The Yiddish Cabaret  

Opening with a melange of memoir, twisted folktale and a Yiddish lesson from one of the pioneering figures in the North American storytelling revival, Michael Wex – who believes he would have been the George Formby of Yiddish if he could only sing or play the ukulele… or if he ever made a living from it. It's like an hour of Hebrew school, with Sidney James as the teacher.

Then, after the interval, join some of the most exciting Jewish talent around as they capture the outrageous, iconoclastic spirit of the 1920s Yiddish cabaret and shlep it oying and kvetching into the 21st century. Curated and including performances by actor, comedian and all round Yiddish obsessive David Schneider with music, magic, sketches, even - keneynehora - sensuality. This is Yiddish Cabaret like you’ve never seen it before. No knowledge of Yiddish necessary.

David Schneider researched a Ph.D in Yiddish drama at Oxford before coming to prominence as a writer, actor and comedian in award winning comedy shows such as I’m Alan Partridge, Knowing Me Knowing You, The Day Today. He has appeared in numerous TV shows and films including Mission Impossible, A Knight’s Tale and 28 Days Later and has been seen most recently in his own kid’s show for the BBC, Uncle Max.

His writing credits include the film All The Queen’s Men starring Matt Le Blanc and The Eleventh Commandment about intermarriage for the Hampstead Theatre. He is currently working on a play about the Moscow Yiddish state theatre.

David Schneider is Jewish.

Author of Born to Kvetch, Jewish Week columnist, bon vivant and raconteur, Michael Wex has been called "a Yiddish national treasure;" Born to Kvetch, the bestselling book ever written about Yiddish, was hailed by The New York Times as "wise, witty and altogether wonderful." Wex lives with his wife and daughter in Toronto.

In association with UJIA: www.ujia.org