The Last Laugh
Wednesday, August 16 at 8:00pm
2017
“Director Ferne Pearlstein [explores] not only the limits of humor and free speech today, but how Shoah victims and survivors used humor as a salve, defense mechanism and weapon despite their powerlessness.”— Andrew Silow-Carrol,Jewish Telegraphic Agency
“Pearlstein’s film doesn't only examine the issue from those with a microphone, but through Holocaust survivors who add a deeper dimension to the film: humor as a necessary survival tool.…By seeking humor in the darkest dark, The Last Laugh gets at the intrinsic nature of comedy.” -Jake Coyle, Associated Press
“Reveals…the intensely personal nature of what people find funny.…It doesn’t downplay the tragedy behind the comedy.” -Alex Needham, The Guardian
Are we allowed to make jokes about the Holocaust? In this outrageously funny and thought-provoking film, director Ferne Pearlstein puts the question about comedy’s ultimate taboo to legends including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Gilbert Gottfried, Alan Zweibel, Harry Shearer, Jeff Ross, Judy Gold, Susie Essman, Larry Charles, Jake Ehrenreich, and many other critical thinkers, as well as Holocaust survivors themselves.
Author James Carroll will lead a post-screening discussion with filmmaker Ferne Pearlstein
