my_mothers_brisket_album_cover_rick_moranisAlthough Rick Moranis was nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 1983 and 2005, I am not sure who is left in the world to enjoy his new album. The album is a blend of klezmer, rumba, folk, and jazz, covering themes of family, love, food, and religions traditions. When I listen to it, I feel as though I came early to a Jack Benny show in the Catskills in 1957 and am catching the opening act I was hoping to avoid. I am sure there are many who will enjoy Moranis’s throwback Yiddish humour, I just don’t think there are many of them left. Long before Jerry Seinfeld came around, Jewish comedians had left behind the Old World humour he seems to be wanting to bring back. Having said that, my friends who have more cultural affinity for the content than I did enjoy the track “The Seven Days of Shiva.”

[rating:2]

– Patrick Thompson