  He is funny, he looks like Steve Martin and also happens to be a clergyman. MATTHEW W. NIXSON has a rendezvous in cyberspace with comedian Rabbi Bob Alper His style may be totally unorthodox but that doesn't stop Bob Alper being a rabbi as well as a comedian.Last year he gate crashed The Bull's Jewish comedy night so successfully he has been invited back for a full show. As one of the world's few practicing clergymen cum stand-up comedians, the Barnet audience could be in for a Road to Damascus-style conversion to laughter. Being Jewish, however, is by no means a prerequisite for enjoying Rabbi Bob's show. �I call it 50 percent Jewish, 50 percent general and 100 percent universal,� he explains, via email from his home in Vermont, New England. �In other words you don't have to be Jewish to understand the humour. It's also 100 percent clean and unhurtful.� Just in case, Rabbi Bob � whose life's goal is lunch with Mel Brooks � is planning to use flash cards so even the �Judaically-challenged� will enjoy his routine. �Stand-up means if a joke doesn't get a laugh in 12 to 15 seconds it's out of the act.�
�Of the eight, I came in second � not bad,� he admits. �Besides, I knew that with the 20-something beer and cigarettes audience, I could never win over the fellow doing jokes about Welsh women with large breasts. The rabbi part of me makes me a unique comic. I can do material few other comics can cover: teenage children, living in rural Vermont, travel to Israel, officiating at weddings and funerals.� His dual role also gives him carte blanche when it comes to dealing with hecklers. �I'm the only performer who can pause, look at the offender, and say: 'Excuse me sir. Would you mind leading us in the silent prayer?'� Despite the fact that comedy is now his day job with more than 100 shows a year, the 54-year-old still preaches part-time. �Once in a while my congregants think I use a bit too much humour in my sermons but I really try to do it just at the beginning � it's a great way to grab people's attention.� Via e-mail Rabbi Bob is both witty and warm. Appearing in the flesh might turn a few heads. He good-naturedly acknowledges his physical resemblance to another not unheard of American comic. �It's good to look like Steve Martin. I don't think I could make it in this business if I looked like Charles Manson. Rabbi Bob Alper appears at The Bull. 68 High Street, Barnet, on January 27. Tickets cost �10 from the box office on 020 8449 0048. Visit www.bobalper.com for Rabbi Bob's website.
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