"Ms. Piper is in her comfort zone with the funny stuff, of course, and the comedic high points are delicious. She’s less successful when she turns serious, trying for a poignancy that requires more acting skill than she possesses; several segments are more maudlin than moving…But she smartly never lets them go on for long and is quick to lighten the room just when things are in danger of becoming too heavy."
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"Piper's acclaim and sheer reliability is likely why the show has come to the Big Apple, but 'Not That Jewish' can't shake the feeling that it belongs more in a synagogue social hall...Her Old World-style jokes, just on the cusp of dirty, go down easy and earn friendly chuckles. But Piper's presentational style and director Mark Waldrop's artificial production undercut the show's more emotional moments...They're still moving, but not as poignant as they could be."
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"Piper, who can ram home a punch line with the best of them, is, most of the time, a relaxed, affable presence, and she doesn't shy away from the sorrows in her life story...The darker the subject matter, the funnier Piper is...'Not That Jewish' is warm, funny, and grounded in plenty of gritty detail...Waldrop has directed with a light hand, and has also provided his star with a better-than-usual design...Even if you aren't that Jewish, you should find some solid laughs and honest sentiment."
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"What you get is not a stand-up routine, but a standard-issue bio play with, perhaps, an above-average number of laughs...Piper has taken the unusual avenue of not trying to split your sides, even though she's clearly capable of doing so, and instead taken the attack straight to your heart...'Not That Jewish' isn't as funny as you think it will be, but it's far moving, and the good time you get when you go, even if it's not the kind you expect, will not leave you feeling deprived at all."
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"Piper delivers an intimate performance within the large proscenium at New World Stages. Through all the teary moments in the audience, Piper manages to bring a smile back with one of her jokes and expert physical comedy. In some moments, it is easy to eagerly await the next punch line, like watching a stand-up comic's routine, while in others, Piper captures true theatre and creates a tangible stillness in the crowd as she, herself, struggles to find the right words."
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"'Not That Jewish' positions its storyteller front and center in its narrative. Since Piper is an adept performer and writer who knows how to land a joke, that’s not all bad. But it does get a little awkward during the not infrequent spurts of self-adulation...She is a smart woman with a quick wit and that magical ingredient known as comic timing. Yet wit and timing get bogged down considerably as she wades through the treacly landscape of her family history, rendering her not that funny."
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"I’m laughing and relating, mostly..."'Not That Jewish' needs a good bit of trimming, and another hook to hang its hat on. As it stands now, she’s trying to force the narrative of her life into the framework of how she relates to her Judaism...The whole 'I don’t go to temple so I have to prove to myself I’m Jewish' thing? Not so resonant with me...Being a single mother and beating breast cancer? That’s something to talk about."
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“Through it all, she finds the laughter beneath life's ups and downs. Many of the jokes are Jewish-inflected and familiar to anyone who's seen, let's say, Jackie Mason's routines. Every now and then, a word floats by to spur the next sequence in the show. Despite its theme, the play is for everyone who has a Jewish heart, much as those old Levy's Jewish rye bread ads used to imply; still, folks who laugh at Yiddishisms will soak up just a bit more of its ethnic gravy than everyone else.”
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