Jewish comedian and songwriter Polly Wolly, born Pauline Schantzer, has carved out a niche for herself performing in care homes and helping children discover their funny side. Her hilarious and provocative performances have been viewed over 7 million times online – and older audiences love her.

Schantzer grew up in Philadelphia in the 1990s and identified as Jewish, albeit with a slight variation.

“As a child, I knew nothing about Jews, nothing – I grew up in a household where Jews were for Jesus,” Schantzer told the Journal. This often led her to feel out of place. Her family would sometimes go to New York City and hand out pamphlets about Jews for Jesus.

“One time, a Hasidic Jew – I didn’t know who these guys were – took the pamphlet, yelled at me, ‘You’re not a real Jew,’ and ripped it up,” Schantzer said. Those confusing days led to her finding an outlet that Schantzer can trace her comedy-rap career to: the Spice Girls’ 1996 album “Spice.”

“I was obsessed with the Spice Girls,” Schantzer said. “They were my escape from everything that was really traumatic. I went to them to find so much hope and love.” During her teenage years, Schantzer covered her bedroom walls with Spice Girls posters and began writing poetry. This helped her block out her parents’ constant bickering. Her confusion about Jews for Jesus continued well into her twenties, however, when Schantzer moved to Los Angeles and began to embrace her Jewish roots in her own way.

“I just started hanging out with Jews because where I’m from, it’s all white trash people,” Schantzer said. “It wasn’t like there were any Jews in my area. I started going to a Chabad church.” But it wasn’t until she lost a parent that Schantzer began channeling her grief into producing more comedy music at an industrial pace. In February 2018, her father became ill after undergoing heart bypass surgery. The night his beloved Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl, Schantzer’s father died. She watched the game that night in Los Angeles but called home to Philadelphia to try to share some of the victory with her. nachas with her father.

“He said, ‘I just want the Eagles to win the Super Bowl before I die,’ and then they did,” Schantzer said. “I called my dad and he didn’t answer. I called my mom and she was just singing ‘Fly Eagles, Fly.’ And I said, ‘Mommy, where’s daddy?’ And she said, ‘He’s laying there, he’s not well.’ And I said, ‘I want to talk to him.’ She said, ‘No, he’s going to sleep, bye.’ I texted, ‘Daddy, go Eagles.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, go Eagles.’ So he didn’t answer the phone, I didn’t talk to him. I talked to him the day before.” That final text was the winning hug and high-five that Schantzer and her father were able to share. But the emotional burden of not being able to say goodbye weighed heavily on her.

“After my dad died, I really focused on that and started posting more videos,” Schantzer said. The following year, she applied for a Birthright trip to Israel. During the interview, she spoke honestly about her complicated Jewish upbringing. And during her first visit to Israel, she “discovered hot Jews for the first time.”

“I didn’t know there were hot Jews before,” says Schantzer, laughing. “I was obsessed. I fell in love with Israelis.”

Since then, Schantzer’s comedy music has been heavily influenced by her love for the Los Angeles Jewish community. She regularly attends Shabbat dinners and has resolved to only date Jewish men. “I hadn’t dated a Jewish man in five years,” Schantzer said. She releases the songs “Imma Real Jew,” “Purim,” and “Oy Vey Booty.” Her comedy rap skills landed Schantzer an audition for Nick Cannon’s rap battle show “Wild N Out” in 2022. She was one of 15 finalists selected. Although she didn’t make it into the show’s main competition, she is proud that she won a rap battle on screen during the audition. This video would be her first Instagram Reel to have over 10,000 views.

Schantzer’s comedy music is heavily influenced by her love for the Jewish community in Los Angeles.

Her next most popular songs include “I Want A Baby,” a Passover rap “Burn the Bread,” and a parody of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” “Jewish Barbie Girl.” Her next song was about a real conversation she had with her mother in 2023. At the time, her mother, Judy, was in the care of a psychiatric ward of a Philadelphia hospital. When Schantzer tried to reach her by phone one day, one of the other patients answered. Watch the video for “The Psych Ward” to find out what happened next—it involves knives. She also created a YouTube series, “Judy and Me,” in which she portrays her blunt, unfiltered mother.

During the 2023 High Holidays, Schantzer released “Shabbat Shabbat Shalom,” which includes the lyrics, “You know what we do, we chat, but on Shabbat we snooze.” When she posted it on Instagram two days after the October 7 attacks on Israel, Schantzer prefaced it with the words, “I wrote this funny song about Shabbat, and on this Shabbat we woke up to the most horrific news about Israel. My heart is with you Israel, and my Israeli friends. Despite all the hate, I will continue to proudly express my Judaism, I am proud to be a Jew! Hashem is by our side.” Her next video was a freestyle rap, “Bye Hamas.” On November 3, 2023, Schantzer released her most popular song yet – she sang “Jewish Barbie Girl” in a nursing home. Unlike the other releases, which were staged and choreographed music videos, this was a live performance in a nursing home. It has been viewed over 12 million times.

In the weeks that followed, Schantzer posted clips from the performance in the nursing home courtyard, surrounded by the crowd of seniors. To get another glimpse of Schantzer’s adorable connection to the older demographic, watch the video for “Shake It Doll.” She’s as excited as ever right now — even though Schantzer’s Instagram account was hacked and shut down last summer. She’s doing everything she can to get it back. Until then, Schantzer encourages everyone at Meta to help her restore her @pollywollycomedian account.

“I write from what I know,” Schantzer said. “So it’s all real. Some of it is exaggerated for the video, but it’s all personal,” Schantzer said. In many ways, she’s still that dancing, Spice Girls-loving kid. That feeling has led her to teach audiences on the other end of the age spectrum — kids. She channels her talents into teaching, helping kids make comedy music.

“Write something that makes you laugh,” Schantzer advises her students. “It’s about having fun and not taking anything too seriously.” Schantzer believes in teaching the power of humor to address and deal with difficult topics.

“I hope they get rid of their fear of laughing at things they shouldn’t laugh at,” she said.

To book Polly Wolly as a singer in care homes or to lead a workshop for children on writing comedy songs, contact her at https://pollywollycomedian.com/