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ELON GOLD

COMEDIAN

For Elon Gold, life really is a sitcom. The Bronx-born actor, stand-up comedian and producer turned his real-life living situation into TV fodder, particularly his relationship with an intimidating father-in-law à la the Ben Stiller-Robert DeNiro dynamic in “Meet the Parents.”

Gold plays Matt Landis, a struggling would-be chef who moves with his new wife Alex (Bonnie Somerville) into her parents’ home, which doesn’t thrill Dad (Dennis Farina). “It’s really about a father- and son-in-law and the journey into liking each other,” says Gold, who previously appeared in the short-lived series “You’re the One” and “She TV.”

He and his wife, Sancha, and their son, Brandon, who have a home in L.A., live with her folks in Westchester, N.Y. when they’re on the East Coast. Reports Gold about his father-in-law: “He’s gotten such a kick out of it. He’s pitching storylines all the time.”

Like Gold, Matt is Jewish but his religion won’t be the focus of the show. “It’s not ‘Bridget Loves Bernie,’” he underlines, referencing the ‘70s interfaith sitcom. But faith is important to the kosher-keeping Gold, who arranged to have the show tape on Tuesday nights so he could observe Shabbat.

“I think it’s inspiring to other Jewish people to keep their traditions because that’s all we have is our heritage,” he says. “Keeping our traditions alive keeps us alive, and that’s why I do that.”

Gold doesn’t want his TV alter ego to follow him into fatherhood right away, but he does have a scheme to thicken the family plot. “I’d like to write an episode where we find out my wife’s mom was raised Catholic but is really Jewish, so her dad becomes the outsider,” he outlines.

“I like portraying the Jewish guy, especially in a positive light,” says the 29-year-old Gold.

Some of the best advice he’s gotten after 10 years on the stand-up circuit and some failed TV shows has come from veteran funnymen like Buddy Hackett and the late Henny Youngman. “It’s just unbelievable to sit there and talk to these guys,” he says. “They treat you like you’re a peer, and, of course, you’re not. They’re legends and you’re a dope.”

Self-deprecating humor aside, Gold has aspired to their heights since he was a kid. But he never believed he could rise to their ranks until his first standout gig at 17: a Purim shpiel at Yeshiva University High School.

Mixing impersonations of his favorite “Saturday Night Live” characters and his rabbis, he brought the house down. “It was 500 kids screaming with laughter, and I remember thinking, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I realized I actually could do it.”

Gold’s first professional gig was at an open mike night at a Manhattan comedy club. He watched a slew of amateurs fail miserably—except for one man. It was a young Adam Sandler.

With a series of impersonations of his favorite comedians, Gold won over the crowd that night and the producers of “America’s Funniest Kids.”

With a TV show already to his credit, Gold was on a roll barely after graduating from high school. A talent booker for the short-lived “The Pat Sajak Show” invited him on. MTV tapped his talents for its “Half Hour Comedy Hour.” Howard Stern has hosted him on his radio show several times because Gold does a particularly good impression of the shock jock. He was even a finalist to join “Saturday Night Live,” his childhood dream.

“… faith is important to the kosher-keeping Gold, who arranged to have the show tape on Tuesday nights so he could observe Shabbat …”