The quick-witted Brit takes audiences on a personal journey via identity, self-discovery and a very un-PC pudding
In the mid-2020s, Jewish actor and comedian David Ellis auditioned for Joshua Harmon’s soon-to-be-hit play Bad Jews. He didn’t get the part, but questioning the reasons why led him to this very stage in a room in Edinburgh, which looks like a budget airline – complete with actual plane seats, cramped leg room and zero storage – mourning a role he never played.
“Maybe you don’t look Jewish enough,” suggested a friend. Ellis responded flabbergasted, insisting that he looks like Woody Allen shtupped the entire cast of the Big Bang Theory. What is Jewish enough anyway? And is David Ellis it? Is he a ‘bad Jew’? Perhaps he’s the worst Jew? Thus sets up his latest show, a journey in observational comedy about identity and heritage.
Delivered in an erratic outpouring of amusing anecdotes, Ellis proceeds to weave a personal history that involves an abusive relationship, racist desserts, reasons why there’s never a good time to watch Schindler’s List, and the day he inadvertently disrupted the Queen Mother’s memorial service. It’s quick, it’s funny and whatever you consider Ellis’s Jewish credentials to be, The Worst Jew is certainly worth an hour of your time.
By Danielle Goldstein
David Ellis: The Worst Jew runs until Sunday 18 August. 1.15pm. FREE. Laughing Horse @ West Port Oracle, EH1 2LD. tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/worst-jew