The Last Laugh

On Holocaust Jokes and Comedic Taboo

Are we allowed to make jokes about the Holocaust? In this outrageously funny and thought-provoking film, filmmaker Ferne Pearlstein puts the question about comedy's ultimate taboo to legends including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Gilbert Gottfried, Harry Shearer, Jeff Ross, Judy Gold, Susie Essman, Larry Charles, and many other critical thinkers, as well as Holocaust survivors themselves.

Through these interviews and clips from our favorite standup comedy, TV shows, and movies, THE LAST LAUGH offers fresh insights into the Holocaust, our own psyches, and what else--9/11, AIDS, racism--is or isn't off-limits in a society that prizes freedom of speech. In the process, THE LAST LAUGH also disproves the idea that there is nothing left to say about the Holocaust, and opens a fresh avenue for approaching this epochal tragedy.

Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs International Film Festival.

"In its own way, THE LAST LAUGH is a celebration of Jewish humor, not just its importance as a survival technique, but also just how much it has shaped our culture." - Sheila O'Malley, RogerEbert.com