Alf Kwinter was born in Vienna in 1945. Although he took great pride in his Austrian heritage, by 1947 he found that the cultured life of the city did not meld with his other interests and he made the decision to immigrate to Canada bringing his parents with him. He began telling jokes on the boat from Europe to help pay for the family’s passage when it was discovered they did not have enough points to travel Business Class.

Alf grew up in a Yiddish speaking home in downtown Toronto and attended King Edward Public School and Harbord Collegiate. His parents were broken-hearted when he decided to forsake a career in comedy and go to law school, graduating from U of T Law in 1970. His real legal education comes from the years working in his father’s store in the Kensington market. Alf is a founding partner of the law firm Singer, Kwinter. He is certified as a Specialist in Civil Litigation by the Law Society of Upper Canada and is a past director of The Advocates’ Society. His first love, however, is comedy and he has appeared in synagogues throughout Toronto and across Canada. He has performed in Synagogues from St John's Newfoundland to Vancouver B.C. Recent appearances have included Florida and Melbourne, Australia. Alf wants to remind everyone that he hasn’t given up his day job.