Rabbi with a Mic - A Comedy Confession with Menachem Silverstein

Pam Gaslow gets into it with comedian-slash-rabbi Menachem Silverstein, who went from ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn, where TV and dating were off-limits, to marriage, kids, and the LA comedy scene. They talk starting a synagogue, navigating stereotypes and antisemitism, and the uphill battle of getting laughs in a yarmulke. 

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/@whambampampodcast

@pam_gaslow

@menachemsilverstein

Transcript

Pam Gaslow (00:01.326)
Hi everyone, welcome to Wham Bam. Thank you, Pam. I'm Pam Gaslow. Today's guest is a comedian, writer, actor. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, currently living in Los Angeles. He hosts a weekly show at The Laugh Factory. And you might know him from some of his viral clips on social media. Welcome, Anakham Silverstein. Thanks for being here.

Menachem (00:27.25)
Thank you for having me. That's a great intro. Like my mother would not have such nice things to say about me.

Pam Gaslow (00:33.354)
Really? She doesn't like you?

Menachem (00:34.93)
He'd be like, no, she loves me. She'd be like, Menachem, he was supposed to be a lawyer and now he's here. Ta-da.

Pam Gaslow (00:42.402)
Right, exactly. We're going to talk about that. So my first question was going to be, you Jewish?

Menachem (00:48.542)
Definitely ish, just the most slightly tiniest, tiniest bit of Jewish.

Pam Gaslow (00:53.9)
I couldn't tell it all. So you sell yourself like on your Instagram as the Brad Pitt of Orthodox Jews.

Menachem (01:04.446)
I thought you were gonna pause there. like, you sell yourself on Instagram. And I was gonna be like, yes, yes, I do. And then you're like, ask the, okay, different question. Yeah, the Brad Pitt of Orthodox Jews. That's definitely not a title that I gave to myself. Was definitely given to me by my mother in 2022, 2024 and 2025. We're not gonna talk about 2023.

Pam Gaslow (01:08.203)
Right, you do.

Pam Gaslow (01:17.546)
Okay, that was what I was going to ask you.

Pam Gaslow (01:28.046)
No, we're talking about 2023. Now that's all I want to talk about.

Menachem (01:30.054)
time that I didn't make it. What was actually funny was I just decided to like come up with that line. And it's been one of the best things that I ever did because it sticks out so much. And I'll have

Pam Gaslow (01:41.226)
It could be the only thing you ever do because like if I just saw your picture and that line, I'm done. Like you don't have to talk. That's all you need. That line in your picture.

Menachem (01:50.76)
Thank you. What's funny is I didn't like realize right away how powerful that like one opening line was, even though I'm a writer, so I should, but I've had so many people, like I've had people who for years I've been trying to connect with randomly message me and be like, love that line. That's amazing. And I'm like, my mom didn't actually give it to me. I'm giving her false credit. I did give it to myself because I'm definitely not vain.

Pam Gaslow (02:09.634)
Did you thank your mom?

Pam Gaslow (02:17.358)
Wow, okay. You already lied to me. We've only been talking like three minutes. That's one line.

Menachem (02:20.286)
I already lied. But my mother also was right. I could have been a lawyer. She knew.

Pam Gaslow (02:26.702)
We're going to talk about that. So tell me about, yeah, this is my therapy too, because I don't go anymore. Excuse me. For sure. So tell me about your background and how as an Orthodox Jew, you got into comedy.

Menachem (02:29.662)
Thank you. I love that this is also therapy.

that are going to work through issues.

Menachem (02:38.494)
This is cheaper, hopefully. Bless you.

Menachem (02:52.286)
Nice. So my villain origin story. Yeah. So I, I grew up in Brooklyn, grew up in a very, very like ultra-orthodox community. So grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, like home of Chabad, a sub-sector of super Jews. And what happened was to me, I always loved making people laugh and I always loved being the funny one. I have a lot of kids in my family. So like you needed a unique personality to stand out amongst the seven kids.

so I just started being funny and I like being funny and like being silly. I always was like fascinated by standup comedy. like one of my favorite bits and I were not really allowed to like him anymore. Bill Cosby had a thing where it's like a conversation between him and Noah and God about the flood. And it's just the funniest thing. And I would listen to it over and over and like Mel Brooks was comedy and I was just obsessed with standups, but I was never, I like thought that I'd be too Jewish for people. was like, nobody wants to see like somebody that keep on to T doing standup.

And then I got into screenwriting and years later I was pitching a show with this girl. It was me, my writing partner and this Indian Jewish girl. And we were pitching a show about like the making of a comedy special. So it was like a mockumentary about this girl who gets a comedy special but doesn't have enough comedy to fill her special. And she needs to come up, she needs to find comedians who are like funny enough but not funnier than her. And when we were pitching it,

They were like, oh, like we were pitching it at Amazon and they were like, wow, are you one of those comedians that's hilarious and orthodox Jewish comic? And I was like, yeah, for sure. And we shot test footage, it came out really, really great. And I was like, oh no, I'm gonna be a comedian if I'm gonna play when I need to become one. So I like launched into a comedy career and just like started doing tons and of standup. The show ended up falling apart and I was kind of like stuck with comedy for better, for worse. And, but what was kind of cool, it gave me the validation again, I was always nervous.

