Comedian Amy Schumer creates a skit parodying the serious, almost sacred, atmosphere nurtured in many museums, and the authoritative and convincing tone with which museums often narrate history. In particular, “The Museum of Boyfriend Wardrobe Atrocities” mimics the curatorial decisions, the language, and the visitor responses one might find in a Holocaust museum. It is important to note that the skit’s final punchline uses a pile of Crocs sandals as an explicit mirroring of Holocaust shoe memorials.

Suggested Activity: Watch the skit and have students identify the various elements in the Museum of Boyfriend Wardrobe Atrocities that mimic elements of Holocaust museums and memorialization. What is being parodied in Schumer’s skit? Ask students to think about the irreverence on display in both Schumer’s skit and Etgar Keret’s story. How does this comedic portrayal of the act of memorialization differ from Etgar Keret’s portrayal in “Shoes”? What is each saying about how commemoration spaces “instruct” or expect visitors to act? Talk to students about the “Museum Effect”—the importance and validity that accrues to an object when it is placed in a museum—and ask them what they think of Schumer creating this effect around somewhat trivial objects.