Seriously funny

Q & A with… Ari Teman

Published: Thursday, May 27, 2010 11:55 AM EDT

Comedian and Jewish Community Hero to perform at Heritage Academy

By Stacey Dresner

LONGMEADOW - Comedian Ari Teman will perform at Heritage Academy’s Comedy Night on Sunday, June 6 at 7 p.m. at City Stage in Springfield. This year the school marks its 60th anniversary, and during the event its founders and people instrumental in the establishment of the school will be honored.

Teman is an award-winning comedian, headliner and regular at A-List clubs, colleges and around the country. Recently seen on VH1, and featured in “Time Out NY” magazine for the Joke of the Week, Teman is also a Jewlarious Magazine-featured comedian, along with Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and Robert Klein. Teman is the host of “Further,” a stand-up showcase, a regular headliner at the Meshugeneh Comedy Festival, and a frequent performer at universities and premier events.

Teman, founder of JCorps, the Jewish social volunteering network, is also the Jewish Federations of North America’s “Jewish Community Hero of the Year,” selected from more than 400 nominees and after having received more than 570,000 votes.

JCorps, which Teman runs entirely as a volunteer, groups Jewish young adults of all denominations and from over 170 colleges and 450 companies together to help in hunger-relief, children’s hospitals, senior centers, and park and environmental projects. JCorps is now active in four countries and eight cities. Teman, a graduate of Brandeis, is also CEO of 12 gurus, a company that helps start-up firms “innovate with integrity.”

The Ledger recently spoke to Ari Teman about his comedy and his role as Jewish Community Hero.

A: I was raised Modern Orthodox in Teaneck, N.J. I went to various yeshiva and day schools.

Q: You majored in studio arts and psychology at Brandeis. So how did you end up in comedy?

A: I got into comedy pretty much the year after graduating from college. It was something I always wanted to do - It was something people were always telling me to do. I got up and did it, and fell in love with it and kept doing it.

Q: How would you describe your comedy? Is it very Jewish?

A: It’s mostly Episcopalian, which was a surprise to me as well as the audience - especially when Federations hire me to perform.

I mean, I am a Jew and sometimes when I complain it sounds like I am ordering at a deli. For the most part it is observational humor that is about life and relationships. I have one or two jokes about Jews.

Q: When did you found JCorps?

A: December of 2007.

Q: And what was the impetus? Were you a volunteer before you founded JCorps?

A: No, I don’t really like helping people. I am actually a registered Republican. I basically said to myself, how do I meet nice people? I just didn’t feel like going to synagogue or temple, and I didn’t feel like going to nightclubs was a great way to meet decent human beings. So I said, volunteering, and the idea for JCorps came into my head.

The idea is to keep it social. The basic idea behind JCorps is that helping people can and should be a selfish experience in the sense that you should feel you are getting back what you are putting in - people who like working with kids should work with kids, people who like working with animals should work with animals. [If you are in JCorps] one of the things you want to do is connect with other people, so we want to preserve an environment where people can connect.

We also make it very convenient to volunteer. People are busy - they don’t have a lot of time to run around and go on-line and find volunteer places, sign up and apply. We make it so you fill out a form, we screen you and you show up.

So it is definitely a convenience issue, and it is also the fact that if you’ve got to choose between two volunteer opportunities and one will let you meet a bunch of great people you are going to choose the one that lets you meet a lot of great people.

Q: You were nominated for and were named the Jewish Community Hero of the Year by the Jewish Federations of North America. Was that exciting?

A: Yeah, a friend nominated me, obviously making a huge mistake…

But it was great for the organization. It gave us a lot of visibility and credibility.

It was a mixed bag. I beat a guy from my hometown who gave away a kidney, and that made me feel really great. Although for the record he was unwilling to do it twice whereas I volunteer almost every Sunday. The Federations like consistency - that is the message here. If you are going to give up a kidney, don’t be a quitter.

Q: You are also CEO of a company called 12gurus. Can you tell us about it?

A: “12gurus” helps organizations start ventures. We have a few start ups of our own…and then we are hired by organizations, foundations and companies that want to launch a venture and make it popular and successful. We help them do it…It is very much an innovation process that from the very start of a venture helps shape it.

Q: So you do a lot - you are a CEO, a volunteer and a comedian. How would you describe yourself?

A: Poorly focused.

I guess I try to get a lot done in a short amount of time so I can spend the rest of my life doing nothing - the American dream.