25 Years After Memorable Post-9/11 Atlantic City Show, Modi Returns as a Headliner

ATLANTIC CITY — Nearly 25 years ago, comedian Modi Rosenfeld came to Atlantic City for a comedy show held just days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With the nation's airspace still largely shut down, other shows canceled and a grieving country searching for some sense of normalcy, the night became something neither Modi nor Scott Cronick would forget.

Now, almost a quarter-century later, Modi is returning to Atlantic City as a headliner, performing Saturday at Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort.

The remarkable connection between the two appearances emerged during Modi's interview on Off The Press with Scott Cronick on WOND, when Cronick recalled booking comedy shows in Atlantic City early in Modi's career.

Modi immediately remembered when they had met.

“I'll tell you the date we met, if you want,” Modi said. “It was the Saturday after 9-11.”

What followed was a trip down memory lane to one of the most unusual weeks in Atlantic City entertainment history.

‘We Were the Only Show in Town’

The comedy show had been scheduled for Trump Marina but was moved to a larger room at Trump Taj Mahal.

It came just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when commercial air travel had been brought to a halt and much of the nation's entertainment industry had effectively stopped.

“We almost canceled the show,” Cronick recalled.

Instead, they went forward.

Cronick remembered a huge American flag hanging in the venue and an emotional rendition of the national anthem.

“Remember the patriotism that night?” Cronick asked. “I think everyone cried during the national anthem.”

Modi certainly remembered.

The proceeds from the event were donated to organizations benefiting survivors and victims' families, he said.

“We hung a huge flag, and we made all the money to go for, we knew there were going to be foundations for the survivors and for families, and we just raised all the money for that,” Modi said. “And it was an amazing night. We were the only show in town.”

Modi recalled that Barry Manilow and Celine Dion had been scheduled to perform in Atlantic City but couldn't get there because of the disruption to air travel.

The comedy show, featuring performers including Stuttering John Melendez, Jim Florentine, Craig Gass and Modi, went on.

“It was one of the most uplifting and energetic and rewarding comedy shows,” Modi said.

It was also Modi's first trip to Atlantic City.

A Future President Was in the Audience

There was another memorable attendee that night: Donald Trump.

Modi recalled Trump coming to the show and visiting the comedians backstage.

“Donald Trump came to it, he came backstage,” Modi said.

Modi then told Cronick a story about having lunch with Trump and Melania the following day.

Modi kept looking at Melania and telling her that she seemed familiar. It took him a while to figure out why.

“I kept saying to her, ‘You look very familiar. You look very familiar,’” Modi recalled.

He eventually realized her image had been displayed throughout the hotel.

“Her face was like, on the back of the room key,” Modi said. “I'm so stupid, I'm looking at her and saying to her, ‘You look very familiar.’”

Cronick Remembers a Young Comic Stealing the Show

For Cronick, there was another reason that night remained memorable.

At the time, he was also writing about entertainment for The Press of Atlantic City and reviewed the show.

While some of the other comedians had established connections to Howard Stern's enormously popular radio show, Modi was relatively unknown to much of the audience.

Cronick told Modi that he remembered him being brought in as the more traditional stand-up comic on the bill — and then surprising everyone.

“You blew the house down probably more than anybody else,” Cronick told him.

Cronick said he and others involved with the show came away convinced Modi had a future.

“We all said ... that if there was one guy who was going to make it, it was you, dude,” Cronick said. “And here you are, brother, headlining Ocean Casino.”

Modi laughed.

“Well, it looks like you took a good bet,” he said.

From Atlantic City Unknown to Radio City

Cronick's prediction proved pretty good.

Over the ensuing years, Modi built a successful stand-up career, becoming particularly well known for comedy rooted in Jewish life while developing an act capable of playing to much broader audiences.

His television credits have included HBO's “Crashing,” where he appeared in an episode centered around a synagogue comedy performance.

Modi said his extensive experience performing at synagogues helped him and others develop the scenes and dialogue for the episode.

“Synagogues have a built-in audience, they're a built-in theater,” Modi said. “So when they decided to do a synagogue show, they reached out to me.”

Modi told Cronick that roughly half of his business now consists of private and organizational events, while the other half includes theater performances.

That has taken him to venues including the Beacon Theatre, the London Palladium and Radio City Music Hall.

He also appeared on “The Sopranos,” although not quite as prominently as he'd hoped.

Modi joked that he originally had three pages of dialogue that were reduced to three lines in the final episode.

The day after the episode aired, he said, Stern teased him about the disappearing screen time.

“He said, ‘You're the only guy that got whacked in the editing room,’” Modi recalled.

A Different Show for Atlantic City

Modi isn't returning to Atlantic City with an old act.

He performed at Borgata last year and told Cronick that anyone who saw that performance can expect an entirely new show at Ocean.

“That's a whole new show,” Modi said.

Even audiences who saw his more recent Radio City material will hear plenty they haven't heard before.

“Those that saw me at Radio City, they're going to be seeing, I would say, 85% new,” Modi said.

Modi described himself as an observational comedian who develops material organically rather than sitting at a computer and writing a series of jokes.

“I literally sit with my friends and sit with whoever I'm with,” Modi said. “And if I see a laugh, I go, ‘Oh, that's a premise. Let's figure this out. Let's indulge it.’”

He then takes the idea to the Comedy Cellar and begins working through it in front of an audience, adding punchlines and expanding the story.

“I'm not one of those comics that sits down and, you know, types out jokes,” Modi said. “It's a story, but within the story, there's lots of tags and lots of punchlines.”

‘I Look for the Ha-Ha’

There is one subject audiences shouldn't expect Modi to spend much time discussing Saturday: politics.

Cronick asked the Israeli-born comedian whether the political climate and debate surrounding Israel have caused him to address those issues onstage.

“100% stay out of it,” Modi responded.

His reasoning is simple.

“They're coming in to laugh,” Modi said. “I'm not looking for boos or woos on any side. I look for the ha-ha.”

“I have no agenda to sell them except for laughing.”

For Modi, having people with dramatically different beliefs sitting in the same room and laughing together is part of the appeal of comedy.

And it brings his Atlantic City story almost full circle.

Twenty-five years ago, he came to the resort during one of the darkest weeks in American history and participated in a comedy show that gave a shaken audience an opportunity to laugh together while raising money for those affected by the attacks.

Cronick was there.

Modi remembers it vividly.

Now the relatively unknown comedian Cronick singled out that night returns to Atlantic City nearly 25 years later — this time with his name at the top of the bill.

Modi performs Saturday at 8 p.m. at Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.