This morning on Minnesota Public Radio I heard about the Minneapolis Jewish Humor Festival.

The Encyclopedia Judaica, part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library,  has a lengthy article on Humor, from its biblical roots to its psych-social roots.

Rabbi Sim Glaser, one of the presenters at the festival,  says that his favorite Jewish humorist is Bugs Bunny.  He chose old Bugs over Groucho Marx, Woody Allen, Jack Benny, and Jerry Seinfeld.  In addition to everything else that made me laugh during that MPR segment, that cracked me up because I consider Bugs Bunny as my favorite classical musician.  It was through the Bugs Bunny show that I was introduced to such classical pieces as:

• Barber of Seville by Rossini
  Rabbit of Seville, featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (1950)

• Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor by Franz Liszt
  Played here by Reginald Foort on that SMASH HIT record, Pipe Organ in the Mosque”  on our Smithsonian Global Sound.  Did you know that Reg Foort’s Jersey Shore nickname is The Pipeline?  Well… it is.

• Flight of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner
  “Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!”  I’m sure most of us associate the Flight of the Valkyries with the movie Apocalypse Now, but good old Bugs and crew were bringing it to the masses years before that movie was made.  The International Directory of Films & Filmmakers has a brief article on Apocalypse Now.

I have no idea why my font got so shouty for some of those titles.  Sorry.  I’m really not shouting.