Ashley Blaker

Ashley Blaker is a British comedian and television producer. He has been described by JPost as "the UK's only Orthodox stand-up comedian".[1][2] Blaker is a writer for TV and radio and was producer of Little Britain.[3]

Early life

Blaker was educated at the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, where he was four years behind Sacha Baron Cohen,[1] and a friend of Matt Lucas, with whom he went on to create Little Britain.[3] He is a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge.[4] He embraced Orthodox Judaism in his early twenties.[3]

Career

Blaker produced and directed Little Britain for BBC Radio 4. From 2012-13, he was producer, as well as co-creator and co-writer (with Matt Lucas) of The Matt Lucas Awards,[5] a BBC TV show in which Blaker appeared on-screen in one episode.

In 2017, he was commissioned by the BBC to create a show called the "Goyish Guide To Judaism", described as "an insider's view of his religion"".[6] It was broadcast in June 2018 as part of BBC Radio Four's Stand-Up Specials series.[7] A follow-up was commissioned and broadcast in 2019.[8]

Blaker's stand-up show, Observant Jew, was part of the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[9]

Critical reception

His material has been described by the New York Times as being different from most other Jewish comics': "In contrast to most overtly Jewish comedy, which usually compares Jews and gentiles, most of his material juxtaposes the frum and not frum."[10] The paper's review described him as "a skilled joke-teller with none of the borscht belt timing you would expect from a Catskills comic. And since we rarely hear the perspective of the ultra-Orthodox in comedy clubs, there’s a pleasing freshness about an act that offers a look into a world often hidden from public view."[10]

gollark: Plausible.
gollark: It'll probably be resolved in about 3 days.
gollark: He was a good *temporary* owner.
gollark: It was 25, not 50.
gollark: It's a symbolic thing I guess.

References
  1. Hoffman, Gil (27 December 2016). "Ashley Blaker: Born to Kvetch". Jerusalem Post.
  2. Freedland, Michael. "Jonathan Sacks at 70 reinvents himself as the 'cartoon rabbi'" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  3. Richardson, Jay (2 January 2018). "The comedians who are putting their faith in jokes". iNews.
  4. Hoffman, Barbara (May 25, 2018). "This Jewish comedian has a lot to kvetch about".
  5. British Comedy Guide. "The Matt Lucas Awards - BBC1 Panel Show - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  6. "BBC - BBC Radio 4 announces dazzling line-up of new comedy titles - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk.
  7. "BBC Radio 4 - Stand-Up Specials, Ashley Blaker's Goyish Guide to Judaism". BBC.
  8. "BBC Radio 4 - Stand-Up Specials, Ashley Blaker's Goyish Guide to Judaism - 2". BBC.
  9. Savitsky, Sasha (July 23, 2018). "Orthodox Jewish comedian Ashley Blaker works in show business but he can't own a TV". Fox News.
  10. Zinoman, Jason (June 13, 2018). "What's So Funny About Orthodox Judaism? This Comic Has One Answer" – via NYTimes.com.
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