Do people want to see an Orthodox Jewish comic or is it too much to be like a kippa tzitzit wearing comedian? And this producer at Amazon was like kind of gaining that validation. She's like, that would be hilarious. And I was like, okay, let's try it. And it's really worked. Thank God.

Pam Gaslow (05:02.274)
Well, that makes you stand out, and now you're known for that because it's not like there is a ton of you guys doing this.

Menachem (05:09.466)
Not in the mainstream world. Within the Jewish world, there are comedians now. It's kind of funny that in the Orthodox world, comedy is having this, I guess, resurgence. But in mainstream comedy, I'm the only person actively wearing a keybentot. Which is kind of cool.

Pam Gaslow (05:28.802)
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I noticed you also that way. So I read that you were not allowed to watch TV growing up. Is that right?

Menachem (05:32.446)
Stop it.

Menachem (05:39.656)
So growing up, what was really funny is we had this kind of like weird mix where it kind of felt like I was like living a double life. In order for us to go to school, our parents would have to sign a paper that said there was no TV or movies at all. If the parents didn't annually sign this piece of paper, we were not allowed in school. Meanwhile, my parents weren't raised religious, they became religious. So my mom's mom was worried that we'd be like,

Pam Gaslow (05:54.861)
Wow.

Menachem (06:07.782)
these Orthodox Jewish weirdos. So she would tape live television and send us cassettes. And then, and then we would like go and we'd watch these cassettes. And it was amazing because we'd have like, my parents didn't want us to watch contemporary TV because they were like, you know, Drake and Josh Hannah Montana, it'll be like too, you know, dirty. So we were watching like, get smart Gilligan's Island be which like all of the like old TV and it was really, really awesome. But then again, what would happen is

Pam Gaslow (06:14.231)
I read that.

Menachem (06:36.72)
In school, I would never talk about it. To my friends who I knew also secretly watched TV and movies, we would talk. But was kind of like a secret, like we were watching TV at home. But it wasn't TV, it was cassettes of TV.

Pam Gaslow (06:46.658)
Why? Right. Okay. I watched all those shows too, because there were no other shows at that time. I'm older than you. Okay. So that's, that's a different story. But yeah, that's no, no, no. mean, Bewitched and Gilligan's Island. And I think about it now and like, I love Bewitched, but Gilligan's Island is probably like, you couldn't pay me to watch that show now. I would probably like die because it's just. Yeah.

Menachem (06:59.144)
But you were alive in the 1950s? Right. ugh, those are the best.

Menachem (07:14.19)
that's so funny. Okay. Okay. Bewitched is the like, definitely the smarter show. But Gilligan's Island is so funny. And also Get Smart. Did you ever see Get Smart? I made my wife watch it and she's like, what are you showing me?

Pam Gaslow (07:21.61)
Thank

Pam Gaslow (07:26.19)
Of course, yeah. But like literally when I was growing up, it's so, like now you couldn't pay me, would be like nails on a chalkboard. But you know, when I was a kid, obviously I'm much older than you, like those were the only shows. There were only like five channels. Can you believe there was a time like that? Exactly. So you...

Menachem (07:36.318)
hilarious.

Menachem (07:45.084)
What's a channel?

Pam Gaslow (07:55.626)
So you're married and you have children, correct? Do you let your kids watch TV?

Menachem (07:58.43)
I'm married and I have two kids. Well, I hope I'm still married. Honey, I might, yeah, she'll keep me for now. I do let my kids watch TV, because I don't necessarily, so the concept of not letting your kids watch TV is kind of like sheltering them from the outside world and sheltering them from outside influence. I really love TV and TV kind of like, like I love TV, I love movies. So I definitely curate what the kids are allowed to watch, but I do let them watch shows.

But I'll make sure like right now they watch mostly animation.

Pam Gaslow (08:27.406)
Why are you-

Pam Gaslow (08:31.166)
Why are religious Jews, Orthodox Jews not allowed to watch TV? I don't even know. Or movies. I don't even know the reason.

Menachem (08:38.718)
it's really just kind of like about like outside influences that may negate certain morals and ethics that like the schools are trying to teach. let's say like, again, you know, even let's say that when it comes to like, what is love? What is marriage? Like, they don't want they you know, it's inappropriate to see a guy and a girl kiss. So if you like watch a Disney movie and it ends with like, you know, we'll only save Sleeping Beauty with a kiss or we'll save Snow White with a kiss. It always kind of like leads to like that.

Pam Gaslow (08:58.062)
Mm.

Menachem (09:08.316)
And the orthodox community is like, that's not what we want the priority of our kid to learn. We don't want them to go kissing dead corpses hoping that they come to life.

Pam Gaslow (09:15.48)
Bye.

