The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting

Kutner (Apocalypse How), an Emmy-winning comedy writer for The Daily Show and Conan, takes a funny if somewhat awkward spin through 5,000 years of Jewish history. He covers David’s combat with Goliath; modern Israel’s multiple wars from 1947 onward, which are narrated sportscaster-style by such figures as Joshua ben Nun, a biblical commander (“SCORE! A Six-Day War! Almost unheard of in military history!”); and the exploits of such “badass Jews” as Sigmund Freud and Gloria Steinem. Kutner’s attempts to breathe new life into this history are creative and sometimes amusing, as in a family therapy session with Judaism’s patriarchs and matriarchs (after Abraham explains that God’s “direct order” compelled him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, the psychologist responds, “So, what I’m hearing here is a problem with boundaries?”). Unfortunately, other chapters are weighed down by corny jokes and often struggle to straddle the line between comedy and seriousness, as in a brief history of the Holocaust interspersed with off-key “notes” from an editor (“This is Hitler. Do something where you undermine his tyrannical mystique by making him seem ridiculous. I mean, come on, the mustache? The stiff-arm thing? LOL city!”). Kutner isn’t short on chutzpah, but this is a bumpy ride. (Mar.)