"Running more than two hours with an intermission, 'Jews, God, and History' overstays its welcome by about twenty minutes. ... Takiff presents a feast of comic and satiric delicacies, some of which are suitably bitter and hard to swallow. Indeed, there should be a certain amount of discomfort in a comedy smorgasbord like this, but the show would benefit from eliminating the trayf."
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Takiff is a skilled performer who never loses the audience no matter how angry or sardonic he gets. He is helped by the mood setting lighting of Elizabeth M. Stewart and the sound and video contributions of Matthew Chilton. Mark Mindek provides some minor, but effective, dance bits. Brian Lane Green’s direction made all of pieces fit together into a cogent whole. As difficult as the subject matter is, Jews, God, and History (Not Necessarily in That Order) should be seen as a fresh, in depth consideration of the subject matter.
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"Can an atheist serve as a guide to the history, customs, and longevity of the Jewish religion and its adherents? Moreover, how can an atheist recognize that a man who has just died is with God? At first glance, this seems quite absurd. Yet neither for Michael Takiff nor for his audience does it appear to be a problem."
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"Takiff ... is a very clever humorist and gets plenty of hearty, well-deserved laughs. While many of the jokes probably wouldn't land with a Gentile audience, they're perfectly calculated to get a knowing laugh from the target market, aka, Jews. The show gets off to an encouraging start, and I would have enjoyed it much more if it had stuck to the tongue-in-cheek, gently self-mocking tone it seemed to promise in the beginning."
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