Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Nothing compares to the bawdy borscht-belt comedy of Altman and Tannenbaum, who take Catskills seltzer-bottle humor to a dirty new low, with lyrics that make Lenny Bruce look like a choirboy." - Philadelphia Weekly
"the Simon & Garfunkel of ethnic gag songs.... Racy and funny and smart and affectionate, something along the lines of Jackie Mason rejiggered for a generation who grew up on punk rock and 'South Park'" - Boston Globe
"Bart Simpsons of the Yeshiva... A roving celebration of Hebraic song and culture" - Time Out New York
"A free-wheeling comic cabaret with an eclectic parade of Jewish singers" - Jewish Week
"A tongue-in-cheek New Jew revue" - New York Magazine
"Intelligent, reflective, funny, self-critical and celebratory all at once. And it sure beats the hell out of circumcision" — Eric Alterman - MSNBC.com
"Ethnic pride mixed with high camp... If I were a rich man, I'd plunk down the cash to see this show" - New York Times
"Not since Kinky Friedman has Hebraic-humored folk been as funny and as literate as that of Rob Tannenbaum and Sean Altman" - Philadelphia Inquirer
"What I Like About Jew is a subversively funny revue that fearlessly goes exactly where one would think it impossible ... into ribald, impolite, politically incorrect ethnic territory" - Boston Herald
"(Altman and Tannenbaum's) self-deprecating humor is chicken soup for the Jewish soul" - Philadelphia City Paper
Discography
"Unorthodox" - debut CD (released April '06)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
What I Like About Jew is an unorthodox night of songs and comedy hosted by Sean Altman and Rob Tannenbaum, who have been called "Bart Simpsons of the Yeshiva" by Time Out New York, and "the Simon & Garfunkel of ethnic gag songs" by The Boston Globe. The pair scored a national radio hit with "Hanukah with Monica" (deemed "hilarious" by Time Out) and subsequently allowed their unfettered artistic sensibilities to overrun topics like dating ("J-Date"), Bar Mitzvahs ("Today I Am A Man"), circumcision ("Just A Little Off The Top"), Jews for Jesus ("Jews For Jesus"), Kosher-keeping reindeer in Santa's stable ("Reuben The Hook-Nosed Reindeer"), and the story of Passover ("They Tried To Kill Us, We Survived, Let's Eat").
The duo was featured in Time Out's cover story "The New Super Jews," and has been hailed in the New York Times, New Yorker, and Philadelphia Weekly, which said, "Nothing compares to the bawdy borscht-belt comedy of Altman and Tannenbaum, who take Catskills seltzer-bottle humor to a dirty new low, with lyrics that make Lenny Bruce look like a choirboy." Their song "It's Good To Be A Jew At Christmas" was selected for the recently released compilation album "Now That Sounds Kosher!", alongside works from Mel Brooks, Allan Sherman, Tom Lehrer, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Altman and Tannenbaum are sometimes joined by distinguished guest performers; comic Dave Attell, electronica music pioneer Moby, publisher Al Goldstein, Hasidic reggae-rap sensation Matisyahu, and the redoubtable Tammy Faye Starlite are among the many tribesfolk and goyim who have lent their talents to the irreverence
"What I Like About Jew" celebrates modern Jewish life and culture in a manner as unique as its creator-performers (see below.) The engaging, surprising, occasionally shocking and always thought-provoking show has sold out performances at Boston's Ryles Jazz Club and Club Passim, Philadelphia's Tin Angel, Washington D.C.'s Jammin' Java, and New York's Knitting Factory and Joe's Pub and was a hit at the 2005 Montreal International Comedy Festival.
Hosts / Producers:
SEAN ALTMAN has been dubbed "the Anti-Kurt Cobain" by New York Press and "absurdly talented" by the Village Voice. He was named 2004 "Best Male Artist" by the International Acoustic Music Awards. Sean founded and fronted the a cappella group Rockapella and co-composed the "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? " TV theme song. His songs have been featured in the off-Broadway comedies "Connections" and "Minimum Wage," on Vitamin C's platinum Elektra Records debut CD, in numerous TV shows, and on his solo albums. He produces the Jewish acapella group Kol Zimra and is a member of the Loser's Lounge tribute series. www.seanaltman.com
ROB TANNENBAUM earned his first theatrical credit for helping John Leguizamo write "Sexaholix," a Tony-nominated Broadway comedy. The music editor of Blender magazine and a member of the Jewish-owned media elite, Tannenbaum appears frequently on VH1, writes for Playboy and GQ, and is working with Leguizamo on an animated series for the Spike network. Like a pork chop, he's bad to the bone.
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