Jackie Mason

Jackie Mason
Birth name	Yacov Moshe Maza
Born	June 9, 1936 (1936-06-09) (age 73) Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States
Medium	Stand-up Television Film Books Radio
Nationality	American
Years active	Late 1950s—
Genres	Satire/Political satire Observational comedy Improvisational comedy
Subject(s)	American politics International relations Current events race relations Antisemitism Jewish culture American culture
Spouse	Jyll Rosenfeld (August 14, 1991–present)
Notable works and roles	The World According to Me! Hyman Krustofski in "Like Father, Like Clown" and "Today I Am a Clown"
Website	jackiemason.com
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance 1992 The Simpsons - "Like Father, Like Clown"

Jackie Mason (born June 9, 1936) is an American stand-up comedian.

Early life

Born Yacov Moshe Maza in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, he grew up in New York City on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Mason graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the City College of New York. At age 25, he was ordained a rabbi (as his three brothers and father had been) in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.^[1] Three years later he resigned to become a comedian.

Comedy career

Mason had several one-man comedy stage shows over the years. His first Broadway show was called The World According to Me, which was well-received. Later, he had a show at the John Golden Theatre, called Politically Incorrect, which ran into copyright problems because it was performed at the same time that Bill Maher's TV show Politically Incorrect was on the air. Bill Maher brought a lawsuit against Mason's production, which was dismissed as 'frivolous.' To this day, Mason is able to use this show title, and it is one of his most successful road productions. Between these shows, Mason played the lead in a short-lived television show called Chicken Soup alongside Lynn Redgrave.

In 1992, Mason won an Emmy Award for his voice-over of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in The Simpsons episode "Like Father, Like Clown",^[2] making him the first guest star to win an Emmy for his role.

In a 2005 poll to find the Comedian's Comedian, Mason was voted among the top-50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was also ranked #63 in Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.^[3]

He completed a full length motion picture One Angry Man for release in 2009.

Controversy

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Mason has been involved in several controversies over the course of his career.

Mason vs. Sullivan

In 1964, Mason allegedly gave Ed Sullivan the finger on a live telecast of Sullivan's very popular weekly variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan terminated Mason's US$45,000.00 contract immediately. Mason denied that he made the obscene gesture, insisting that he flashed numerous fingers and that the gesture was misinterpreted. He later retaliated against Sullivan by filing (but later dropping) a libel suit. A year and a half later, Mason again appeared on Sullivan's show, where Sullivan publicly apologized to Mason. Mason dropped the lawsuit shortly after. That was Mason's last appearance on Sullivan's show.

A video recording of the incident shows Mason talking through his comedy set and then looking to his right (viewers' left), toward Sullivan, commenting on the fact that Sullivan was giving him finger-signals.^{[citation needed]} Sullivan may have been trying to tell Mason to wrap up his segment. Regardless, Mason continued commenting, talking toward Sullivan instead of the audience and thumbed his nose at him with his middle finger slightly separated from the others. The action left Sullivan with the impression that Mason had given him the finger on live TV. From Mason's viewpoint, Ed Sullivan's finger signals caught the attention of the audience, which distracted them from paying attention to his stand-up routine. As soon as Jackie realized that he was losing not only his audience at the studio but also millions watching him on live TV, he did some quick thinking and began to improvise his stand-up, using his own fingers to make jokes about Sullivan holding up fingers to signal the number of minutes Jackie Mason had left for his routine. When watching the slow motion replays of this incident it is clear that Mason's finger movements did not include giving the finger to Sullivan.

After Mason left the stage, the TV camera then cut to Sullivan, who was looking agitated over what had just transpired—his arms were folded tightly and he was staring downward.

