Sarina Roffé
Last month my husband David Roffé won a New York Emmy for his acting in a Katz Deli commercial directed by Nicolas Heller, aka New York Nico. Our grandson played a cameo role, along with our dog Snowball. “Who knew that just having fun would make me popular,” joked David.
My husband has always been this offbeat funny character. Short, half bald, with scraggly hair, David walks around with a pink hat and backpack, which identifies him and makes him easy to find. He carries bags of candy and is always handing them out. He brings Stella D’oro cookies to Brooklyn’s Best Toastmasters meetings at Sephardic Synagogue, where he learned speaking skills.
David likes to be the fun guy in the room and as such our basement is filled with a commercial size popcorn machine, a cotton candy machine and other carnival items he takes to Purim carnivals or our grandkids’ school events, where he often volunteers. He is warmhearted and has a dry wit. He never had an Internet presence or Facebook account.
For fun, David took classes fifteen years ago at Amy Poehler’s Upright Citizens Brigade that helped him learn and polish his improvisation skills. He started with small-time acting roles in student films, and even played a rabbi in one film.
A tour guide in NYC for years, he was profiled in The New York Times in 2011. A reporter had taken the tour and loved his knowledge of the little-known facts about New York only a native would know. He shared the juicy gossip and funny stories about New York as they traveled together up and down the streets of Manhattan.
When I saw an ad in Backstage for a cranky old Jewish man, I showed David. It was perfect for him and he didn’t even have to act.
He met with Noah Rinsky, the creator of Old Jewish Men, which brings niche content about New York’s Jewish elders. David’s characteristics have brought him Internet fame as the face of Old Jewish Men. When the MTA issued its last commemorative MetroCard, David was on it with New York Nico.
With more than half a million Instagram followers and over two hundred twenty thousand on TikTok, David has become an Internet sensation, recognized everywhere we go. People stop him in the supermarket, at the grandkids’ schools, and even when we travel. He was stopped on a cruise in Denmark. We were in Montreal last year, sitting at an outdoor café when the waiter said, “You look an awful lot like a guy I follow on the Internet.” These interruptions are always followed by photos and conversations. David adores being the center of attention.
The joke in our family is that we had to take two photos on vacation, one with him and one without him because he didn’t want to be on social media. Now that he’s an Internet sensation, he’s recognized everywhere we go.
Fans recognized David from skits, including a TikTok video in which he protested rising pastrami costs at Katz’s Deli. They did a hysterical video about the lack of public restrooms in Manhattan. OJM did a number of short videos at Costco, where they talk about the price and packaging of the rotisserie chicken. He is never seen eating it, as it is not kosher. They did one skit where David wears a T-shirt with a barcode for the rotisserie chicken and he goes to the register and asks them to scan the shirt.
“Honestly, I am having a lot of fun with this,” said David of his newfound popularity.
Our daughter Harriet thought it was annoying when David joined her at Trader Joe’s and the staff followed them through the store, whispering “Is that him?” She catches her high school students watching OJM videos during class. Our grandson rolls his eyes when David volunteers at his school and the other kids want to be introduced.
David was recently selected, along with Old Jewish Men, by the New York Comedy Festival as a Creator to Watch.
David has done collaborative social media videos with MrBeast, IShowSpeed, Peter Tuchman, rapper Busta Rhymes, actress Julia Fox and many more. He did two appearances on the Kelly Clarkson Show and was a guest on Live with Andy Cohen. David has also done commercials for Ray-Ban sunglasses, GrubHub, Mike’s Amazing Mustard, Vita Coco, Adidas, Rocco Fridge, the New York Mets and more. And let’s not forget the nineteen-minute short film, Sauna Dreams, about a contest to see who can stay in a hot sauna the longest.
OJM started a podcast called the “Chicken Show” on YouTube and they have had celebrity guests like satirical pop musician Kyle Gordon, TV personality Raffi Bastos, as well as comedians Modi Rosenberg, Mark Norman and Gianmarco Soresi. Politicians seeking supporters such as Brad Lander and Anthony Weiner also appeared on the show.
David was inducted into the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame in 2024 and The New York Times wrote an article about OJM called “A Night Out With Old Jewish Men,” in 2022.
During the presentation, which can be seen on brooklynjewish.org, clips from Old Jewish Men were shared with the audience, including a favorite filmed in Crown Heights on erev (the eve of a holiday) Yom Kippur.
“I’m wearing my Tefillin, which are always worn for daily prayers, and asking Hasidic men if they have put on their Tefillin that day, which of course they had. I kept telling them I wanted the mitzvah. It was hysterical and reminiscent of an Impractical Jokers-type gag.”
David loves Brooklyn’s Best Toastmasters, and attends meetings often. The experience helps him with his OJM presentation skills.
Sarina Roffé, a genealogist and historian, is the author of Branching Out from Sepharad (Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017). She is currently researching her next book, Syrian Jewish Paths to Freedom. Sarina holds a BA in Journalism, an MA in Jewish Studies, and an MBA.
