Comic rabbi Bob Alper to stand up at Neveh Shalom
By Jewish Review
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XM and Sirius satellite radio broadcast Rabbi Bob Alper’s comedy bits several times daily, often sandwiched between Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby.
Alper says his experience as an rabbi—he served congregations for 14 years and holds a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary—prepared him well for a 20-year comedy career with material presented in a way that’s intelligent, sophisticated and 100 percent clean.
So it will be 90 minutes of non-stop laughter in Portland when Alper, “the world’s only practicing clergyman doing stand-up comedy...intentionally” makes his Portland debut.
The program is open to the entire community. Alper even uses flash cards for the Judaically-challenged.
He will appear in Portland at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 20, at Congregation Neveh Shalom, 2900 SW Peaceful Lane.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. For more information or tickets, call 503-246-8831. Adults and children 11 and older are welcome.
The comedy Web site, comedy-gags-jokes.com, declares, “In an age where comedy has become angrier, more intellectual, more political, and where there is a certain meanness behind a lot of the material, Rabbi Bob Alper is a fresh, easygoing, relaxing but, most important, very funny voice.”
The Chicago Tribune calls Alper’s act a “Hilarious. Relaxed, clean, unhurtful. A warm type of humor.”
Alper has taken his “unorthodox” style to audiences at Hollywood’s IMPROV, the Montreal Comedy Festival, synagogues, churches, colleges, corporate events and theaters across North America and to London.
A native of Providence, R.I., Alper is a graduate of Lehigh University.
He was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and is the first Jew ever to earn a doctorate from the Princeton Theological Seminary.
He has served congregations in Buffalo and Philadelphia, where he continues to conduct High Holiday services.
Alper began his comedy career in 1986 when he entered the “Jewish Comic of the Year Contest” at the Going Bananas club in Philadelphia.
He has been seen on Good Morning America, Showtime, the BBC and CNN, among many other venues.
Today, Alper performs nearly 80 shows per year. In addition to his solo shows, he performs frequently with Arab/Muslim comedian Ahmed Ahmed.
Alper is the author of “Life Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This,” an inspirational collection now in its fifth printing, and the award-winning cartoon book “A Rabbi Confesses.”