Act II Playhouse celebrates the holiday season with an encore production of  "Christmas in the Catskills, A Star is Borscht." It debuted last season and is largely the creation of Artistic Director Tony Braithwaite, who also stars in a tour-de-force that showcases the history of a renowned comedy venue.

A pun on "Bible Belt," the term "Borscht Belt" was coined by journalist Abel Green, of Variety magazine, and refers to a cold beet soup popular among Eastern European Jews. Located in the lower Catskill and Adirondack mountains, it was a popular summer retreat for New York City Jews from 1920 to 1980.

The term itself suggests estrangement from American norms. Jews were excluded or restricted from many venues. In their own comedy center, they created a unique genre of humor that is a charged mix of self-deprecation and dismissive scoffing at the larger world.

Meghan Jones's set design immediately catches your eye. With Klezmer music playing in the background, it is a glittering mixed message. A sparkling Star of David wreath and a Christmas tree with wrapped presents underneath compete for your attention. The Nutcracker stands at attention alongside a lit Menorah.

Braithwaite opens the show by impersonating Henny Youngman, the king of one-liners ("Take my wife. Please!") With violin in tow, he delivers a stream of vintage Youngman jokes: "A man goes to a psychiatrist. The doctor says, ‘You're Crazy.’ The man says, ‘I want a second opinion!’ ‘Okay, you're ugly too!’” Braithwaite is just getting started.

Liner notes credit Assistant Director Nick Cardillo, Music Director Dan Matarazzo and Production Stage Manager Patricia G. Sabato with co-authorship. Matarazzo is also an active performer, a pianist, a straight man, and a full partner in the evenings' shenanigans. 

Early on, Braithwaite answers the question, "How did a Catholic kid get so involved in Jewish humor?" He explains that as a child, he was entranced by the television comedy of performers such as Phil Silvers and Morey Amsterdam. Later he took to impersonation and stand-up, where he "learned to read the room from right to left" and came to believe his real name was Arnold Lipshitz.

Braithwaite's impersonations and comic timing are impeccable. He also plays movie clips on a rear stage screen in which audience members recount their visits to the Catskills resorts during its heyday. They remember kibitzing with the comedians at the dinner table or in the front rows of performances.

Braithwaite recreates this experience. Before the show, he asks Catskills veterans to note their memories on postcards and, late in the show, draws them from a hat. Only a few were intrepid enough to own up to their submissions and engage Braithwaite in banter. (Question: Did you find love in the Catskills? Answer: No, I was with my husband.)

Jewish humor has roots in immigrant Yiddish theater. As this venue faded, comics turned to Vaudeville and gave us early Hollywood and television stars like Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice and Groucho Marx. At times, Braithwaite breaks out into song. He takes a pass on Brice's "My Man" but does a credible version of "Lydia," complete with Groucho's mustache and signature slouch.

Outside the Hollywood limelight and throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Catskills incubated stars at great hotels and resorts. Braithwaite impersonates numerous Borscht Belt up-and-comers who are now household names. Rodney Dangerfield ("I can't get no respect") tells us his father "once took me hunting and gave me a two-minute start." On a risque note, Joan Rivers ("Can we talk") tells us, "My vagina is like New Jersey. They know it's there but don't want to visit.")

Wearing Mel Brooks' black cape and broad-brimmed hat, Braithwaite impersonates the "2000 Year Old Man" with Matarazzo playing Carl Reiner, the straight man. His Brooks tells us, "When I  was young, the Dead Sea was just sick," and tells the Holy Family, "Of course there's no room for you at the inn. Don't you know it's Christmas!" 

Most of the great hotels and resort complexes of the Borscht Belt are defunct. Grossinger's Catskills Resort and Hotel, the Pines hotel, the Concord, Nevele Grande Hotel and many others are now favored subjects for "Ruins Photography." 

Some attribute the demise of the Borscht Belt to the loss of railway service to airplane travel and the nationwide availability of resorts now open to Jews. The Borscht Belt was also a victim of its success. The number of legendary performers it produced is astounding, and its genre of humor has become so mainstream it no longer needs a closeted venue to thrive.

Act II Playhouse is located at 56 E. Butler Ave. in Ambler. "Christmas in the Catskills" will run through Dec 29, but the show's current run is sold out. For information, visit act2.org or call 215-654-0200.