Interview with Modi Rosenfeld
Modi Rosenfeld is a comedian.
Kill Your Tchotchkes
Contents
Max Raskin: What’s that painting right behind you?
Modi: This is an amazing painting I found…what does it look like to you?
MR: Two people kissing.
Modi: Wow…not many people get that right away. It's oil painting.
MR: Who is the artist?
Modi: Nothing like an art thing – he was just on the streets in Union Square.
MR: Do you collect anything?
Modi: I'm so anti-hoarding and anti-tchotchke. I can't say there's anything I collect.
MR: Not shoes or books or anything like that?
Modi: No. As soon as I stop wearing something, I throw it out. I go often through my stuff and just throw things out, clear clutter and then better things and new things come.
MR: Is that how you are with your material?
Modi: Wow. Good question. Very nice angle. No, no. No, no, and no.
There are things that obviously have a shelf life of two minutes. Especially when Trump was president, in two days, something else would happen that would make the joke irrelevant. Unless you had a show that night or the day after, the shelf life expires. Comedy has a shelf life. It's like food almost. But I have an arsenal of material that I go on stage with and I figure out what's the best thing to use and work on the new material for the arsenal.
MR: I think Carlin was famous for throwing out material.
Modi: Well, he worked almost a year on a special and then did it, and once you do a special, you can't go back on stage and do anything from that. So I'm working on an hour special now. Once that special is out – that whole material – I can never do that on stage again.
MR: Never?
Modi: You can do an old routine here and there, but it can't be your main thing, you know?
Modi: Listen, there’s comedian that did the same act for years. Mal Z. Lawrence. Jackie Mason did a Broadway show for three years, the same act and we went back to see it every month.
You can redo material, but I think now once it's up in TV or the Internet, it's done. When I work on new material and I post it online, and you see it's got 45,000 views – people have heard the joke.
MR: What is the technical process of writing jokes? Do you handwrite? Do you make voice memos?
Modi: I'm not the type to sit in front of a computer and starts to write out jokes. I say something amongst friends, and I see that it's funny and so I write it down.
I go to my phone, and I text it to myself. Then I come home, and I write it down in my new material page and when I go to the Comedy Cellar, I'll work it out. I'll try it with a few different words. I'll tape it, see where it could be some tweaking. Before I go to the gym, I usually take a puff or two of weed. And sometimes while I'm working out, the joke clears up a little bit for me.
MR: Obviously I know you’re close with Gav [Bellino] – is there someone who's your first go to with something that you want to try out?
Modi: There's a bunch of people, but the audience is the ones I go to the most. I'll hit Gav or Leo or my friend Brian with it depending on the type of joke and see where it goes with them and what their thoughts are. Sometimes they have a knee jerk reaction, and they give you another line for it.
MR: In terms of your career, are you working on anything other than new material and more standup?
Modi: Yes, I’m the co-founder and producer of the Chosen Comedy Festival with Elon Gold and Dani Zoldan.
DJ MBD
MR: Do you lift at the gym? Do you do cardio?
Modi: I like to lift.
MR: How often do you go?
Modi: Almost every day. Twice a week with a trainer and then the rest on my own.
MR: What about diet? Do you eat anything weird?
Modi: I try to eat really well. I really do try to eat really well. It's hard. I'm out almost every night. There's events I go to where there's crazy amounts of food, but I try to eat well.
MR: What restaurant in New York do you think you order in from the most?
Modi: 12 Chairs and a sushi place…I forgot the name of it.
MR: What do you get at 12 Chairs?
Modi: Hummus and vegetarian stuff. I don't really eat meat unless it's kosher. I'll eat fish out.
MR: Do you monitor your screen time on your phone?
Modi: No, I don't.
MR: Have you ever looked at it?
Modi: I know I can do it. It's something I don't want to know.
I'm not on my phone that much. There's a few moments I'll go through Instagram a little bit. I'm not a big Twitter guy. I always try to answer anybody that wrote me anything on a DM or a comment on a post. I will always try to answer them, and great things happen from that
MR: You respond to anyone who writes to you?
Modi: As long as they're not out of their minds.
MR: Do you listen to a lot of music?
Modi: A lot of music.
MR: On Spotify, what are your most played songs?
Modi: It's so funny, it changes. I always can tell what season things were. I won't listen to anything that I used to listen to during the pandemic because it reminds me of that.
MR: What did you listen to during the pandemic?
Modi: A lot of DJs. I like to go to hear DJs at Avant Gardner in Brooklyn. I go to musical events – not raves – in Brooklyn. So there's that whole world.
And then there's the whole Jewish world of music – singers you've never heard of. Not just Avraham Fried and Mordechai ben David. Luckily, Spotify finds me newer ones and I go into a hole and listen to them – who they're doing duets with. There's so many amazing Jewish singers out there.
MR: I know you trained as a cantor – do you still sing?
Modi: I still do as a hobby. I’ll sing sometimes at Sixth Street [Community Synagogue].
