Rabbi-turned-standup comic Bob Alper performs Wednesday, Thursday in SLO
Stop me if you’ve heard this one.
Bob Alper is a Princeton-educated rabbi who been serving East Coast congregations for decades. He’s also a stand-up comedian with 23 years of experience under his belt.
Alper makes his Central Coast debut tonight with a 90-minute comedy show at Congregation Beth David in San Luis Obispo. His humor is described as intelligent, sophisticated, clean and, best of all, “gentile friendly.”
A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Alper work at congregations in Buffalo and Philadelphia for 14 years before kicking off his comedy career.
In 1986, he entered the Jewish Comic of the Year Contest at the Going Bananas club in Philadelphia. Television, radio and personal appearances followed.
Over the years, Alper has appeared on “Good Morning America,” “Extra” and “The Today Show” and performed at venues ranging from Hollywood’s IMPROV to The Montreal Comedy Festival.
He’s also produced two comedy albums, released a DVD titled “What are you…a comedian?” and written two books — “Life Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This” and “A Rabbi Confesses.”
Today, Alper performs nearly 80 shows per year.
The standup comic’s act can be heard regularly on Sirius/XM radio’s comedy channel, sandwiched between Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby.
A graduate of Lehigh University, Alper was ordained in 1972 at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He holds a doctorate from the Princeton Theological Seminary and continues to conduct High Holy services in between comedy gigs.
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Enjoy the comic stylings of Rabbi Bob Alper at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Congregation Beth David, 10180 Los Osos Valley Rd. in San Luis Obispo.
Tickets are $18, or $22 at the door. For more information, call 544-0760.
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On Thursday, Alper joins Muslim comic Azhar Usman on the Cal Poly campus for a talk titled “Laugh in Peace: Understanding and Appreciating Diversity.” Usman, who hails from Chicago, has been featured on ABC’s “Nightline” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
It’s part of the university’s “Provocative Perspectives” speakers series, now in its seventh year.
The free show starts at Azhar Usman at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Performing Arts Center Pavilion, 1 Grand Ave. in San Luis Obispo.
Call Liz Cofer at 756-0327 or e-mail her at lcofer@calpoly.edu for more details.
She Likes to Watch 
Take me wife … pleeeese!