Oh my god. How old are your kids now?

Menachem (09:24.241)
So seven and six.

Pam Gaslow (09:26.062)
Do they think you're funny?

Menachem (09:27.506)
their little what's really funny. So they do mostly my so my like one of my best friends, his name is Turan. And like we stand up together, he actually helped get me to the last actor, like I wouldn't really have a comedy growth Adam. He also like we write scripts together. And he so he's Persian. So my kids call him Abu, which means uncle. And what's funny is anytime my son would used to get upset with me, he would look at me and be like, who's funnier than you and walk away.

Pam Gaslow (09:55.576)
Ha ha.

Menachem (09:56.456)
Cause he knew it would like upset me and I was like, he is, but don't say that loud. but what's actually really funny is this past weekend, I got hired to do comedy by somebody's by the synagogues Friday night meal. So they had like a Friday night, Shabbat dinner. And then they had me with no mic get up and do standup. it was definitely like kind of a difficult trail, but it was really, really fun. I had a great time with it. And what was funny was they had a whole kids program outside with like,

Pam Gaslow (10:02.19)
you

Menachem (10:25.086)
Bouncy Castles and all this stuff and the kids were supposed to go out during the show. And then the show got the it rained. So their party got rained out and all the kids had to be in synagogue, which was a lot harder because I'm not like a dirty comic, but there are certain like adult like topics that I wanted to joke about that I had to kind of like skip over. But what's funny is my kids finally heard jokes about them and my daughter didn't like it. Like that's not true. Like it didn't happen like that. She's giving me sass to like.

I would happen and I'm like, you were sassy to me. That's the joke. You're doing it now.

Pam Gaslow (10:59.222)
You should have brought them on stage. You should have done it with them at that point. Are your kids funny?

Menachem (11:02.942)
There was no stage. I was standing in the middle of tables. It was, yeah, oh my gosh. But it's funny. My kids, my kids are very funny.

Pam Gaslow (11:05.767)
okay.

I like that.

Menachem (11:12.222)
My kids are like, they're like, just one thing sorry, now again, therapy, now I'm talking about all this stuff. Like, my kids are clever, funny, just two really quick stories. Like my son, like, my wife was talking to me about like wanting to like buy jewelry. So he wants, he was like four and he walks over there and he's like, if you let me watch TV, he's like, please let me watch TV. And she's like, no, like, if you let me watch TV, I'll buy you jewelry. And she was like, don't have money. And he was like, trust me, trust me.

Pam Gaslow (11:41.902)
Okay, he's a little character. So what happened with your family when you told them that you were going to be, when you were going to do standup, what were you doing before that and how did that come into play? Because I'm sure they weren't so excited.

Menachem (11:43.068)
Like sassy.

Menachem (12:05.854)
So what's funny is here's kind of like what happened.

My parents wanted me to be a lawyer. And my mom kind of like throughout my youth would be like, would like introduce me as a man. I'm healthy. The lawyer. And I really didn't kind of like want to do that. And I ended up instead of studying for my LSAT, I wrote a script. Like while studying for the LSAT and the script got attention from managers and I got offered managers in LA. And I was like, okay, I'm going to be a writer. So how I started off was I was green writing during my

lunch breaks before work, after work, and I was working at a market research company in LA. So I had like a nine to five job and I ended up getting my writing partner at the time hired at the same company. And we literally would be like, coffee break, right for 15 minutes, lunch break, right for 45 minutes. We'd come in an hour early and right, stay an hour late and right. And then we're like pitching and hustling and trying to get meetings and stuff. Meanwhile, I started getting hired to write on commercials.

And I realized kind of like how potentially simple a lot of the productions were and decided to eventually leave the, what was I gonna say, leave my nine to five and start a production company. In between, I was pitching the show to Amazon and then ended up becoming a comedian. So I was kind of like, so what was kind of nicer for my family was I was never like, I'm only gonna be a comedian and like, just kind of like.

you know, leave the world high and dry. I was always like script writing and running a production company and married with two kids and doing comedy. So it was a little bit easier for them to swallow. My mother definitely like came to my for the first time she's not made you stand up. She looked at me and she's like, you want me to enjoy the show or take notes? And I looked at her and I was like, whatever would make you happy. And she's like, okay, I'll take notes. And then asked the comedy club to borrow a pen and paper.

Menachem (14:09.66)
And then after the show, she's like, no notes, you did a great job. Which was very sweet. So kind of, yeah, a nice little conclusion.

Pam Gaslow (14:12.75)
Oh, that's amazing. That's very supportive. My dad, I used to do stand up and my... I remember I told my dad he could not come and watch me because mine was very dirty because I'm not religious. I remember like, I'm like, do not come and his, his girlfriend at the time came and then somebody came backstage and told me your dad's here. And I was like...

Menachem (14:20.444)
I'm so sorry. Virtual hug.

