Kung Pao Kosher Comedy – Comic legend Elayne Boosler headlines the holiday favorite

What are Jews supposed to do for Christmas? That’s a question posed for each of the past 33 years by comic and host Lisa Geduldig. For an impressive three decades, Geduldig, a lesbian, has presented Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, offering up a menu of Chinese food and Jewish comedy for the Christmas season.

This year Kung Pao will take place from December 24-26 at the Imperial Palace Restaurant on Washington Street in Chinatown. There will be two shows a day, a dinner show at 5pm and a cocktail show at 8:30. All shows will also be livestreamed.
The seeds for Kosher Comedy were planted in 1993, when Geduldig had travelled to Massachusetts to perform in a woman’s comedy night at a venue called Peking Garden Club. She assumed it was a comedy club but it was actually a Chinese restaurant. She was struck by the irony of telling Jewish jokes in a Chinese restaurant and came up with the idea of doing a Jewish comedy show at Christmas in a Chinese restaurant. When she returned to San Francisco, she couldn’t get the idea out of her mind, so she hired some comedians, reserved a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, and sent out press releases.

“The show made Critic’s Choice in the papers, sold out, 200 people were turned away, and a tradition began,” Geduldig recalled in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “The next year I got a New York Times feature article and the rest is history. Practically every household name Jewish comedian has graced the Kung Pao stage including Henny Youngman, who performed his last show at Kung Pao in 1997, and died two months later. And Shelley Berman, and David Brenner, and, and, and….”

Geduldig explained the secret of Kung Pao’s longevity.

“The secret is providing quality humor, amazing comedians, and always a household name headliner,” she said. “And two other incredibly funny lesser-known comedians. And me, giving the audience a well-produced show, we’re a well-oiled machine after three decades, a sense of community and belonging during a time that Jews and others may feel left out.”

Comics scheduled to perform at this year’s show are Orion Levine, Amanda Marks, and Geduldig herself. But it’s this year’s headliner that will no doubt bring in the biggest crowds. It’s none other than Elayne Boosler, who has been dubbed the first lady of stand-up by Rolling Stone Magazine. Boosler has been performing for over 40 years, and has appeared on major network TV shows. She has played to capacity crowds all over the country and has starred in her own comedy specials.

In an interview with the B.A.R., Boosler spoke of how she finds humor during these hard and dark times.

“America is going through a hard time, you say,” she said. “I hadn’t noticed. Nope. I don’t pay attention to anything bad or negative. I live my life. I turn on the TV to where PBS used to be, I go to the market once a week and spend my four hundred dollars on eggs and lettuce, I revel in my memories like when there was a Department of Education, or healthcare and housing for veterans. When I see someone wearing a swastika T-shirt I just squint my eyes and voila, it’s a flower. And I don’t say voila out loud, because you know, America first. America is nothing but humor right now, I’m desperately trying to find someone in government to take this situation seriously.”

But then she took on a more serious tone. She noted that people have asked her if she was happy with the current administration because it offered her so much material.

“Frankly, I’d rather have good government and talk about my weight,” Boosler said.

This is not Boosler’s first time at Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. She told us, with tongue firmly in cheek, what she likes about this gig.

“I know people say you get hungry for Chinese food again an hour after you eat it,” she said. “But in my case, it took about five years each time. After this time, I will have done Kung Pao Kosher Comedy three times. Christmas is the big bopper and by comparison the Challah back people don’t have much of their own during this holiday. Yes, we have Hanukkah, which we can’t even spell and don’t know when it is, or how to get last year’s melted candles out of the skinny candle holders on the menorah.

“And where the heck did you put the menorah after last year? Because it’s not in the hall closet like it’s supposed to be. Let’s face it, it’s not a very exuberant time for Jews, so it’s nice to have a special place to go. Also, I could have sworn there was an H in exuberant. Does it look wrong to you? Wait, what was the question? Why do I like doing this gig? What’s not to like? Great food, nice place, great audience, and you threw ICE the hell out of your city. Yeah!”

As always, partial proceeds from Kung Pao will go towards organizations that are near and dear to Geduldig’s heart.

“This year partial proceeds benefit the ACLU, to help save democracy,” Geduldig said. “And Jewish Family and Community Service East Bay’s Immigration Rights Program.”

Geduldig also noted why Jews go to Chinese restaurants on Christmas. It’s because it’s written in the Torah, she explained. And because Chinese restaurants are open.

“There’s a concept of safe treyf (non-kosher food) and academic articles have even been written about it saying that for some Jews, it’s okay to eat a little piece of treyf, pork or shrimp, as long as it’s in a Chinese restaurant,” she said. “I used to do a joke: Jews aren’t supposed to eat pork, but there’s a small unknown clause in the Torah that says if it’s wrapped up in a won ton, it’s okay. With that said, we don’t have any pork on the menu, but we do have one shrimp dish, which was blessed by a very, very, very reform Rabbi.”

Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, December 24-26, Imperial Palace Restaurant, 818 Washington Street, Dinner show at 5pm, cocktail show at 8:30pm, all shows also available virtually, Dinner show: $95. Cocktail show: $70, Virtual: $30-$75.
  https://www.koshercomedy.com/
  https://www.elayneboosler.com/