Badchen

Clowns are comical performers, stereotypically characterized by their grotesque appearance: colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, red-nose, etc., who entertain spectators by acting in a hilarious fashion. The types of their acts varies greatly...

Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland valley and northern France...

Judaism traditionally considers marriage to be the ideal state of personal existence; a man without a wife, or a woman without a husband, is considered incomplete.-Betrothal :...

Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew: , Hasidut, meaning "piety") is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith. The majority of Hasidic Jews are ultra-orthodox....

Rabbi is the term in Judaism for a religious teacher. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ in many senses, including "revered." The word comes from the Semitic root R-B-B, and is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning "lord" Rabbi and a marshalik (a master of ceremonies).

The badchen has to be able both to provide the energy for a party before and after the ceremony itself and also to make the transition to a more serious tone immediately before the ceremony. To this end his comedy was not of a slap-stick variety but rather verbal with many intricate Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....

ic references and in-jokes.

Some famous badchonim include Chaim Menachem (Mendel) Mermelstien (born March 2, 1920 in Munkacz, died November 7, 1985 in New York), considered the father of modern day badchonus, and the present-day performer Yankel Miller

Yankel Miller

Rabbi Yankel Miller or the Yarma Rav as he prefers to be called, is a popular comedian in Hasidic Jewish communities. He lives in Monsey, New York....

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The 19th century Broder singer

Broder singer

The Brodersänger or Broder singers, from Brody in Ukraine, were Jewish singers, who from at least the early 19th century were among the first to publicly perform Yiddish-language songs outside of Purim plays and wedding parties, and who were an important precursor to Yiddish theater...

s began as badchonim, but began to perform outside of the context of weddings. They, in turn, are usually seen as the forerunners of Yiddish theater.

On the Jewish holiday of Purim

Purim

Purim is a festival that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people of the ancient Persian Empire from Haman's plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther...

 many young men undertake to be badchanim during Purim spiel

Purim spiel

A Purim Spiel, or Purimshpil, meaning a Purim play—shpil means 'game' or ' play' in Yiddish. .A Purim Spiel is usually a comic dramatization, as a traditional type of Jewish play, or informal theatrical production, with participants, usually children, wearing costumes that depict the characters in...

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