Aug. 1, 2025

Salvadore Litvak - About Funny Pt 1

Salvadore Litvak - About Funny Pt 1

Humorist and film producer, author Sal Litvak joins us to discuss the Sydney Sweeny "controversy" and what the Left doesn't get about sex-appeal and great marketing. Plus, the state of comedy today and how it reflects cultural attitudes.

1
00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:11,040
All right, Welcome back to
America Today.

2
00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:13,440
Yeah, we need, we need a little
relief here.

3
00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:15,280
Let's, let's move off to serious
stuff.

4
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,760
Guy that we've had on before.
He's real funny.

5
00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,840
Salvador Litvik.
He's a humorist, author of Let

6
00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,560
My People Laugh Greater,
Greatest Jewish jokes of All

7
00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,200
Times, and the director of the
action film Guns and Moses, Last

8
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:31,680
time we talked to you, I think.
Where are you at with that that

9
00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,120
film?
It's out in theaters right now,

10
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,600
and we have an imminent
announcement that we're going to

11
00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,200
be in a lot more in September.
We're very excited.

12
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,600
The movie's doing great.
And by the way, if I didn't

13
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,120
mention it, Salvador Litvik and
he joins us here on America

14
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,520
Today.
Let's talk about what's your

15
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:52,160
perspective about this, this
whatever reason it's highly

16
00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,280
controversial with Sidney
Sweeney, I don't even know who

17
00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,760
she was a week ago.
And then the jeans commercial.

18
00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,160
What's your take on all that?
Why are people going nuts?

19
00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,360
So it's highly controversial
that a beautiful woman is

20
00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:07,360
selling clothes to the American
public.

21
00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,760
The the state of America in
2025.

22
00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,160
You know, American Eagle who
launched this campaign?

23
00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,080
If if you know, first of all, I
give him credit that they stood

24
00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,160
by their guns.
They didn't issue the groveling

25
00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,880
apology when they're called up
by the left because they dared

26
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,800
to put a thin, voluptuous,
beautiful, blonde haired, blue

27
00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,680
eyed white skin women in jeans
in their ads.

28
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,520
And then when they were called
Nazis for doing that, they

29
00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,680
didn't back down.
Now if they predicted that this

30
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,760
was going to happen, that they
were going to trigger the left

31
00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,040
with this ad, then I give them
all the credit in the world.

32
00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,560
It's a brilliant campaign.
You didn't hear about her

33
00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,640
before.
I never really thought about

34
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,040
American Eagle Jeans before and
now they're everywhere.

35
00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,920
Brilliant campaign.
It's the exact opposite of what

36
00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,960
Bud Light did with the trans
woman or the trans guy.

37
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,960
Yes, exactly opposite, which
shows you where America's head

38
00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,960
is at, right?
I mean, when we're not buying

39
00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:06,600
what they're selling on the left
coast.

40
00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:11,840
And and as as a Jewish person,
once you love it when people say

41
00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:17,040
that as a Jewish person, because
you obviously go by a completely

42
00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,160
set of rules other than
everybody else, right.

43
00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:24,640
So what was when people evoke
Nazi stuff, how does that make

44
00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:26,720
you feel?
I mean, these days they'll drop

45
00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,840
that term at the at the drop of
a hat.

46
00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,760
Anyone's a Nazi that disagrees
with the left, right?

47
00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:38,400
So I mean, what Nazis actually
were, were genocidal, homicidal

48
00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:43,960
maniacs who were totally normal
people before that war began,

49
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,320
probably with some latent Jew
hatred.

50
00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,160
But they were, you know, they
went to work, they went to jobs,

51
00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,560
they had, you know, houses and
cars.

52
00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,200
They were seemingly normal
people.

53
00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:58,200
And then there was just the the
the mass delusion of a crowd

54
00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,640
following Hitler.
And then they murdered 6,000,000

55
00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:05,240
members of my family.
And you know, when you going to

56
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,080
equate things that are going on
today that you don't agree with,

57
00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,600
that you politically don't agree
with, even when there's terrible

58
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,960
tragedies and people die, it's
nothing like when 6 million

59
00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:18,680
people are murdered.
I mean, that's just an

60
00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,040
unimaginable number.
So yeah, I really resent when

61
00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,760
they they drop the Nazi term so
loose loosely.

