From Jerry Seinfeld to Woody Allen, Sacha Baron Cohen to Seth Rogan, Jewish culture is rich with comic talent.

Which is why it seems so surprising that St. Louis Park should be one of the very first cities anywhere to host a Jewish Humor Festival, slated for Feb. 25-March 7.

"A JCC [Jewish Community Center] in California did it last year, but oddly enough, that's the only place I've ever heard of someone doing this," said Claire Avitabile, the director of performing arts at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park.

Avitabile was inspired to organize the festival last year after traveling to New York and literally being brought to tears by some of the comedy she saw during a Jewish arts event.

The Twin Cities fest will feature local and national comic talent. It also coincides with Purim, the holiday when "Jews are essentially commanded to make merry," said Mark Bloom, a local musician and festival performer.

But, of course, non-Jews are certainly invited to the party.

In fact, Avitabile, while the organizer of the event, isn't herself Jewish. (She's quick to note that the Jewish Community Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer.)

"I guess I'm proof that what's funny is funny," said Avitabile.

There's a wide range of acts planned, from PG fare to adult entertainment.

Bloom, for instance, revisits the satirical tunes and loopy lyrics of Tom Lehrer, Randy Newman, Mel Brooks, Alan Sherman and others. He's scheduled for 6 p.m. March 3 and 1 p.m. March 4. Rated PG.

Then there's Flash Rosenberg, a Manhattan-based artist, photographer and comic who uses slideshows of digital photography and witticisms to create a pseudo-scientific "optical humor" show. She's scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 3. Rated PG-13.

Ari Hoptman, a Minneapolis entertainer and Fringe Festival regular, will present "The Art of Shtick," with sketches, stories and wonderfully weird impressions like "Alec Guinness in Hell" and "Shaft Waiting in Line at the Bank." And his poetry is endearingly bad: "We enter this world naked / And exit naked / But in between / Demi Moore does it so much better than I do." He's scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 28.

Some of the comedy will be downright off the wall -- like Dylan Fresco. The Minneapolis-based theater artist and musician has declared himself a certified practitioner of the Anton Kissbougal Technique -- the newest of New Age fads -- and as such runs a satirical, interactive "workshop" that stresses "movement and sense memory and imagery with a very specific emphasis on the digestive process." 7 p.m. March 1.

They're among nearly two dozen acts and events scheduled during the festival. For a full listing, go to www. sabesjcc.org/arts_humor.htm.

Alyssa Ford is a Minneapolis freelance writer.