This reminds me of when I do Q&A with a Jewish audience and they ask me, “Is comedy all you do?” I tell them, “No, I’m also chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Mt. Sinai.”
MR: Were you ever into following a band around or anything like that?
Modi: No. I actually find it's better to not go see any star that you like, because you might not like them after you see them live.
MR: Do you watch a lot of TV?
Modi: I try to watch very calm things. I can't watch Fauda. I watch Ru Paul's Drag Race. Right now I'm watching Hacks. I love watching Julia. I watch TV before I go to bed. I want it to be something very calm and soothing and to numb the brain before you go in bed. And if you watch something like Fauda before you go to bed, it’s like you’re going to bed in the Gaza Strip.
MR: Do you dream?
Modi: There are times I do and there are times I don't. Sometimes I don't have dreams at all. Sometimes I have vivid ones. Not horrible ones, but just clear.
Alan King’s Speech
MR: You don’t have to answer this question, but I notice you stutter a little.
Modi: It's not sometimes…I stutter.
I get stuck on a few different letters: L, S, M. I get stuck on them a little bit.
MR: In Hebrew too?
Modi: Yeah. Lamed, mem, samech, and shin.
MR: Did you watch The King's Speech?
Modi: Amazing. One of my favorites.
MR: Was it ever worse in your life?
Modi: Yes. It was a lot worse. When I took voice lessons, it helped bring my voice forward. Right now, I'm kind of stuttering because I'm a little bit tired, but usually if I'm focused, I'm speaking forward and I'm speaking at the top of my face and it's much easier to get the words out. But when you get tired, it comes back here and then you get stuck in a letter.
MR: For anyone who has a stutter, what would you recommend doing?
Modi: Get therapy. There's definitely therapy out there.
MR: And is there any particular place you would recommend?
Modi: I don't know. But it's funny you asked because some macher recently asked me to be a part of some organization.
MR: How do you feel about watching other comedians?
Modi: I try not to watch too many other comedians because then sometimes the material gets caught in your head. I know a bunch of comics that don't watch other comedians and I know comics that watch whatever anybody's doing.
MR: Do you watch Seinfeld’s show on Netflix?
Modi: What Seinfeld show?
MR: The one with the cars getting coffee.
Modi: No.
MR: You've never seen an episode?
Modi: I can't imagine anything more boring. It's not my thing.
I never really watched Seinfeld. I never watched Curb. I never watched Mrs. Maisel. If I'm watching something, I want something completely that's nothing to do with my life. I love to watch goyim on TV. I love to watch American Pickers. I like to watch those people that live in Alaska. I like to watch the ones
MR: Who do you most attribute your timing to?
Modi: Alan King.
Ear Plug Plug
MR: Do you do any martial arts?
Modi: No. What a random question that is.
MR: Do you do anything competitive athletically?
Modi: No.
MR: Where’s your favorite place in New York to hang out?
Modi: The Comedy Cellar. I live in the Lower East Side, so I like to walk around here, go up Orchard towards Soho, towards the Village, the West Village.
MR: What's literally the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
Modi: I take my earplugs out.
MR: What kind of earplugs do you have?
Modi: Mack’s Ear Plugs. Best earplugs ever.
Even if it’s quiet, I always put earplugs in when I go to bed. It tells your body, “Oh, he's going to sleep” and you hear your inner breathing.
MR: When do you go to bed?
Modi: Depending if I have a late show that night late, I try to get in bed by 11.
What a horribly boring question that was.
MR: When do you wake up in the morning?
Modi: I try to get up by 9:00 or 10:00.
MR: What about after you take the ear plugs out?
Modi: I get up and go [throat-clears and expectorates]. Good luck transcribing that.
It’s Nir, Like Not Far
MR: Do you drink coffee?
Modi: I have an amazing, amazing Jura machine.
MR: How do you take your coffee?
Modi: I take it with a little bit of almond milk.
MR: And what kind of beans do you like?
Modi: It depends. I’ll use beans from Caffè Vita – but if I see a good coffee place, I’ll buy their beans as well.
MR: Then what do you do?
Modi: So then I have my coffee and then if I'm really still sleepy, I'll take a shower. Then I’ll daven and I put tefillin on every day and then go to whatever.
MR: Do you meditate?
Modi: I journal and meditate. Every day.
MR: What’s the first niggun that comes to mind right now.
Modi: [Sings a niggun.] That one, I forgot the name of it.
MR: If you had to direct someone to any of your podcast episodes, what’s the first podcast episode that comes to mind.
Modi: It depends. If it was you, I would tell you to listen to Alan Dershowitz.
MR: What about to one of my random readers?
Modi: Well, from seeing who you've done, also Alan Dershowitz because it's your type of people. We’ve had such cute guests – such artists – and I would tell them to just go find a name that clicks.
MR: If someone was discovering your comedy for the first time, what video would you want them to watch?
Modi: I don't know, maybe the latest thing that I posted on Instagram.
MR: Of all your characters, do you have a favorite right now?