62
00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:28,920
Let's just remember what that
was so that we could never have

63
00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:31,720
that again in the world.
And you know, if you ask me, I

64
00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,800
think that the many of the, the
behaviors that we're seeing

65
00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,360
coming from the left, how
they're, they will, they

66
00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,240
completely followed whatever the
government told them what to do,

67
00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,400
even though it didn't make any
scientific sense.

68
00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,560
I'm talking of course, about
COVID and how they agree.

69
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,560
And in a lot of countries, they
just they, they acquiesce to

70
00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:51,960
whatever the government or
whatever their institutions told

71
00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,640
them what to do.
That seems more like what people

72
00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,680
in Germany did then, you know,
right.

73
00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,120
I mean, you know, people just
did what Hitler said, OK,

74
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,440
because they've been so beaten
down by the Weimer Republic and

75
00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,560
all this stuff.
I mean, their country was in

76
00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,080
shambles.
And people just got, I don't

77
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,680
know, they just like got in line
and said, OK, we're, we're

78
00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,880
broken.
So we'll let these guys lead us.

79
00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,120
That's amazing to me, that to
me, the most interesting aspect

80
00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,000
is how normal people could turn
the other way.

81
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,240
And they do it today with the,
oh, for example, MAGA

82
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,600
Republicans.
I mean, in many ways, MAGA

83
00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,440
Republicans are viewed just like
the Germans viewed the Jews.

84
00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:32,680
Am I?
Am I getting this wrong?

85
00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,040
I, I, I mean, what they resent
right now is anybody who can

86
00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,040
think for himself, right?
And anybody who's going to get

87
00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,120
their news by looking at
multiple news sources and

88
00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,920
triangulating the truth and
figuring that there's bias

89
00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,080
everywhere.
So what's really going on?

90
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,400
I can only figure it out by
reading multiple sources.

91
00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,280
That's something they're very
afraid of because for so long

92
00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,080
they had the, the, you know,
the, the, the, the Democrat

93
00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,240
media arm, right, which is the
whole mainstream media.

94
00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:01,280
And they all have the same
talking points.

95
00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:04,440
Like, have you seen those videos
where they have somebody on the

96
00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,560
news, you know, issuing today's
talking points, and then they

97
00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,480
start adding frames of other
news channels, other cities and

98
00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,600
other networks, and they're all
saying exactly the same words?

99
00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,320
And we're just expected to
consume that uncritically.

100
00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,200
And people got sick of it.
You know, I think people got

101
00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,440
smart and they got wise to what
was going on and they stopped

102
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,520
listening to the media handlers,
you know?

103
00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,320
Yeah, I know.
It's, I'm hoping this this

104
00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,680
period of whatever we're going
through in America will go hurry

105
00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,640
up and finish so we can get back
to being normal.

106
00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:41,720
And you're a humorist.
So where can we find your

107
00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:43,360
writings?
I know you've got some books

108
00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:44,880
out.
What drives you?

109
00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,240
I mean, what you you decided to
become a humorist?

110
00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:48,160
Why?
Why I?

111
00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,560
It was, you know, it's
accidental.

112
00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,240
I didn't mean to be a humorist.
I, I've always loved jokes.

113
00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,160
I, I really, you know, I feel
like I'm an inheritor of an

114
00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,240
ancient humor tradition of the
Jews.

115
00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,400
We've always told jokes.
It said that the oldest joke,

116
00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,560
the oldest recorded joke is in
the Bible, right?

117
00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,440
The Jews have come out of Egypt.
They've got their backs to the

118
00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,720
sea and the most powerful army
in the world.

119
00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,600
I'm think fighter jets, modern
equivalent, right?

120
00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:17,920
Pharaoh and his Chariots are
coming after them.

121
00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,560
The sea has not parted.
It looks really bad.

122
00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,120
And the guy next to Moses turns
to him and says, so there

123
00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,600
weren't enough graves in Egypt.
You brought us out here to die

124
00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,560
in the desert to Genesis, and
you can.

125
00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,720
That's exact words, right?
I can really hear the tone.

126
00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:37,440
Yeah, right.
I know you're good.

127
00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,800
And, and so I've always
collected these jokes and I

128
00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,440
started telling them I, I have a
nonprofit Jewish wisdom platform

129
00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,080
called Accidental Talmudist who
have a million followers on

130
00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,800
Facebook, couple 100,000 more on
Instagram.