Pam Gaslow (14:40.544)
I can't even tell you like the panic that I felt and I was like, I ran out and I'm like, you have to leave. Like you have to go. And so like they were, my dad was like not supportive. And I remember my dad said to me once, so he did leave, but like one time I, he said to me, he's like, you know, you're not funny. He's like, who thinks you're funny? And I looked at him and I was like, mom? Me and my parents are divorced. So yeah, I was like, you know, but.

Menachem (14:48.414)
Bye.

Menachem (15:02.462)
Bye.

Ouch. Right, But did your mom think you were funny? That's awesome. Nice.

Pam Gaslow (15:11.362)
She did, my mom laughs at everything I say. Yeah. So I get it. And it's also interesting because, and I interviewed somebody else also, so many Jewish people that are funny and want to be comedians or actors or actresses, the parents are like, okay, as long as you like go to law school first, you know?

Menachem (15:31.198)
Yes, my mom tried the same thing. She was like, go to law school and you can do whatever you want. And I was like, wait, so once I'm $100,000 in debt and have a family that I need to support, I'll then quit and become a standup and writer like that's never gonna happen.

Pam Gaslow (15:33.688)
Right.

Pam Gaslow (15:46.543)
And something that you gave like the hardest four years of your life to or three years. I don't even know how many years law school is, whatever it is. It's a lot. Yeah.

Menachem (15:53.534)
It's a lot. It's like two to three. You could do like a crazy two year program or a three year program.

Pam Gaslow (15:58.762)
No, I'd be in a mental hospital.

Menachem (16:01.628)
By the way, that's also a career. Mental hospital? Probably.

Pam Gaslow (16:04.174)
Being in a mental hospital, mental illness, yeah, for sure.

Menachem (16:08.774)
I'm around a lot of people with mental illness. In Hollywood, exactly. All little, 100%.

Pam Gaslow (16:11.722)
Well, creative people are all a little bit mentally unwell. How and when did you meet your wife? Like, did you get married at like 16 or were you normal?

Menachem (16:22.632)
We got, we didn't get married really young and I met her on the subway. So was kind of, yeah, what was funny was we're going for, me and my friend were going to a parkour class. Like we were going to Chelsea Pier in the city. were in New York and in Chelsea Pier, they have this like massive just like, and it's basically like an adult playground. You can just flip, do whatever you want. So me and my friend, it's Sunday. We're going to do that. We're actually running really late. We finally get to the train and there are three girls on the platform and one of them is really cute.

Pam Gaslow (16:27.18)
wow.

Menachem (16:52.002)
And we get on the train and it just so happens that I was with like my craziest friend and she was with her craziest friend. And the night before they had both been at a concert and gotten drunk and thrown up together, but they recognize each other and be like, hey, good to see you again. And my wife and her two friends were just going to the city just to like, they wanted to like go to a Nordstrom. They said they wanted to go to Nordstrom rack, but apparently it was closed. So they're just like going to go to the city. My friends like come to parkour with us.

And I kind of look at him and I'm like, what are you doing? Cause boys and girls aren't supposed to hang out. taboo. Yes. So what's funny is the two friends she was with were a little bit less religious. My friend was just down to party and have a good time. He was like, again, wild child. and my wife was kind of like, you know, Hey, I don't think we should be hanging out with guys. And basically my friend invites her friend. They say yes. So my wife gets dragged on. And then there's a,

Pam Gaslow (17:22.156)
Was she religious or is she okay?

Menachem (17:48.573)
like the train ends up stopping because there was like something on the tracks. They make us all get off the train and we have to like take a bus to the next train. And my wife was kind of like, why don't we go to North and rack instead, like whatever, but it's closed. We get off the train to go to the bus in front of an open North and rack. And I kind of looked at my wife. I was like, here's your chance. Like if you really want to go to Northern rack, there's a North and rack. And then she's like, you know, it sounds fun. We'll go with you. And then they kind of like follow us to the class.

Pam Gaslow (18:05.774)
you

Right, right.

Menachem (18:15.678)
Officially, they were going to like hang out in Manhattan after once the classes done, they ended up training home with us. I go home after going to parkour and I'm like, Hey mom, there's a girl I want to date. And my mother looks at me and she says, you're not dating a Shiksa. Cause she knew I had just come from parkour. And I'm like, no, no, no, she's Jewish. I And it turns out like my parents and her parents also knew each other because both of them weren't raised religious. And they like met up in like the Yeshiva seminary that they were getting, becoming religious. And then we dated.

and got my rate.

Pam Gaslow (18:46.87)
And how old are you?

Menachem (18:49.246)
I was, now I'm not even remembering properly. I was 22. She was 19. Just turning 19, yeah.

Pam Gaslow (18:56.482)
Wow. Did you have to wait till you got married to have sex?

Menachem (19:01.884)
We waited till we got married to touch each other. There was no touching. There was no nothing. Which was a little bit like nerve wracking for me because like that's the way we were raised. But before we got married, I did kind of have a freak out and I basically spoke to my aunt who's not religious and was like, and then she sent me to my like, he's kind of like a family friends who's like kind of like my uncle and he's like super gay.

