An old-fashioned television with dials on an orange background and lecturer Jack Newman on the screen. With text Laughter on the 23rd Floor
Sep 14

Laughter on the 23rd Floor: The Writers’ Room of Your Show of Shows

Guest speaker: actor/comedian Jack Newman

This entertaining virtual lecture series focuses on the greatest concentration of comedy talent ever assembled – those creative writers who gathered in the writers’ room of Sid Caesar’s landmark television variety series, Your Show of Shows.

We’ll explore the careers of future giants of American comedy, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart and Neil Simon. These ground-breaking Jewish writers influenced television, Broadway, and Hollywood and the literary world for decades, their work winning countless awards, including Emmys, Oscars, Tonys and Pulitzers. Television shows were modelled on them, and movies and plays have been written about them, such as Laughter on the 23rd Floor and My Favourite Year.

We will also spend some time looking at other great comedy writing teams such as SCTV and Monty Python, to explore the dynamic of collaborative writing.

This 8-part series will include television and film clips, and will culminate with a ‘live’ Zoom Q & A with Jack on Thursday October 22th at 2:00pm.

Jack Newman has been a writer and actor in Toronto for more than 40 years. He has appeared in 90 film and T.V. projects and forty five television commercials, including recent ads for Fallsview Casino and Go-Daddy. He has also won a few awards, The Clio, The Bessie and an ACTRA Writers Award nomination for "Anne Murray's Ladies Night", and a Berlin Silver Bear for the NFB's; "Village of Idiots". Recently, a short film where Jack was featured, Finding Harold, won awards and recognition in Short Film Festivals all over the world, from Portugal, to L.A. and Toronto. Jack has worked with interesting and creative performers and directors, such as Sydney Lumet, Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck and Al Waxman.

At the Miles Nadal JCC, Jack is always a crowd favourite. Some of his lectures have included: From the Goldbergs to the Goldbergs: How Jews Helped Shape Television Comedy, The Yiddish Theatre of Moscow and 2nd Avenue, Make ‘Em Laugh: Legendary Jewish Comedians and Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Genius of Neil Simon, and we are very pleased to welcome him to the virtual Miles Nadal JCC this fall!

DATE & TIME

- [ Add to Calendar ] 2020-09-14 12:00:00 2020-10-08 03:55:00 Laughter on the 23rd Floor: The Writers’ Room of Your Show of Shows <p><strong>Guest speaker: actor/comedian Jack Newman</strong></p> <p>This entertaining virtual lecture series focuses on the greatest concentration of comedy talent ever assembled – those creative writers who gathered in the writers’ room of Sid Caesar’s landmark television variety series, Your Show of Shows.</p> Bloor St. Culture Corridor info@perceptible.com America/Toronto public

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