Sandra Bernhard and Judy Gold Singing Laura Nyro’s “Stoned Soul Picnic” Is Pure Jewish Joy
Some performances don’t need to be over-explained. They just arrive, throw open the windows, and let the whole room breathe.
Sandra Bernhard and Judy Gold singing Laura Nyro’s “Stoned Soul Picnic” is one of those moments: loose, soulful, hilarious, affectionate, and absolutely bursting with Jewish joy.
Not solemn Jewish joy. Not institutional Jewish joy. Not “please rise for the candle lighting” Jewish joy. The other kind. The real kind. The loud, funny, theatrical, deeply feeling, arms-around-everybody, slightly-chaotic-in-the-best-way kind.
It is Judy Gold and Sandra Bernhard — two fearless, unmistakably New York Jewish performers — singing a Laura Nyro song like they know exactly what it means to turn survival into rhythm, feeling into comedy, and a room full of people into a family for five minutes. The song starts at 01:27:00, but honestly the whole video is worth repeat viewings.
The Jewish Joy of Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro’s music has always had that hard-to-pin-down magic: soul, gospel, pop, jazz, Broadway, Brill Building, city street, synagogue-adjacent yearning, and teenage-bedroom intensity all at once.
And yes, Laura Nyro was Jewish — which makes this performance feel like a beautiful little triangle of Jewish women artists across generations. Nyro wrote the song. Sandra Bernhard brings the downtown cabaret-rock goddess energy. Judy Gold brings the big-hearted, razor-sharp, nobody-gets-away-with-anything comedy energy.
Together, they make “Stoned Soul Picnic” feel less like a cover and more like a celebration.
Judy Gold, Sandra Bernhard, and the Art of Taking Up Space
Part of what makes this clip so joyful is that nobody is shrinking. Nobody is smoothing down the edges. Nobody is trying to be palatable.
That is a very specific kind of Jewish performance tradition: smart, emotional, irreverent, musical, communal, and just a little bit defiant.
Judy Gold and Sandra Bernhard have both built careers on refusing to be smaller, quieter, or easier to digest. They are comedians, performers, commentators, truth-tellers, Jewish icons, queer icons, and women who understand that joy can be its own form of resistance.
Watching them sing Laura Nyro together is not just fun. It feels like inheritance.
Why This Moment Works
“Stoned Soul Picnic” is already a song about abundance — about invitation, pleasure, togetherness, and release. In Sandra and Judy’s hands, it becomes something even more specific: a celebration of Jewish women who have spent their lives making rooms bigger, louder, freer, and funnier.
It is nostalgic without being dusty. Sentimental without being corny. Campy without being fake. It has the energy of a summer night, a family gathering, a cabaret, a protest, and a bar mitzvah afterparty where the cool aunt has taken over the microphone.
In other words: an absolute vibe.
A Little Bit of Joy, A Lot of Soul
There is something moving about watching Jewish performers celebrate another Jewish artist’s music without turning the whole thing into a lecture. The joy is the point. The looseness is the point. The pleasure is the point.
Because Jewish culture is not only grief, memory, argument, and endurance — though it is certainly all of those things. It is also music. Timing. Nerve. Laughter. Harmonies. Improvisation. Women taking the mic and refusing to give it back.
That is what makes this clip so satisfying. It is not polished within an inch of its life. It is alive.
Watch Judy Gold Live
If you loved watching Judy Gold sing “Stoned Soul Picnic” with Sandra Bernhard, come see what happens when Judy has the stage to herself.
Judy Gold is an Emmy Award-winning comedian, actor, author, and host whose work blends stand-up, storytelling, politics, parenting, Jewish identity, LGBTQ+ life, and the sacred art of saying exactly what everyone else is afraid to say.
See Judy live, or book Judy for your next event.