Pam Gaslow (19:04.214)
Really? Really?

Menachem (19:28.178)
But he was kind of giving me like dating advice because when he was closeted, he dated women. So he's like, based on my memories, here's what to do or not to do. Cause it was funny to me. Yeah. It was like, like, if we, again, like we touch and we have no chemistry. It's like too late now. Like it was kind of, but thank God we're good and great. And it's awesome. But it was definitely a little scary for sure.

Pam Gaslow (19:43.832)
Right.

Pam Gaslow (19:49.666)
Wow, so how long between when you met her and when you got married?

Menachem (19:54.622)
that we ended up dating for around seven and half months. Which is funny because like to most people that seems like a short amount of time, but let's say like for Orthodox Jews, that's like really long.

Pam Gaslow (20:00.459)
Okay.

Pam Gaslow (20:09.87)
Well, most people, who's most people? mean, you guys are waiting for marriage. So how long are you going to date? It's interesting. I I've watched a lot of movies about it. just think it's so just different from the rest of society. But I find it so fascinating. So is that the first person you're with?

Menachem (20:16.766)
I guess that's right, I guess that's true.

Menachem (20:33.438)
So I kind of like dated ish before that. So I kind of like, I was one of those people that I kind of was always like talking to a girl or like had a girlfriend kind of. But we like were behaved. But at the same time, like, I was like a bad boy because I was talking to girls. But it was secret. I couldn't tell anyone. I couldn't tell anyone. was very secret.

Pam Gaslow (20:45.004)
Right.

Pam Gaslow (20:54.218)
my God, how do you behave like that? What? Now everyone knows. Including your wife.

Menachem (21:01.694)
Exactly. no, no. Yeah. No, like even some of my friends I was like, like they didn't know. And like, I actually was whatever. It's a very long story for another time. But like I had two of my friends found out I was talking to a girl and they were like upset with me. They were like disappointed in me. Like when I'm like this. 100 %

Pam Gaslow (21:16.834)
This is so crazy. Our lives couldn't be more different. So wait, I'm going to be blunt. So were you a virgin when you got married? We have a lie detector test back here.

Menachem (21:23.486)
100%.

So what's funny is I'm working on this. No, like I'm working on this as a joke. But like, yeah, I lost my virginity to my wife seven days into marriage.

Pam Gaslow (21:31.852)
He's like, I'm being recorded. Yes, I was 100%.

Pam Gaslow (21:41.666)
so special and you're still with her and you love her. I wish my life was more like just simple like that. I've been with too many people, don't like anyone and I'm alone. know, I mean, yes. And also, which leads to my next topic, you are a rabbi.

Menachem (21:45.16)
And I'm still with her and I love her. But yeah, but that's.

Menachem (21:59.774)
I'm here for you.

Menachem (22:06.206)
I a rabbi and I run a synagogue now, which is really funny.

Pam Gaslow (22:10.028)
And so like, what do you do? Like tell jokes in the morning and then like you're rabbi and like what happened? How does this all work?

Menachem (22:18.91)
So what ended up happening is we have, so I live in a community in LA. So I live in this really nice little area in LA. I don't wanna say the area because I'm gonna say something mean about the rap, because people just show up. You should, leave Florida, come to LA, LA's awesome. I know our people are going to hear us, just write in the chat. So we live, so.

Pam Gaslow (22:33.166)
because I'll

Pam Gaslow (22:40.174)
Send me your address. Write it in the comments.

Menachem (22:48.05)
Basically in our area, there is a synagogue and there's a rabbi, but he's like emotionally and like verbally abusive. Like he's the worst. And he kind of like chased everyone out, like religious people and non-religious people. And I kind of like realized, like, listen, like I can't keep going there because if I bring my kids to a synagogue like that and they meet this rabbi, they won't be religious because he's awful. So me and a couple of the families decided we're to make our own synagogue. And at first it was bouncing from like house to house. And it was just like,

On Shabbat, we would just pray together, have a little Kiddush and done. And then eventually we ended up having more people and we got a house and that was the synagogue. And then our living situation switched, it ended, so we were looking for a new place. And I, at the time, was already kind of like, I was unofficially the rabbi because basically we didn't have a rabbi. And they looked at me and they're like, Hey, Manachem, you have public speaking experience from comedy. You're ordained as a rabbi through Yeshiva.

Can you just do the speech one week, which became two, three, four, five weeks, et cetera. Um, so I'm already kind of unofficially the rabbi and the community comes over me they're like, Hey, like it's really expensive to keep the house that we have in the synagogue, complete the synagogue. if we build out the garage and turn it into like the synagogue and you get the house like cheaper and you're the official rabbi. And I was like, well, I don't know. Do you want me to be the official rabbi? I also do stand up like all these kinds of like reasons I shouldn't. And they all look at me and they're like,

You know you're the rabbi anyways, whether you have the title or not. Like you're doing, you're teaching the tar class, you're giving the speech, you're doing all the stuff anyways, just take the title. And I was like, okay. And this is like almost two years ago. And now I'm the rabbi.

