Do I have to thank the Academy?

There’s a Jewish expression called “kenahora.” It’s Yiddish for “keep the evil eye away. Don’t tempt evil.” It’s a superstition that if you assume something you might be jinxing it.

Here’s an example of a kenahora:

Because the Emmy awards this year are going to be virtual and a technical nightmare, I understand the Academy is requesting that all nominees record their acceptance speeches in advance. That way they’ll all be ready when the awards are announced.

Talk about tempting fate...

From what I understand, a lot of nominees are uncomfortable doing this, and I don’t blame them. It’s bad enough to lose, but to lose AND have delivered a speech?

How many loser speeches will have “This only proves that if you follow your heart, never give up, and believe in yourself you’ll ultimately triumph!”? How many will thank Jesus who ultimately won’t come through for them?

To me, the only advantage to this is that the speeches will probably be shorter than usual. Who wants to ramble on for five minutes when you know that once you lose, members of the Academy will be playing back your speech and laughing?

Good luck to all the winners. And I really feel bad this year for the losers.

from By Ken Levine