The birth of modern stand-up comedy began in the Catskill Mountains - a boot camp for the greatest generation of Jewish-American comedians.... (Full plot summary below)
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The birth of modern stand-up comedy began in the Catskill Mountains - a boot camp for the greatest generation of Jewish-American comedians.
Leave your thoughts about When Comedy Went to School.
| Sly FoxKam WilliamsAn alternately informative and hilarious documentary featuring reflections about the roots of the comedy icons who got their start in the Borscht Belt. |
| Film Journal InternationalDavid NohThe brilliant Robert Klein narrates with knowing affection, but despite the wonderful archival footage and painstaking assemblage of these surviving showbiz dinosaurs, the film isn't quite the rich, humorous feast one would have hoped for. |
| Village VoiceErnest HardyThis enchanting documentary on the rise, fall, and small-scale rebirth of the Catskills has something of a fairy tale quality. |
| Newark Star-LedgerStephen WhittyBy no means a great documentary, but it's a very entertaining one, mostly because of the entertainers it spotlights - the generations who passed through the Catskills, learned their craft and went on to create modern American humor. |
| NPRElla TaylorFor the charming but skin-deep documentary When Comedy Went to School, filmmakers Mevlut Akkaya and Ron Frank gained enviable access to pioneer stars of Borscht Belt standup. |
| St. Paul Pioneer PressChris HewittIt's not bad, but it will be a better fit when it eventually ends up on PBS or the History Channel. |
| Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFor a disorganized film that has trouble deciding what it's about, When Comedy Went to School can be a lot of fun. |
| Shockya.comBrent SimonToo scattered and bereft of focus to connect with viewers outside of the most sympathetic and devoted habitués of old-school comedy. |
| VarietyRonnie ScheibRon Frank and Melvut Akkaya’s docu isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but as a brief history of the Catskill resorts, liberally laced with well-edited archival promos, songs, homemovies and extended excerpts from routines by Jewish comics who performed there, it consistently entertains. |
| Spirituality and PracticeFrederic and Mary Ann BrussatA mildly entertaining documentary about the rise of stand-up Jewish comedians and their boot camp in the Catskills. |
