By Mimi Pollack
EL CAJON, California — There is nothing better in life than a good sense of humor! Humor helps you get through the day. Humor is invaluable when teaching adult language classes. This is why I admire fellow Grossmont College teacher and friend, Ilene/Idonna Kruger, who also teaches K-12. Her humor shines through with her students, her friends, and in her life. As she says, “she finds the ‘funny’ in life.” She is known for telling hilarious stories; thus, it was natural for a podcast to follow, and her podcast, thejewmom, can now be found on Instagram.
Besides being a teacher, Kruger has also been an actor and stand-up comedian for many years. She did a one-woman show in 2019 that was well received. Her husband. playwright, Jonathan Rosenberg, and son and daughter kept on encouraging her to “get out there and do more,” so she started thejewmom about four years ago. She told me that she has also done serious monologues, so doing humorous podcasts is a great release for her.
She tries to post at least once a week but says that sometimes she will make four videos in one day, and then release two or three in a week’s time. What does she muse about? Well, again she finds humor in everyday life. She relates that her everyday experiences are quite often filled with bizarre occurrences. She has a way to elaborate or embellish the situations to make them even funnier.
For example, some of her topics have been about exercise videos, getting her car serviced, imagining her own funeral during a bumpy plane ride, calling her adult children, etc. I liked the one she did, complaining about her husband, “being right” and giving people second chances.
She says that for the most part, the feedback has been positive and that some people have actually recognized her and stopped to thank her for making them laugh. She says that she has not had any negative feedback; however, on the rare occasion, someone who is antisemitic or anti-Israel has sent her a nasty comment.
She does not do anything political, as she does not particularly enjoy political humor. She thinks it tends to divide people. She wants her reels to make people smile, laugh, and find them relatable. Like me, she thinks that humor can be healing.
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Mimi Pollack is a freelance writer based in La Mesa, California.
Mimi,
Thanks for this delightful snapshot of a lovely funny lady! I have had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan and Ilene and they are both delightful people. I agree, Ilene’s humor and her warmth are truly infectious. Thanks for shining a light on one of our local treasures.