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Bob Alper is the world's only practicing clergyman doing stand-up comedy. intentionally. He performs internationally, from The Hollywood IMPROV to London theatres, has appeared on Comedy Central, Good Morning America, and Showtime, and was featured on T.V.'s EXTRA, immediately following a segment on the size of Jennifer Lopez's buttocks. Bob is the author of a warm, poignant book, Life Doesn't Get Any Better Than This, which The Detroit Free Press awarded four stars and called “a volume of spiritual gems.”

Bob (and please call him “Bob” or “Rabbi Alper;” anything other than “Rabbi Bob,” which, he says, is “too nauseatingly cute”) earned a BA, rabbinic ordination, as well as a doctoral degree, and served congregations for fourteen years. All of this, naturally, prepared him for a successful career as a stand-up comic.

Bob lives in rural Vermont with his wife, Sherri, a psychotherapist.

Standard” Comedy Night: 65-110 minutes of stand-up comedy. No need for an opening act. Can be arranged in a variety of ways, either with straight advance sale/at the door ticket prices, or with reserved seats, “sponsors,” “benefactors” pre-show receptions, raffle drawings, etc. In most cities, the secular paper will definitely do a feature article with photo, as will the Jewish paper. A unique, spirit-raising, community-building event.

II. Scholar-in-Residence Weekend includes comedy night plus one or two Shabbat programs: Presentation based on the deeply inspirational, partly humorous Life Doesn't Get Any Better Than This: The Holiness of Little Daily Dramas, which the Detroit Free Press called “a volume of spiritual gems” in a four-star review. The Miami Bureau of Jewish Education developed a study guide for this book, and uses it in family life education.
Sermon “The Spirituality of Laughter.”

III. The Spirituality of Laughter: A Jewish Look at the Holiness of Humor. This program, particularly appropriate for Shabbat, is a condensed version of the Scholar-in Residence Weekend. Part informal sermon (with plenty of laughs) exploring how Judaism values the spiritual, psychological, and physiological benefits of laughter, followed by 30 minutes of pure stand-up comedy!