Oy, Yeah! Shana Liebman, 'Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: A Heeb Storytelling Collection'

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FOR THE PAST seven years, Heeb magazine has provided a fresh, often impertinent take on contemporary Jewish culture.

For the mag's first book release, "Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: A Heeb Storytelling Collection," arts editor Shana Liebman compiled some of the best offerings from the magazine's regular storytelling column.

The tales within capture the full spectrum of modern Jewish experience, from the sex and drugs alluded to in the title to less salacious, but still entertaining accounts of work, family life and growing up.

Liebman talked to Express over e-mail about the origins of Heeb, what makes a story Jewish, and the unfortunate lack of interesting narratives involving gefilte fish.

» EXPRESS: For those unfamiliar with Heeb, can you explain the origin and purpose of the magazine? Also, I'm sure you're sick of explaining it, but how was the name selected?
» LIEBMAN: In 2002, Heeb Magazine made its controversial debut. The title (a derogatory term for a Jew reappropriated as a term of empowerment — a la gays calling themselves "queers") was intended to trigger a conversation among Jewish groups, and the magazine quickly found an electric following among young Jews who were moved by its irreverence and fierce unassimilationist standpoint.

» EXPRESS: How did you decide to include a regular storytelling feature in the magazine?
» LIEBMAN: Storytelling began in 2003 and continues as a live literary series. (We publish some of the stories in the magazine but only a small percentage.) For the first unscripted, unrehearsed and entirely experimental show, we invited seven of our favorite downtown performers to each tell a story on stage. The only restriction was that the story had to be a "Jewish one," but we left it up to the storytellers to interpret what that entailed. The time limit (enforced by an amateur accordion player) was seven minutes; and the storytellers could not use notes.

The original venue was Lansky Lounge, a former speakeasy where Jewish gangster and regular patron Meyer Lansky used to hold court. Over 250 people showed up for the first show. The stories were as engaging as standup comedy and as compelling as short stories. More importantly, they represented what Heeb magazine had been striving for since it started: to represent the wide spectrum of modern day "Jewish-ness" and the widening parameters of what constitutes a "Jewish story," and to reflect the fluidity of Jewish and secular cultures that exists among young Jews today.

» EXPRESS: Do you have a favorite story from the collection?
» LIEBMAN: I really love Laura Silverman's story. It's just so bizarre, and funny, and true.

» EXPRESS: I know both sex and drugs have their own sections within the book, but do any of the stories actually involve gefilte fish?
» LIEBMAN: Good question. Nope.

» EXPRESS: Has anyone been shocked by the cover image, in which a Seder Plate is loaded up with condoms, handcuffs and an assortment of illegal substances? How has the reaction compared with other Heeb controversies?
» LIEBMAN: The book doesn't come out until October 26, so not many people have had a chance to react to the cover but I'm sure we'll get some outrage. I do think that the stories in the book are not quite as scandalous as the cover design suggests. Well, most of them anyway. For example, in the "drugs" section we have a story about the sexual side effects of anti-depressants and one about sedating a cat.

» EXPRESS: In the promotional video, you state that not all of the authors in the book are Jewish, but that their stories are. What qualifies a story as Jewish?
» LIEBMAN: Pleasure from our own pain, pride in humiliation — in the sense that we know we'll get some mileage out of it later. The idea of reframing one's own story to either entertain or extract meaning and lesson is historically a very Jewish form of coping. Comedy as coping and of course, tons of guilt and self-analysis are both indicators, but this isn't a science. What I love about these stories is that they just feel Jewish, no matter who is telling them.

» EXPRESS: You also say that the series was started to "defy a traditional definition of Jewishness." How would you characterize the non-traditional Jewish community the book collectively portrays? Or is the point that it can't be easily classified?
» LIEBMAN: I think it's a community that doesn't feel they have to abide by what dictated their parents' religious and cultural lives — they are finding their own ways to express and understand, take pride in their heritage and identity.

» EXPRESS: What have the Heeb storytelling live events been like?
» LIEBMAN: Fun. The storytellers are almost always really funny, lively, smart and amazingly well-prepared even though we don't rehearse any of it. We never really know exactly what we're going to get and there's always a few elements of very welcome surprise, which I think makes the audience feel like they are a part of an organic experience. We usually do them at bars or music venues so the audience is in a festive mood and up for a good show. Everyone always tells me afterward that they had more fun than they thought they would — storytellers and audience members.

» EXPRESS: What can we expect from the reading on the 21st? Will the other writers just be reading their own contributions?
» LIEBMAN: The three storytellers, Josh Swiller, Mike Albo and Ophira Eisenberg, are some of the best in the book, and will tell their stories like they did at past shows (instead of reading them from the book). All three are incredibly compelling performers and very different personalities. I think it's going to be a fantastic and very funny event.

» Chief Ike's Mambo Room, 1725 Columbia Rd. NW; Wed., Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m., $10. (Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan)

Written by Express contributor Meg Zamula
Photos courtesy Simma Liebman