131
00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,080
And I wish I just share what's
beautiful in the in the Jewish

132
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,480
tradition, in the Torah and the
oral tradition.

133
00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,400
And jokes were always a part of
that that I just did for fun.

134
00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,840
And so many, many of them went
viral that Skyhorse Publishing

135
00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:04,880
came to me and said, let's do a
joke book.

136
00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,200
So it came out at the end of
last year.

137
00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,720
It's on Amazon and it's been a
best seller ever since Let My

138
00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:13,800
People laugh.
Greatest Jewish jokes of all

139
00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:15,560
time.
And it's a really useful book

140
00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,800
because it doesn't just have
great jokes, they're also

141
00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,120
numbered and on lists.
So it's got the best jokes for a

142
00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,040
first date, for a wedding toast,
for a business lunch, for a golf

143
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:27,600
outing.
You know when you need a joke?

144
00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,520
The right joke.
You grew up in the era, I'm

145
00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,080
guessing you're about same age
as me, grew up in the era of

146
00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,120
Blazing Saddles and Mel Brooks.
There isn't that anymore.

147
00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,600
There are a lot of things on TV
or in the movies.

148
00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,560
Like I was thinking to myself,
Blazing Saddles could never be

149
00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:42,480
made today.
Oh my God, so.

150
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:43,760
Imagine that.
Correct.

151
00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,440
They would never allow it.
No way.

152
00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,200
But we laughed at everything,
you know, And I, I grew up in

153
00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:50,440
New York.
I like, I don't know about you

154
00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,000
and your buddies and your kids,
but we were so mean to each

155
00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,840
other.
I mean, there was nothing off

156
00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,520
limits, you know, like the way
you showed love for your buddy.

157
00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,880
It's just insult him in the
worst possible way.

158
00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,960
But that's how we were, you
know, we were thick skinned and

159
00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,760
you could take it and you just
take the shot and get up and

160
00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,480
keep going, you know, And kids
have gotten so soft.

161
00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,560
These.
Days but I, I, but I do think I

162
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,600
do think we're, we're sort of
like creeping back from the

163
00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:18,600
edge, right?
The pendulum is starting to

164
00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:20,760
swing back.
A lot of people went to the

165
00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,840
movies this summer and I think
that these movies are less woke

166
00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:26,880
than they used to be.
I think Hollywood's finally

167
00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:31,400
getting the memo, you know, that
the turning dwarfs into magical

168
00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,720
creatures did not work for Snow
White.

169
00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,280
It's not going to work for other
movies.

170
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,960
And you know, it's more like the
Top Gun maverick model.

171
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:41,720
You know, you just make a great
movie.

172
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,800
Our movie Guns and Moses
starring Neil McDonough, Mark

173
00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,480
Foyerstein, Christopher Lloyd,
Derrick Mulroney.

174
00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:54,760
It's just a kick ass action film
with a moral center.

175
00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,880
You know, it's about a rabbi in
a small high desert town whose

176
00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:02,080
community is violently attacked
and then the cops won't

177
00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,520
investigate the crime because
they think they got their man.

178
00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:06,280
It doesn't smell right to the
rabbi.

179
00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,360
So he investigates.
And as he gets closer to the

180
00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,120
source of the true source of the
crime, the danger mounts.

181
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,880
People are shooting at him, his
community, his family, and he

182
00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,240
learns how to use a gun.
What's interesting about our

183
00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,880
movie is that so many times in
movies, a guy needs to learn how

184
00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,560
to shoot what happens and puts a
few tin cans on a fence. 15

185
00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:27,600
second montage, he's a dead
shot.

186
00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,240
So that's not the real world.
It's very hard.

187
00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,400
Just shoot straight.
And we had real firearms

188
00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,160
training in the movie.
And I'll tell you, you know,

189
00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,920
Jim, that's based on my own
training in the real world

190
00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,760
because the threat level to Jews
has been rising for quite some

191
00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:45,880
time.
I joined the volunteer

192
00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,760
organization.
I got trained and licensed and I

193
00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,560
carry a gun.
Yeah, let's take a quick break.

194
00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,680
Salvador Ludvik is with me.
We're talking about culture.

195
00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:56,640
Hang on America's TODAY
continues.