Pam Gaslow (24:27.79)
You said to me, it was two years ago, you said to me when we first spoke, you said, I got bullied into starting a synagogue in my garage. And I'm like, this guy is so funny.

Menachem (24:38.354)
Yeah, so it's exactly, I 100 % got bullied then, it's kind of, to me, it's definitely like the good bullying and I'm happy that I did it, but it was a bully situation.

Pam Gaslow (24:46.99)
I that. So now, how do you balance the seriousness of being a rabbi with the unpredictability of being a stand-up comedian?

Menachem (25:00.126)
Well, I think they both feed into each other because the best comedy has dramatic elements. Because I feel like when you're, when you can talk about a real kind of like almost dramatic thing, you can hit people with comedy harder. Like for me, what I try to do, let's say like through my comedy is bring awareness to how ridiculous certain stereotypes are against Jews and how ridiculous anti-Semitism can be. And also just, you know, like kind of the trials and tribulations of

Pam Gaslow (25:24.556)
Yes.

Menachem (25:27.634)
being Jewish and having kids and being a parent and being married and all those things. So, you know, part of, say again, doing that is being able to be dramatic and have a real conversation about the fact that like, get DMs of pictures of Hitler, like so many DMs of pictures of Hitler, like so many different pictures of Hitler. Like when do they have time? Just like, again, like kind of like,

Pam Gaslow (25:42.337)
you

Pam Gaslow (25:49.838)
What do you do with those? Do you just ignore them and block them? What do do?

Menachem (25:54.406)
The Hitler runs? I used to respond, now I can't just block it.

Pam Gaslow (25:57.794)
Yeah, or any anti-Semitic comments or rude people.

Menachem (26:04.894)
It depends, like if something's funny enough and ridiculous enough, I'll respond and then put it on my story. I haven't done that in a while. But to me, it's kind of like, I don't know, it really just depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll just delete it. Sometimes I'll ignore and like once in a blue moon, I'll respond because I know the response isn't really going to do anything. But I definitely like I'm always like kind of, you know, depending on the reaction and interaction, like, you know, I got a comment on one of my videos that said, F you to anti-semitism doesn't exist.

Pam Gaslow (26:09.955)
Yeah.

Pam Gaslow (26:17.569)
Yeah.

Pam Gaslow (26:21.709)
Yeah.

Menachem (26:32.274)
I'm like, that's hilarious. And that's like in a joke now.

Pam Gaslow (26:35.008)
Right, I've done that too, like with my writing when people write, you know, funny, you know, not nice, but to me they're funny comments. like, there was another story. There's more material. So like, thank you so much.

Menachem (26:46.334)
Exactly. And it also like as sad and silly as it's going to sound, it definitely helps with my Instagram. Like when 5,000 people write free pals down on my post, my post does better because it has 5,000 extra views. So Instagram is like, people like this and keep sending it out.

Pam Gaslow (27:02.382)
completely true. so what are some funny like misconceptions people have about Orthodox Jews that you've encountered?

Menachem (27:12.038)
Well, I think the biggest thing, which is funny, they don't think that we're human. They kind of think that we're very othered. We're kind of these weird aliens that can't have a conversation. People are genuinely surprised when I can just be fun and funny. And they're like, we didn't know you guys could be funny.

Pam Gaslow (27:25.824)
I'm surprised that you're, I'm surprised you can have a conversation.

Menachem (27:30.302)
So you also thought I was an alien. It's We're incognito. No, and that's again, like, that's kind of that's the biggest one. And like something that I'm trying to like, kind of, guess, like, course, correct with like writing and scripts and even stand up is just being like, we're normal people, we just kind of, again, like, chose different priorities and a different lifestyle. But at end of the day, like, there's this the rapper that I did the stand up comedy for in Irvine. He's hilarious.

Pam Gaslow (27:51.65)
Mm-hmm.

Menachem (27:58.844)
Like he's one of the most fun guys I know. He's just like so fun and funny. And then he's like this holy rabbi who runs this synagogue with like 300 people of Shabbat. Meanwhile, he's just like, he's so fun.

Pam Gaslow (28:07.319)
Bye.

Like funnier than you, because I think I need to meet him too.

Menachem (28:14.022)
You should he's like Loki, he might be because he's just like his off the cuff stuff is just so witty and funny. And even like how he gets his synagogue to like, buy it down for his speeches and stuff. He's just like, yeah, he's like badass. And I'm like, I don't know if I should call a rabbi badass. And I don't know if I should say badass. But now it happened three times.

Pam Gaslow (28:34.316)
He said it. This rabbi is badass. I mean, it's a little far for me to go to his synagogue, but you know.

Menachem (28:42.258)
I guess once I give you my address in the comments and where I live and you come here, it's not too far.

Pam Gaslow (28:47.534)
I know how to I mean, how do think I've made it this far? So what, so you do the weekly show. What else are you working on now? Where can people find you, see you, get to know you?

