Every comedian has a niche, a perfect crowd, where they will excel no matter what. For Joel Chasnoff, a Jewish comedian from New York City, he certainly found his niche at Brandeis. The young, good-looking comedian wowed the crowd assembled at the Stein on Halloween with a mix of brilliant social commentary and Jewish family humor that had all patrons clutching their sides in amusement.The crowd at the Stein was a mix of college students with nothing else to do and true Halloween enthusiasts, coming in costumes ranging from the classic school-girl look to a fabulous candy corn getup. The Stein filled up quickly with students eager to see the man advertised to them all week. Expectations were high, and Chasnoff lived up to them completely.

Chasnoff's hour-long routine began with a topic on the tip of everyone's tongue these days — the situation with Iraq. Being met with a surprisingly enthusiastic response to the idea of war, he began heckling the Brandeis students for being warmongers, a theme that would run through the night.

His social commentary was sharp and witty; subtle verbal jabs were thrown at Bush, Cheney and most of the higher-ups at the White House. He saved his praise only for Colin Powell, finding it ironic that the only military veteran in the Bush administration voiced some of the strongest opposition to Bush's pro-war stance. But, truthfully, all this political humor was only a way for him to warm up the crowd before he got to his real forte — Jewish life.

Chasnoff's portrayal of the typical Jewish family, of which he himself is a product, was hilarious. Descriptions of his grandparents' fuzzy toilet seat covers, his Jewish day school and his temple Cantor's bizarre quirks rang true in every Jewish mind in the house, and there were a lot of Jewish minds present. Chasnoff cracked jokes about the heart of Jewish-American culture without being patronizing or offending, a skill that many comedians lack. And, thanks to his extensive travel, he was able to talk about Israeli Judaism as well.

Chasnoff began to wind down his set with college jokes, ripping on the behavior of students and the uselessness of his Spanish major. He added hilarious impressions of foreigners he has met during his extensive travel, joked about Israeli airport security and announced that he had just become a proud father of twins. He both endeared himself to and entertained the audience — an irresistible combination.

But, the real treat of the evening came after Chasnoff rounded off his set. After thanking the crowd, he implored us to allow him to try out some new material, just for feedback purposes. Reading off a series of notecards, several winners and more than a few failures were tossed at Brandeis students to either cheer or reject. Chasnoff seemed happy with the feedback, only biting back when the audience decided to boo one flop in particular, snapping, "Hey, it sucks, but you don't have to boo!" After a few of those jokes, he tossed one last zinger our way before retiring for the night, leaving himself available to students who wanted to chat or purchase a CD.

Joel Chasnoff, while not as hair-raising as typical Halloween activities, was exactly the right way to get your Halloween started with a mix of wit, wisdom and a huge helping of wonderful comedy.