In conversation: Alastair Falk

“It's a culmination of threads, if you’ll pardon the pun, through my life, which sitting around in Covid allowed me to pull together”

Tsitsit: The Jewish Fringe Festival, aptly named after the Jewish ritual fringes, launches this October throughout the UK and online. It promises a packed month of music, theatre, comedy and family entertainment celebrating “the diversity of Jewishness” and is the brainchild of Alastair Falk, a former head teacher and co-founder of Limmud. Judi Herman caught up with him to find out about this new festival that’s really got her excited; and Alastair tells her how he himself got the festival bug starting out with his own comedy show on the Edinburgh Fringe.

Tsitsit: The Jewish Fringe Festival runs Sunday 3 – Sunday 31 October. Times and prices vary. See it online and at various UK venues. tsitsitfringe.org

In conversation: Ashley Blaker

"The children really are great in it – hopefully partly because I wrote things they really said"

Orthodox Jewish Comedian Ashley Blaker has built up a great reputation, both live on the comedy circuit and on the airwaves. His landmark show, Ashley Blaker’s Goyish Guide to Judaism on BBC Radio 4, gives millions of listeners a window into his world in the Orthodox community.

Now, in the four-part radio series Ashley Blaker: 6.5 Children, he takes us into his household in a groundbreaking new comedy show. With a mix of stand-up and observational documentary, all recorded in the Blakers’ unusual home with the voices of his real family, the show tackles the parenting of six children, adoption and raising children with special needs – two autistic sons and an adopted daughter with Down's Syndrome. So how does he find the funny under his own roof? The comedian shares some home truths with JR’s arts editor Judi Herman, who also gets a sneak preview of an episode about the ins and outs of adoption.

Ashley Blaker: 6.5 Children runs until Friday 30 July on BBC Radio 4 at 11.30am. After it airs, each episode will be available to stream on BBC Sounds. bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xmz7
Blaker will tour his brand new stand-up show, inspired by the radio series, from May 2022. ashleyblaker.com