Menachem (28:49.33)
Good, nice. Somebody has to.

guys.

Menachem (29:03.902)
So thanks. So right now I have a weekly show at the Laugh Factory. So at the Hollywood Laugh Factory every Thursday at 10 p.m. I co-produce the show. It's the Late Show. But the Late Show is more fun because we also have really cool drop-ins. There's a lot of people that say like, please just, yeah, just take a little cocaine so you stay up through the night. I mean coffee. mean drink coffee and then you can stay up.

Pam Gaslow (29:11.628)
That's so late.

Pam Gaslow (29:19.456)
If I ever come to LA, I'm going to come, but I haven't been there in a while. Yes.

Pam Gaslow (29:27.948)
I don't drink cocaine or drink coffee, so I'm just gonna raw dog it.

Menachem (29:31.518)
You're from Miami. How do you not? How do you not do cocaine? Isn't that

Pam Gaslow (29:35.202)
I've been sober for almost 30 years, Yeah. I've never done it either. Yeah.

Menachem (29:38.402)
That's amazing. I've never done cocaine, but I joke about it a lot because it just seems fun. Nice. Smart. You shouldn't. I just wonder what it smells like. Do you don't drink coffee?

Pam Gaslow (29:47.822)
What? I don't drink coffee. I don't drink tea. I drink sparkling water. Like I'm addicted to that. It's the least harmful thing and I'm sure I'll get like kidney stones or something soon. So I'm waiting for someone. Yeah, for someone to be like, this is going to do X, Y, Z to you. And then I'm just going to have to go to water because there's no step down after this. That's the only thing there is left.

Menachem (29:50.504)
You don't drink coffee? Sorry, green tea, black tea?

Menachem (30:03.4)
come from South-Earth or from just Jewish chains.

Menachem (30:17.206)
funny. Boy, is that SodaStream? Do you make your own seltzer? I'm so proud of you. That's awesome.

Pam Gaslow (30:17.846)
I do not like coffee. Yes, it's SodaStream. SodaStream is everything to me. It's like my second pet.

Menachem (30:25.98)
It's crazy to that it was like the biggest thing on planet Earth and now it's like you don't really hear about it that much.

Pam Gaslow (30:31.672)
Well, you're hearing about it now. And I think the Jews invented it, right? It was from Israel. Someone told you. Yeah. Love. I agree. Hands down. Hands down. No, I hate coffee. I had two cups when I was 16 because I wanted, I got back from Europe and I wanted to go out my friends and I hated it and I never drank another cup again. So.

Menachem (30:36.862)
100 % yeah. Like honestly, that's the best thing that ever came out of this world. People are like Iron Dome saves lives, Soda Stream saves lives. But.

Menachem (30:58.558)
But no energy drinks or like Red Bull? No? Well, I guess that's good. That's healthy. I do a lot of coffee. It's just like...

Pam Gaslow (31:01.856)
No, no, that's terrible. I try to be healthy, but I'm never awake. know, like people like, how do you wake up? I'm like, I don't know. I'm never up. No, this is like, a miracle, you know?

Menachem (31:10.994)
Yeah.

Well, that's why you do so well in LA, because in LA, this is 10 a.m. Like in LA, you're up early on a Sunday.

Pam Gaslow (31:19.402)
when I come to LA, I'm like, you know, on top of the world. Cause I'm like, I'm up at seven. Like where, let's go.

Menachem (31:26.768)
It's no it really is that but the problem is like whenever I go to New York where I travel for shows, if I go to New York, 10am is 7am for me. And I'm not a morning person and it just it kills kills me. yeah, so definitely when you get to LA come to the show. Occasionally I do the early show like on April 3, I'm producing my own show. So I have like me and a co producer named Eris Safar. So we have a brand called laugh through the heartbreak.

Pam Gaslow (31:36.206)
I'm not either.

Menachem (31:56.474)
And then when we kind of like produce our own show fully, it'll potentially be the earlier show. like on the third, we're doing a show with Tiffany Havish and Moshe Kasher, 7.30 on April 3rd. Then we'll take that on the road. So we're doing like a couple of tours with that. I'm also working, like I have a couple of pilot stuff out. We'll see what happens. And I'm working on like a really fun web series with this production company. I like took one of my pilots and made it into a web series and hopefully we're going to do that. I haven't done one of those in a while, but I'm excited.

Pam Gaslow (32:24.92)
That's exciting. And what's your Instagram so people can follow you or wherever you want them to follow you.

Menachem (32:32.152)
My Instagram is Menachem Silverstein. If you can spell Menachem, I deserve a follow. M-E-N-A-C-H-E-M. Silverstein should be easy. But it's also, yeah, it's really hard to like try to garner a following when your name is impossible to spell.

Pam Gaslow (32:38.103)
Right.

Pam Gaslow (32:46.262)
Is it impossible? I mean, I'm a good speller though, and I'm Jewish, so guess it's easier for me.

