A new movie showcases the Heras of Jewish comedy:

To remember and to honor the contributions of six famed Jewish women comedians was the goal of the Jewish Women’s Archive, based in Brookline, Mass., in creating their documentary, Making Trouble. The film grew our of plans to host a gala celebration, “So Laugh A Little, An Evening of Jewish Women’s Comedy,” in New York City in March 2005. Contemporary comics Judy Gold and Jackie Hoffman performed at the show and their work, combined with archival footage, got the Archive staff thinking. “We thought, ‘there’s a history here and a tradition that they belong to,” says Gail Reimer, one of the Archive’s founders and its current executive director. “Something had to be done with the material. It was too good. So we decided we should make a film.” Of course the Archive had never taken on such a project, but no matter. The idea perfectly reflected the organization’s mission to research, preserve, and transmit the history of Jewish women.