Black Jew Dialogues, Part 2

Ron Jones, yours truly and Larry Jay Tish after last night's performance at Le Chat Noir

Following publication of yesterday’s blog about “The Black Jew Dialogues,” I attended the performance at Le Chat Noir last night. The sparsely attended crowd was treated to nearly an hour and a half of scripted fun followed by a ten minute question and answer period. Both co-creators and stars Larry Jay Tish and Ron Jones were clever in their approach to the material, which was hysterical for most of the night. There were underpinnings that dealt with issues of anti-Semitism and racism against African-Americans, but the message was delivered through the veil of humor. It was a play within a play with the two stars breaking character to become themselves only to revert into other characters. “This play within a play thing, we didn’t start,” Tish remarked prior to the performance. “Actually, Wiliam Shakespeare did it originally.” The whole performance was quite hilarious and there the party next to me, neither African-American or Jewish, were having just as much fun as the others in the audience who were. Following last night's nearly hour and a half long show, the crowd thinned out and I found myself enjoying a late night with the two stars. We ended the morning at the Carousel Bar at the Monteleone Hotel, not exactly on my diet. But what the heck! It was fun and I hadn't had anything alcoholic earlier at Le Chat (much to Barbara Motley's chagrin). Tonight's the final performance, but I don't think either Ron or Larry will make this their last trip.