Menachem (32:51.23)
For me, I'm an awful speller in Jewish and I feel like I can spell Menachem because it's my name, but if somebody else, like I can't spell Yirach Neel.

Pam Gaslow (33:00.104)
I can't even, no idea what that is. No, Hannah.

Menachem (33:01.84)
or like Yeruchem. Like you know what mean? The second there's other harder like chewy names of the H, I can't do it. So I assume people can't really spell Menachem. Like Pam's easier, but what's your Hebrew name?

Pam Gaslow (33:09.516)
Well

Pam Gaslow (33:14.166)
I don't know actually. No.

Menachem (33:15.208)
You don't know? It's probably like pama ha ha ha or something. There's definitely, it's difficult. That's it. But don't ask me to spell it. Maybe. Pam. P-A-M.

Pam Gaslow (33:19.758)
I mean, I my Spanish name is Pamela. What do you want from me? I figure if I move to Israel, I'll just change it to like a cool, know, or like Noah, like a cool, like Jewish, you know, Jewishy name. No.

Menachem (33:30.384)
Yo, Sadats. Right.

Menachem (33:35.922)
Are you moving to Israel? that the plan? So you're going to stalk me in LA and then move to Israel. That's the natural progression.

Pam Gaslow (33:40.746)
Yeah, no, I almost did Aliyah a couple years ago, but didn't didn't work out. So, yeah.

Menachem (33:47.026)
Sorry to hear, or is this a good, didn't work out?

Pam Gaslow (33:49.644)
Well, you know, the war broke out like five months later, so I don't think I would have been too happy about that. And nor would my parents. So they're in Florida, yes. So I'm gonna stay here for a while. I can always visit again. Yeah, now you can interview me now. That's fine, let's go.

Menachem (33:53.414)
Right. Yeah. Right.

Are your parents in Florida with you?

Menachem (34:04.766)
Nice. One more question I know, and we're turning the interview. Are you a Florida? Yes, okay, cool. Nice. So wait, are you Florida natives or are you like transplants from New York? Like did you migrate? you from New York? Okay, cool, thought so. How long have you been in Florida for?

Pam Gaslow (34:15.63)
No, I'm from New York. I grew up in New York. 13 years.

Menachem (34:23.87)
13 years. Very cool. I was gonna say, I'm not a Florida person. Like I needed to leave New York, but Florida was not ever my place. Like I go begrudgingly. Whenever I go for shows, I'm like, fly me out the morning of, and I wanna leave the next day.

Pam Gaslow (34:24.854)
I still don't know how I feel about it.

Pam Gaslow (34:34.414)
Pam Gaslow (34:39.854)
100%. I don't go back often. And if I do, it's, yeah, I don't really go back. But I just, I couldn't be in the cold and the gloom and doom anymore. yeah. And my parents are here, so.

Menachem (34:53.81)
Well, we're Jews. We have some of the gloom and doom in our soul.

Pam Gaslow (34:57.196)
Well, everywhere you go, there you are.

Menachem (34:59.4)
We just bring a little, it's just, yeah, it's called anxiety. The PC term for gloom and doom is anxiety.

Pam Gaslow (35:01.94)
Right. But the anxiety of like actually moving again to an entirely new place is a whole other type of anxiety. And it's one of the reasons I didn't move to Israel. you know, it's another story.

Menachem (35:14.606)
I it. I told my wife, I was like, the next time we move, I want to be rich enough to just leave all of our stuff. Like I want to just move to new stuff. I don't want to pack it. I don't want to move it. It's just like go up to the new house, new things done, start fresh.

Pam Gaslow (35:20.46)
Yeah.

Pam Gaslow (35:28.458)
I see it's funny I see on on this Facebook page for nephesh beneficial it's the Aliyah page and all the people are always asking like how did you move your stuff and how do I bring this and how do get that I'm like my god that's a nightmare yeah

Menachem (35:42.046)
Apparently they give you, if you make a lia, they give you, I think, either a crate or a half a crate. You can just put all your stuff into like this massive shipping container, but it sounds terrible.

Pam Gaslow (35:50.804)
Yeah, it sounds awful. And then if you have a pet, it's another issue. then they don't have really that, but they can go on the plane with you.

Menachem (35:57.926)
Yeah, that's I have two issues called children.

Try moving with them. No, no, yeah. sorry. You, you missed, we got confused. I was saying I want to put the kids under, so I don't, gosh, we're bad.

Pam Gaslow (36:11.945)
I understand. I do understand that. All right. Well, this has been fun talking to you and I look forward to seeing what you are up to next and, you know, I'll follow you and see what your projects, your upcoming projects are. And maybe when I come to LA, I'll say hello.

Menachem (36:18.429)
Thank you so much for having me.

Menachem (36:34.343)
Please come to our show. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. Love your articles, love reading your stuff, and it's been amazing getting to follow you as well. But thank you for letting me be a small part of your awesome brand.

Pam Gaslow (36:39.97)
Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, thanks for coming.

Menachem (36:47.358)
Have a good day. Bye.