Traveling cross-country with a Jewish novelty music act, Sean Altman has noticed that some folks will go to any show with the word “Jewish” in the description.
Perhaps that’s not such a good idea.
So if the following takeoff on a grog song is too much for you — Raise a glass and drink a toast to Christian baby blood/ What do Christians feed their babes to make it taste so good?/ There’s never been a beverage more misunderstood/ Than delicious, nutritious Christian baby blood/ L’chaim! —then you might plan on sitting near the exit.
“My act is not for everyone — [especially] senior citizens whose idea of edgy comedy may be Allan Sherman,” said Altman, who is currently on an album tour with his solo act “Jewmongous.” The show supports his CD, “Taller Than Jesus.”
“I don’t like to offend anybody,” he said. “But these songs not only get me in touch with my Jewishness, they get me in touch with my inner teenage boy. There’s no lack of [male appendage] jokes. In fact, there’s even a [male appendage] song.”
The 6-foot, 3-inch tall Altman and his “Taller Than Jesus” tour swing through San Francisco on Dec. 2 with a pair of shows at the Red Devil Lounge.
Readers of a certain age may recall Altman as part of the group Rockapella — indeed, if you ever watched the show “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” (or watched it with your kids) the show’s theme song may be scorched into your subconscious.
For those of you who recall Rockapella’s Taco Bell commercial, Altman reveals that the special effect of the group driving an invisible car across the nation actually involved sitting for seven hours straight in front of a blue screen on incredibly uncomfortable metal poles.
“It’s hard to explain to people that 10 years ago I was a mid-level children’s TV star,” he says.
It’s even harder after they hear some of his lyrics.
“Jewmongous” is actually Altman’s second go-around on the Jewish novelty circuit. His previous band, a duo with Rob Tannenbaum called What I Like About Jew broke up about a year ago. The two aren’t talking, said a half-serious Altman, but they do occasionally threaten to sue each other in curt emails. Their breakup hasn’t been a total downer though: At least the former duo can be content in the knowledge that they’ve been providing steady work for a handful of Jewish lawyers.
Altman, who answers “younger than Madonna” when asked his age, said he’s never gotten as much press as he has in the past year. He claims the mainstream is ripe for his kind of comedy after Sacha Baron Cohen and Sarah Silverman greased the skids so bawdily.
“Jewish comedy has sort of become America’s comedy. It really seems like blacks and Jews have a monopoly on comedy in the United States,” he says. “My theory is, suffering breeds comedy.”
Altman also has a serious side — he is a “sensitive” singer-songwriter, and performs all over the country in places where the fans don’t clamor for the Christian baby blood drinking song, and don’t show up in a 70/30 breakdown: “70 percent Jews and 30 percent friends and spouses of Jews.”
But it’s his Jewish novelty side act that has taken off, so he’s riding the wave. “Sensitive singer-songwriters are a dime a dozen,” he notes. “It’s better to be a big, lumbering whale in a tiny, little pond than a minnow in a massive ocean.”
Sean Altman will perform his show “Jewmongous” at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Red Devil Lounge, 1695 Polk St., S.F. Tickets: $17 advance, $20 day of show. Information: www.reddevillounge.com or (415) 921-1695.