Heshy Fried
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Heshy Fried | |
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| Born | December 28, 1981 Upper West Side of Manhattan |
| Occupation(s) | Stand-up comic, writer, blogger |
| Website | http://www.frumsatire.net |
Heshy Fried (born December 28, 1981) is an American stand-up comedian and blogger.
Biography
Fried was raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. At the age of 6, his mother died of breast cancer, leaving his father to raise him and his younger brother Charlie alone. As a consequence of his mother's untimely death, Fried led a troubled youth and developed a chronic stuttering problem. He was expelled from a number of Jewish day schools, eventually graduating from the Providence Hebrew Day School, an elementary school located in Providence, Rhode Island in 1995. He matriculated to the Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York (TIUNY) in Rochester, New York, but left prior to graduation. In 2000, he received his high school equivalency.
Fried attended the State University of New York at Brockport where he graduated cum laude in 2006 with a degree in political science. He worked briefly at several state agencies in Albany, New York, including the New York State Department of Education and the New York State Assembly. He worked for a year as a private investigator in the workers compensation and disability fields while living in Albany.
While in college, Fried became an avid outdoorsman and cyclist. He raced mountain bikes, skied frequently, and went on extended backpacking trips throughout the United States northeast,[1] as well as Montana, Alaska, and Utah. In June 2006, while working as an intern during budget season for the New York State Assembly, he began writing down his thoughts about the Orthodox Jewish community and posting them on Craigslist New York's "Rant and Raves" section. Around this time he attended a wedding in Toronto, Canada and was introduced to blogging by his friend Sarah Zeldman, a life coach and professional blogger.
Fried moved to the San Francisco Bay area in early 2010 and was employed as a line cook at The Kitchen Table, then Silicon Valley's only kosher eatery.[2]
Fried became engaged in January 2012. He married his wife, Chaya Miriam, on Sunday June 17, 2012, at the Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos, California. They currently live in the Bay Area.
Frum Satire
Fried began blogging on Frum Satire in June 2006 when he lived in Albany, New York,[2] but did not enter the spotlight until about six months later when he wrote a post outlining different categories of sects in the Orthodox and Protestants community. Several more notable bloggers linked to the post, and Fried's work began to attract more attention. In November 2008, Fried performed stand-up satirizing the Orthodox community on stage for the first time when Israeli comedian David Kilimnick asked Fried to open for him in New York. Rave reviews pushed him to start posting stand-up comedy videos of himself and others on YouTube, where he gained a large following of thousands of viewers.
Frum Satire averages approximately 50,000 visitors a month.[3] Blog posts have received as many as 250 comments, and the website provides a forum for all types of readers, Jews and gentiles alike, to discuss varying issues in an open, uncensored forum. It has developed into an arena in which Jews as distinct as Ultra-orthodox, Haredim, secular and irreligious debate topics such as racism, child abuse, and dating issues in a completely anonymous manner, something almost unheard of in Orthodox Jewish circles. It's not rare for readers to take offense to what he writes, and a few Jewish websites have refused to publish his material.[3]
Fried was named one of the most influential Jewish bloggers in 2008 and was one of seven bloggers invited to Israel to attend the first International Jewish Bloggers Conference hosted by Nefesh B'Nefesh on August 20, 2008.[4] Fried was also invited to attend the Fourth Annual ROI Summit from June 28 through July 2, 2009, held in Tel Aviv, Israel, for influential young Jewish innovators from around the world.[5][6]
Standup
Fried has performed in many Jewish communities throughout the Northeast and Midwest of the United States, as well as in Israel.
Although Fried usually generates a positive response to his comedy, he also has experienced a fair share of negative reviews within the Orthodox Jewish community. He aims to be provocative in choosing his topics of discussion, and those who would rather such issues remain untalked about frown on his humor. He has been called an anti-Semite, chillul Hashem and a general disgrace to Jews by many within the Orthodox community. Many Orthodox Jewish news outlets have chosen not to feature Fried, instead covering lesser-known and less controversial writers, bloggers, and comedians. However, Fried's work is spread widely through grassroots marketing via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
Other writings
Fried also writes for Jewcy, New Voices and the Jewish Press.
References
- ^ NJ Jewish News Online Take it outside Orthodox Jews with a hankering for nature are organizing strictly kosher adventure trips, April 12, 2007
- ^ a b The Jewish Star What's so funny about being frum? The world of frum satire, December 23, 2010
- ^ a b Tablet The Renegade: An Orthodox blogger turns heads one post at a time, June 25, 2009
- ^ "Blogger Wars Over Conference". The Jewish Week. September 3, 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-03-18.
- ^ "ROI Community". Archived from the original on 2009-05-29.
- ^ "Orthodox and Opinionated: Jewish bloggers sort issues, ideas in public 'diaries'". Jewish Federation of Rockland County. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27.