Allegations of racism

In 1991, Mason was criticized by African-American organizations such as the NAACP when he called New York mayor David Dinkins "a fancy schvartze with a moustache."^[4] He later apologized. He was later accused of racism when the American comic Ray Hanania, of Christian Arab Palestinian descent, was removed from opening for him at a Chicago club.^[4]

Mason referred to Barack Obama as a "schwartzer" during a performance in New York City on March 12, 2009, later saying "I'm an old Jew. I was raised in a Jewish family where 'schwartzer' was used," he said. "It's not a demeaning word and I'm not going to defend myself." Schwartz means "black" in Yiddish.^[5]

Statements on Arabs in Israel

Mason counseled Israeli leaders to consider the total expulsion of Palestinians from Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.^[6] Mason and Felder wrote, “We have paralyzed ourselves by our sickening fear of World Opinion, which is why we find it impossible to face one simple fact: We will never win this war unless we immediately threaten to drive every Arab out of Israel if the killing doesn't stop.”^[6] They added:

Jews for Jesus lawsuit

On August 28, 2006, Mason filed a lawsuit against the group Jews for Jesus for using his likeness in a pamphlet.^[7] His image was used next to the tag line "Jackie Mason...a Jew for Jesus!?" Mason said in court papers filed in New York:

Mason has claimed that the group was using his image and fame to gain attention and converts. The group responded to the suit by saying, "Shame on him for getting so upset about this."^[7] The lawsuit was settled in 2006, with Jews for Jesus apologizing.^[8]

One Jerusalem

Mason co-founded the organization One Jerusalem in response to the Oslo peace agreement. Its stated cause is "Maintaining a united Jerusalem as the un-divided capital of Israel.”^[9]

Works

Selected TV, film and radio roles

• The Ed Sullivan Show (1961-1968) frequent guest appearances
• The Stoolie (1972) - Roger Pitman
• Sleeper (1973) - Voice of robot tailor (uncredited)
• The Jerk (1979) - Harry Hartounian
• History of the World: Part I (1981) - Jew #2
• Caddyshack II (1988) - Jack Hartounian
• Chicken Soup (1989) - Jackie Fisher
• The Simpsons
  • Episode "Like Father, Like Clown" (1991) - Rabbi Hyman Krustofski
  • Episode "Today I Am a Clown" (2003) - Rabbi Hyman Krustofski
• The Fairly OddParents episode "Beddy Bye/The Grass Is Greener" (2003) - Harvey Sandman a.k.a The Sandman, a.k.a The Mattress King
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - The Quandary Phase (2005) - The East River Lifeform
• 30 Rock episode The Collection (2007) - Himself (small guest appearance)
• The Drinky Crow Show episode "Aspire" (2009) - Mort Cooper

Television specials

• Jackie Mason's The World According to Me! (1988)
• An Audience with Jackie Mason (1990)
• Jackie Mason on Campus (1992)
• Jackie Mason at the London Palladium (1996)
• Jackie Mason: A Night at the Opera (2002)

Discography

• I'm the Greatest Comedian in the World, Only Nobody Knows it Yet! (1962)
• I Want to Leave You with the Words of a Great Comedian (1963)
• The World According to Me! (1987)
• Brand New (1991)
• Politically Incorrect
• In Israel
• Live at the London Palladium (1997)
• All New! Much Ado About Everything (2003)
• Prune Danish
• The Unholy Tour
• Freshly Squeezed
• The Ultimate Jew (2008)

One-man shows

• Jackie Mason's the World According to Me! (1986–1988)
• Jackie Mason: Brand New (1990–1991)
• Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect (1994–1995)
• Love Thy Neighbor (1996–1997)
• Much Ado About Everything (1999–2000)
• Jackie Mason: Prune Danish (2002–2003)
• Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed (2005–2006)
• Jackie Mason: The Ultimate Jew (2008)

Video blogging

Mason has appeared in over 200 self-written video blog entries on YouTube, in which he gives his opinions on current events and politics.

References

External links

• Official website
• Show website
• Jackie Mason at the Internet Movie Database
• Radio Interview on Air America
• Interview (Jackie Mason interview starts at 55:18), Mark Levin Talk Radio Show, 27 June 2008
• Jackie Mason speaks about gun control on LiveLeak