Reuven’s father is the well-known comedian Joey Russell, and his mother has run one of the largest theatrical shops for 40 years. With all the pulls of “your name in lights,” Reuven attended Chabad New Haven Hebrew School through 8th grade, and kept kosher at home.

“My parents believed in a solid Jewish education and family priorities,” Reuven recalls. “Dad was offered to play Vegas. In those days that meant being away from home 3-6 months at a time, so he declined. Though he was subsequently successful with an 18 year run of his show Happy the Clown on NBC TV, he may have achieved greater fame had he followed the Vegas route. But Dad focused on family life. He’d seen too many peers troubled with divorce, drugs, kids gone astray. “I’m just a nice Jewish boy going into the family business!”

So what is it with Jews in comedy? A mere fraction of the population, the tribe is a major influence on the comedy scene that has helped shape American culture and humor.

Mel Brooks has a take on the subject, serious even. “Feeling different, feeling alienated, feeling persecuted, feeling that the only way you can deal with the world is to laugh- because if you don’t laugh you’re never going to stop crying- that’s probably why Jews developed a sense of humor. The people that had every reason to weep, learned how to laugh.”

More than coping in a life as shaky as a fiddler on the roof, the Talmudic sages recognized humor’s value in relaxing and opening the mind. The great sage Rava began each lesson with a joke. Chassidic philosophy teaches that joy breaks barriers- Simcha overcomes obstacles.

“Nu, freilich zol zein”- be joyful! But is it a way for a nice Jewish boy to earn a living?

With comedy and theatre in his blood, Reuven doesn’t remember ever NOT seeing it as his future. “In third grade I got the role of Yenta in Fiddler on the Roof, complete with wig and dress, and haven’t been the same since!” School wasn’t the only training ground. “When I was 8, I went with Dad to the Copa Cabana to watch him perform. That was the pinnacle for a stand-up comedian at the time. Dad was a regular at the Friar’s Club. His friends were Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, Alan King, Mickey Katz (Joel Gray’s father). I tagged along to studios and gigs and saw what it takes to tell a joke.”

Cruising easily through public high school,“Day School gave me a strong foundation,” he went on to study theatre at Carnegie Mellon. From there he attended a Yale School of Drama program in Oxford, England. “I headed out to see Europe, gravitating to Jewish sites, shuls and neighborhoods. Judaism had been an integral, but background, part of my identity. Somehow, it started stirring. I spent Rosh Hashanah with Rabbi Rosenfeld’s Chabad in Zurich. It was a major turning point.”

“My one man show, ‘Gathering the Sparks,’ is a semi-autobiographical chronicle of the process of embracing my Jewish roots. I play 8 characters within one hour, including Meir Kahane, Kahlid Mohammed, the mother of a Baal Teshuvah (returnee to Jewish observance), a chasid, and a left-wing film producer.

In ’86 while at the Yale School of Drama I started to learn to keep Shabbos. This was a special, formative time, with a dedicated teaching staff that was really there for us. After graduating, I joined a national tour of the Sunshine Boys, with Mickey Rooney and Donald O’Connor. I handled Shabbos by getting on stage and doing my thing, then returning back into the Shabbos world.

I visited Crown Heights Brooklyn for a weekend seminar featuring the well-known Manis Friedman. I was standing in front of “770” Chabad Headquarters, and a friend introduced me to a woman studying theatre at NYU. We married six months later, in July ’92.

My beshert-soulmate, Esther Rachel and I, lived in LA from 92-97, where I worked in theatre, film, TV and commercials. Seeking a chance to study Torah, we were accepted into the Kollel program in Morristown, NJ.”

“I’ve always been funny, you know, the class clown. Back in ‘91 Milton Berle was kind enough to let me follow him around for a 10-day intensive tutorial. He explained the difference between comic and comedian. “A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny.’ It’s an art- the timing, delivery and more. I hadn’t applied myself much to it because of lack of suitable material. My wife writes for me, I take some from my father, and I’m constantly on the look for material, honing and working to make it my own.”

Reuven’s latest ventures include: A feature role along with Esther Rachel in “A Match Made in Manhattan,” a zany interactive catered Jewish wedding musical theatre experience, Betzalel in Agent Emes- a highly acclaimed children’s video, and playing in over 120 Chabad Houses from Hong Kong to Postville, Iowa. “I did stand-up for 400 head of cattle- no bodies, just heads!”

Reuven enjoys the diverse crowd that flock to his shows, and has a special touch with the seniors. Over 500 seniors in Miami relished his Borscht Belt inspired shtick while dad raked in the nachas. “Growing up, I was always Joey Russell’s son. Dad did a show in Dayton, Ohio, and enjoyed being asked if he was Reuven Russell’s Dad!

“In the early 90’s I was doing a Passover show in the Laguna Niguel Resort in Dana Point, CA. Milton Berle was there, on a different floor, performing for the Cigar Association of America. I asked him, ‘Mr. Berle, do you have a Pesach joke?’ Without missing a beat he replied, “Jews work so hard all year long. Pesach comes around and there’s no bread in the house!’’’

Reuven and Esther Rachel use their talent and passion to bring bread into their Passaic, NJ home while bringing a uniquely delicious fruitcake style bread of laughter, and Jewish warmth and insights. Not to rest on his laurels, our clown around town hopes to continue to develop a universal, Jewish-based persona and come to be known as everyman’s Chassidic comedian. Our stressed world can use pearls of Torah wisdom delivered via a good belly laugh.