It can feel like there aren’t many reasons to smile lately, but SlapSchtick wants to change that. They’re Boston’s first (and perhaps only) all-Jewish comedy troupe, comprising an array of friends who met primarily at Boston’s much-loved Improv Asylum comedy club. The group — Leah Dodell, Ari Goldberg, Addy Gover, Emma Hobbs, Dan Karlin, Abby Kesselman, Bo Segrest, Dylan Smith and Sarah Zeiberg — is fresh off a staging of “Wet Hot American Jews” at Somerville’s Rockwell performance space, with more shows to come in the near future.

I chatted with comic Ari Goldberg, one of the founding members, about what’s so funny.

Tell us about the troupe.

We formed back in 2023. I was working for Improv Asylum back then. Every year they would do a Christmas show. And I asked: “Would you be open to doing a Hanukkah show?” The owner said yes. A friend and I got to chatting and created the concept for an all-Jewish comedy troupe — which you don’t really need to think too hard about, because Jews and comedy go way back. Emma Hobbs and I approached a bunch of different Boston-based comedians and improvisors who are Jewish, asked if they wanted to do a show for Hanukkah, and we got a bunch of yeses.

How did your name, and the troupe, come to be?

There were six of us for our first show in 2023. This was before we had the name SlapSchtick. We actually were the Unnamed, All-Jewish Comedy Team for a while as we were debating what to call ourselves, which is pretty classic.

We put up a 60-minute improv and sketch show as our first show. After that, we realized we could keep doing this. The first shows we did were all based around Jewish holidays. Every couple months, when a new, big holiday came around, we’d write more sketches. I think this past weekend was our seventh show. We’ve done Hanukkah shows every year since 2023, we’ve done Passover shows every year since 2023 and we’ve done a High Holiday show. We’ve also done a private show for Temple Israel in Boston.

Do you have to be Jewish to appreciate the shows?

The group is full of people who are comedians at heart, and any chance to perform is something we’ll all jump at. We were all raised Jewish, and bringing those two things together creates such a fun environment for performers and the audience. We make sure none of our material is too deep of a cut, because we want to be accessible to anybody. We like to say, regardless of religion or ideology, you’ll get something out of the show and you’ll have a good time. The shows are naturally skewed more Jewish. But it’s not like you have to know the whole Torah to understand what the comedy is. And none of the jokes are punching down. It’s all punching up. We’re not making fun of anybody except ourselves at times.

We know how fragile and difficult the world is, especially for Jews right now, and we want to make sure our comedy is just that. It’s comedy. It’s something to bring people together and make them laugh and forget about the horrible stuff going on and look at the world in a more bright and fun way.

What’s the format? Can audiences get involved?

If you’ve ever been to a main-stage show at Improv Asylum, that’s the format we emulate: 50% sketch; 50% improv. Think “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” meets “Saturday Night Live.” We’ve written the sketches; we’ve worked on them together. All of the sketches are going to be Jewish in nature, or themed around something around the holiday that we’re doing a show about. And there’s plenty of audience participation.

What’s next?

If history repeats itself, we’ll be doing a High Holiday show and then a Hanukkah show. And Sarah actually came up with a great idea of doing a Mel Brooks tribute show with a tagline of “Why Wait?” That could be something fun you might be seeing us do down the pipeline. We’ve also started offering workshops and private shows. We love doing those kinds of things; if you want something fun for your congregation or your organization, we’re more than happy and definitely available to bring some comedy to your groups.

Who’s your favorite Jewish comedian?

Mel Brooks. You can’t go wrong with him. His comedy is a huge inspiration to me and some of my other cast members. Lenny Bruce is a classic as well. Outside of the Jewish religion, I grew up with Robin Williams and looked up to his style. Jon Stewart’s news style is also very fun to pull from.

Anything else that our JewishBoston readership should know?

We like to say we’re Boston’s premier all-Jewish comedy group. And that’s partly because, as far as we can tell, we’re the first. But we know there are so many other comedians who are Jewish, and groups that are Jewish, and we love collaboration. If there’s a group that also does comedy and you’re all Jewish, we would love to get in touch. We’re at slapschtick.com — we managed to snag that, which was surprising to me, because it’s not the hardest pun to get to. We’re very happy to bring our wacky style of comedy to anyone who wants us!

What’s the importance of comedy these days?

Comedy is so important right now. Everybody needs a laugh. Even in the darkest times, there’s always something that makes you smile. The best part is when you can say something that causes a whole room to erupt in laughter, even when the world is not a place where laughter is as common as it once was. It’s the best feeling in the world.