The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 33

ONLINETODAYboston.comae Viewer Discretion: Your TV guide X. Sound Effects Music notes D6-7 D8 QWDLTQ (g Movie Directory Weather 3 Movie Nation: What's on the big screen QLJ KhJ Exhibitionist: Visual arts and beyond The Boston Globe Saturday, December 16, 2006 'it til -S xH- z- 111 -V" i "a MICHELE MCDONALDGLOBE STAFF Moshe Waldoks (left) and William Novak share a laugh over their book. After 25 years A waiter comes over to a table full of Jewish women and asks, "Is anything all right?" from "The Big Book of Jewish Humor," 25 th anniversary edition, by William Novak and Moshe Waldoks By Linda Matchan they re shticking GLOBE STAFF EWTON Twenty-five years ago, William Novak and Moshe Waldoks published "The Big Book of Jewish Humor," a collection of shticks, curses, jokes, and cartoons by Jewish writers and comedians. desperate for a joke when they have to make a speech. But after editing 300 pages of humor credited to the likes of the Marx Brothers, Mad magazine, Lenny Bruce, Mel Brooks, and Woody Allen, Novak and Waldoks figured it was enough already with the Jewish jokes, and they went on to other careers.

Novak, who lives in Newton, makes his living helping famous people write their memoirs, including Lee Iacocca, Magic Johnson, Nancy Reagan, and Tim Russert. Waldoks became a rabbi, and is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline. Never did they think they'd be doing it again. Now, here they are a little older, a little grayer, still kibitzing with the 25 th anniversary edition of "The Big Book of Jewish Humor" (HarperCollins). It includes a new introduction and nearly 100 newjokes reflecting the new face, and faces, of Jewish humor among them Calvin Trillin, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal, and Jonathan Katz.

(From Katz: "I had dinner with my father last night, and I made a classic Freudian slip. I meant to say, 'Please pass the but it came out, JEWISH HUMOR, Page D4 together The material ranged from wry social commentary to corny self-deprecating wit. As in: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb? None: "It's all right. I'll sit in the dark." The book has stayed popular and has never gone out of print: A generation of 13-year-olds has come of age with it, having received one (or two) as a bar or bat mitzvah present. It's a convenient gift for recuperating hospital patients, and reference guide for anyone Friends' Jewish humor book keeps up with the times 'Ten O'clock News' crew prepares to sign off Game On Nintendo's Wii system proves a smashing success-: By Hiawatha Bray GLOBE STAFF A.

The wireless controller for the new Nintendo Wii video game console is light, compact, and dangerous at least to TV sets. The controllers, which let gamers play by moving their arms, have been flying from the hands of excited players, even those who use a safety strap that goes around their wrists. These accidents have racked up such a high toll of smashed TV screens that Nintendo yesterday offered heavy-duty wrist straps free of charge to all Wii users. By Suzanne C. Ryan GLOBE STAFF The walls of Karen Marinella's office are completely bare.

Her pictures are packed. Even her Kleenex is tucked away in a moving box. After 16 years of coanchoring "The Ten O'Clock News" at WLVI-TV (Channel 56), Marinella is preparing her final script. On Tuesday, the station's ownership will be transferred from the Tribune Co. to media mogul Ed Ansin's Sunbeam Television which also owns and operates WHDH-TV (Channel 7).

As part of the fallout, WLVTs 150 employees will be let go, including Marinella, effective after Monday night's newscast. "I don't know what I'm going to do come Tuesday," a tearful Marinella said this week. "My kids are thrilled that I'm going to be home for dinner more often. But I'm a news junkie. I've never not worked." "THE 10 O'CLOCK NEWS," Page D2 4 it i h( DINA RUDtCKGLOBE STAFF Karen Marinella (center) and Frank Mallicoat, coanchors of "The Ten O'clock News," look on with Sheila Green as assignment editor David Rothstein (left) hugs chief meteorologist Mike Wankum at WLVTs studio Thursday.

Stage Review replace 3.2 million straps after receiving a rash of reports about the device flying out of players' hands. Customers will be able to exchange the old straps for wider ones. It's not all bad news for Nintendo, of course. The many reports of Wiis gone wild underscore the new system's popularity. At $250, the Wii is cheaper than its rivals from Sony and Microsoft, and easier to find at stores than the PlayStation 3.

And, of course, there's the Wii's vaunted motion-sensitive controller. It's a clever, intuitive concept, designed for non-gamers who'd rather twist their wrists than wiggle a joystick. Each machine includes a copy of Wii Sports, a set of simple games that let users practice the various hand motions required by most other Wii titles, which GAME ON, Page D4 i Vv -j splendent stroll through Celtic midwinter. Everything about the starkly beautiful set ensured that effects never intruded on personality. The ensemble sat in a simple row, swapping tunes and songs beside a lone Christmas tree.

A backdrop turned slowly from twilight blue to black, pin-holed with snowy light. The a cappella trio Navan began with a dark-lit Gaelic song. O'Donovan, in argyle sweater and dark jeans, paced the show with a casual mastery. When not coaxing holiday memories from the musicians, he read evocative poems and stories. Best of "CELTIC SOJOURN," Page D5 By Scott Alarik GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Legendary acting teacher Stella Adler said there were two kinds of theater: the theater of ideas, and the theater of legs.

Assuming she meant to be rather more admiring of the former than the latter, she would likely have preferred "A Christmas Celtic Sojourn," up through Monday at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, to splashier, and leggier, holiday shows. Sitting in an old leather chair, Brian O'Donovan, host of WGBH radio's "Celtic Sojourn," amiably led the crowd Thursday on a nostalgic, and musically re 'Sojourn' simply celebrates the season AARON HARRISASSOCIATED PRESS Millions of wrist straps will be replaced after reports of wireless c(ttrollers flying from players' hands..