'Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad' go meshuggeneh at Stephen Talkhouse

A neo-vaudevillian variety show featuring a bevy of scantily-clad Jewish girls is heading to the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett July 1.

The show, with the provocative title of “Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad,” deconstructs Jewish tradition, according to the production’s creator, Susannah “The Goddess” Perlman.

For just one example, the girls do a go-go version of “Hava Nagila,” the Hebrew folk song that is typically performed for a dance done in a circle at Jewish weddings, Ms. Perlman said.

“We also have a song about the Hamentaschen, a three-corner cookie,” she said, in which the “girls” riff on the sweet’s shape.

Ms. Perlman said that the audience can expect a nearly three-hour-long show filled with the kind of laughter that will make it seem a lot shorter on Thursday, July 1, beginning at 9 p.m. at the Stephen Talkhouse.

The first half of the performance features a mash-up of comedy, burlesque and music, while a band called Bar Mitzvah Jones has the stage for the second half, Ms. Perlman said.

“They’re the house band throughout ‘Jewish Girls Gone Bad,’” Ms. Perlman said of the group. The entire audience typically gets up and dances during the second half of the show, she said.

Tickets for the neo-vaudevillian extravaganza are $15.

In addition to Ms. Perlman, another of the original members of “Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad,” comedian Cynthia Levin, will be in attendance, the group’s founder said. Ms. Levin has been featured on Comedy Central.

Sherry Davey, named Nick at Night’s funniest mom, will also perform, Ms. Perlman said.

“There’s a little bit of improv,” said Ms. Perlman, adding that the show also draws some of its inspiration from the Borscht Belt of yesteryear as well. They also get some flow going with a hip-hop version of a popular Yiddish song from the 1930s, she said.

Although Jewish humor is what glues the show together, non-Jews will also appreciate the performance, Ms. Perlman explained.

“Women get into the show—it has underlying feminist undertones,” she said.

Men of all ethnicities, religions and sexual orientations have also been raving about the show, Ms. Perlman said.

“Gay men like it because it’s a very campy show,” Ms. Perlman said with a wry laugh. “Straight men like it because it’s dirty.”

The variety of venues where the Nice Jewish Girls have performed, she suggested, demonstrates their appeal for a diverse crowd.

“We played Utah,” she said without elaborating, as if just mentioning the state 
would speak volumes about the troupe’s ability to win over tough crowds.

The Nice Jewish Girls, who played the Stephen Talkhouse a few years ago, have also performed at an opera house in Aspen, Colorado, in the basement of a Howard Johnson’s in Vancouver and in an adobe house in Mexico.

“We do everything,” she said.

“Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad” took off eight years ago at a launch party for Heeb Magazine, a hip publication aimed at young Jewish people.

“I did not think it would take off like this,” Ms. Perlman said about her group’s success.

When she first thought of the idea, she just thought it would be a fun experiment.

“But our initial photos took off and we sold out immediately,” she said. “It’s been a very interesting ride.”

While Ms. Perlman was not sure whether or not Bar Mitzvah Jones had played an actual Bar Mitzvah, she said that the band represents what every 13-year-old boy and girl would love to have entertaining their friends and family at the coming-of-age ceremony.

“The idea of the band is that you wish they were playing at your Bar Mitzvah,” she said. “It’s mash-ups. There’s nothing too cheesy that we won’t touch.”

Ms. Perlman described Bar Mitzvah Jones as a tribute band that covers everyone’s guilty pleasure music—giving as examples such diverse performers as the members of Aerosmith, Olivia Newton John and Britney Spears.

“Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad” will be presented by the Nice Jewish Girls and Bar Mitzvah Jones at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett on Thursday, July 1, at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15; call 267-3117 for reservations or further information.