Superficial and hokey yet still oddly endearing, this documentary rounds up geriatric Borscht Belt survivors like Jerry Lewis, Sid Caesar, Jackie Mason and Jerry Stiller to recall how they honed their skills before tough audiences at very minimal pay in the mostly vanished Catskills resorts and bungalow colonies.
Robert Klein is the ingratiating host of Ron Frank and Melvut Akkaya’s labor of love, which throws in not especially funny clips of Catskills vets like Danny Kaye, Lenny Bruce and Henny Youngman and cheesy re-creations while cornily recounting the oft-told story of how the resorts helped Jewish-Americans assimilate and comedians go mainstream.
“When Comedy Went to School’’ is sort of like a film version of the classic Catskills joke about the guest who complains about the food at her resort, pauses, and adds, “and such small portions!’’ Not to mention Larry King, whose summer duties apparently included intimately entertaining older single ladies. Oy.