mel Brooks

A master of farce and parody, Brooks’s long career in comedy began as a writer for the ‘50s variety show Your Show of Shows. After creating the satirical TV show Get Smart, he achieved great success in film, directing such movies as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, and The Producers – which is famous for its “Springtime for Hitler” song. Yet despite his eagerness to make fun of the Nazis, he refuses to satirize the Holocaust itself out of respect for the victims.

Sarah Silverman

Photo: Ferne PearlsteinSilverman is a stand-up comedian who gained widespread fame from her Comedy Central show The Sarah Silverman Program. She approaches taboo subjects by pretending to espouse racist, sexist, or bigoted views, in order to satirize them. This has occasionally led her into controversy, when people have misinterpreted ironic jokes as sincere.

Larry Charles

Photo: Ferne PearlsteinAlthough you may not recognize Charles’s name, you definitely know his work. He wrote for Seinfeld for its first five seasons, directed seventeen episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, directed Sacha Baron Cohen’s three transgressive films (Borat, Brüno, and The Dictator), and directed Bill Maher’s bold Religulous documentary. In all of his work he has explored dark topics such as suicide, Nazism, and totalitarianism in a controversial manner.

Etgar Keret

Photo: Ferne PearlsteinKeret is an Israeli short story writer known for black comedy – one of his most well-known stories is about a man who commits suicide then searches for love in the afterlife. The children of Holocaust survivors, he draws on his experience growing up in Israel in his work, and has written a memoir about his son’s birth and father’s death.

Jeff Ross

Photo: Ferne PearlsteinDubbed the “Roastmaster General” for his appearances on Comedy Central Roasts, Ross has made a career out of insulting people. He is in good company with other controversial comics, having appeared on The Sarah Silverman Program. He is also known for “too soon” jokes, including many about the Holocaust.

Lisa Lampanelli

Photo: Ferne PearlsteinLampanelli has participated in numerous roasts, and calls herself the “Queen of Mean.” She is infamous for what might be called insensitive jokes, using racial slurs and stereotypes as a prominent part of her standup. A roast in which she joked that David Hasselhoff’s music would have sent the Jews at Auschwitz “sprint[ing] for those ovens” insured notoriety.

David Cross

Photo: Ferne Pearlstein A stand-up comedian and actor, Cross is perhaps most famous for his role in the cult TV series Arrested Development. He became associated with the “PC [politically correct] left” for his continual criticism of Larry the Cable Guy’s “anti-gay, racist humor.” He also took part in public reading of the screenplay of Jerry Lewis’s unreleased Holocaust comedy The Day the Clown Cried before Lewis’s lawyers filed a cease-and-desist order.