Modi: No, I like them all the same. I like Yoely and I like Nir all the same.
I like Modi the most.
MR: Do you like these questions?
Modi: Some were good. Some were horrible.
MR: Which one did you think was horrible?
Modi: Storing material was good. Horrible is what's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning.
MR: Do you think that's a bad question?
Modi: Yeah. I think everybody asks that question.
MR: Do you floss?
Modi: I do, but not with the full string. I have that little pick that has the string on it. It's a little lazy.
MR: You do it every day?
Modi: I try to. I keep it in this beautiful box on the coffee table.
Soylent Green is Funny
MR: Do you miss any Israeli foods?
Modi: I'm not a foodie to begin with. I'm not one of these “this is the most delicious…you have to have it” people. If I could take a pill in the morning and not eat for the whole day, that'd be great too.
But you can get whatever you want here from Israel.
MR: Did you ever think about living there?
Modi: No. We moved here when I was seven. I'm kind of Americanized. I’m still very Israeli, but I do comedy in English. Where am I going to do it in Israel?
MR: What's the most Israeli thing about you?
Modi: I speak Hebrew fluently. I think that's a question you have to ask somebody else.
MR: Do you consider yourself more Jewish or Israeli?
Modi: Jewish.
MR: You paused for a second. Is there even a question there?
Modi: I'm definitely more Jewish than I am Israeli, but I am definitely Israeli.
MR: Do you have any travel rituals that you need to do?
Modi: Fly business class. Otherwise, I'm not getting on a plane because when you travel a lot, it's very hard if it's not business class.
MR: Do you have a bag packed right now?
Modi: It's funny. I'm going on vacation on Thursday, so I'm kind of working on the bag for the vacations. Usually when I travel, the first thing I do when I pack is I prepare what I need for the reason I'm traveling. If I have a show and I want to be wearing a suit, I’ll pack a suit, a shirt, the shoes, everything.
The Psychopathology of Lululemon
MR: Where do you get your suits and your shoes from?
Modi: Random places.
But you ask a question, I'm trying to answer, and you come with another question in the middle.
So the first thing I do is I prepare what I need for the show. Once that's all set, everything else is commentary. Am I going to get a workout in? Am I going to get to go someplace else to have a dinner? Should I pick another pair of pants? But usually if it's an in and out, whatever I wear in, I wear out – like Lululemon
MR: Do you go to therapy?
Modi: No, I don't go to therapy.
MR: What kind of bag do you take? What kind of travel kit do you have?
Modi: Believe it or not, Samsonite has the lightest bag. I used to have most expensive bags, Tumi and all that, but Samsonite makes one of the lightest bags for the small and the big.
MR: And then I'm assuming you have a toiletry bag.
Modi: Yeah. These questions stink.
MR: No. They tell a lot about someone.
Modi: Really? Okay.
MR: They do. It's like the psychopathology of everyday life. Well, okay.
Modi: Lululemon makes an amazing bag. If you go to shop in Lululemon, they give you that little bag when you go home. Those make amazing toiletry bags.
MR: Really?
Modi: Amazing. They're waterproof. And you roll it up at the top and my toothbrush, all my stuff goes in there.
MR: Do you have a favorite food at shul?
Modi: On Friday, Gav makes those little hot dogs once in a while. I treat myself to a few of those. They're fun, just the fun to have a hot dog.
MR: Do you drink?
Modi: I'm not an alcohol guy. No.
Once in a while, I'll have something because someone can't stop raving about it or just to make people at the table feel okay. I'll order a drink too for the l'chaim but I usually don't finish it and alcohol is not my thing at all. It makes me tired and I don't get it.
MR: But you like smoking marijuana occasionally.
Modi: I'll take a hit. One hit of weed will do for me what a bottle of wine will do for someone else. So why am I going to waste a full bottle of wine and the calories and the next day you don't feel well. I don't get it. And it's not that often that I do it. Just before the gym and that's it.
MR: And that's where you get some of your ideas.
Modi: That's where you get some great ideas. Yeah.
Modi v. Modi
MR: I'll ask you one political question: What do you think about Narendra Modi?
Modi: Oh, the Indian guy? It's really funny. I get so many DMs and so many followers from India because they think I have something to do with him. I'm a verified account, so they think it's him and they send me these insane videos of these poor kids bathing in dirt saying, "Please help us."
I'm like, “Oh, you've got the wrong Modi…”
I feel so bad. They're in some town where they probably get like seven minutes of Wi-Fi a week and they're sending me a video of their poverty. But you got the wrong guy. You see I'm a Jewish comedian, not your president. But I get a lot of mix up with that.
MR: And you've never done a bit about that?
Modi: Not really. I have a bunch of stuff about India and Indians.
MR: But it must be frustrating because before he came around, when someone Googled “Modi” they must have gotten you.
Modi: Yeah, I think it was.
MR: But now they don’t. How do you feel about that?
Modi: Worse things have happened to the Jews.