* One thing about the clip that bugs me is how Shandling starts talking about/making fun of “ugly kids.” I’ve seen many a comedian do this. Is this a Jewish thing? I’ve never looked at a child and seen ugly. Some kids are funny-looking, sure, but they all seem pretty cute to me. I seem to note that comedians seem to have a standard bit of “what do you say when someone’s kid is ugly?” routine that never sells with me. It’s really mean, since kids can’t defend themselves and its almost a literal definition of punching down.
I say Jewish comedians because I’ve noted that Jewish guys seem to have this large insecurity about their looks. Almost every Jewish comedian had some bit or part of their biography where they talk about themselves being some “ugly little Jew” , especially when they talk about some shishka broad they want to get with (In his films, Woody Allen has portrayed this memorably). So attacking the kids as ugly really comes off as projection. And I can’t recall black comedians or other-ethnic comedians doing routines about “ugly kids of others.”
Jewish women have this insecurity as well about being less attractive than goyim, hence why they make so many blond jokes. But it makes more sense in women, since their main power is their looks, and the shishka-fever among Jewish men is a cliche. In Jewish men, however, this insecurity comes off as creepy and weird—why, as a man, are you so concerned about it, Schlomo?
