July 15, 2008: No election year would be complete without the irascible, irreplaceable and incomparable Jackie Mason — who brings his 8th and final one-man comedy tour de force, JACKIE MASON - THE ULTIMATE JEW, Off-Broadway to New World Stages, playing through July 20th only. Long passionate about politics, Jackie Mason is well known for his tough and outspoken position on a variety of issues.
We sat down with Jackie during the last week of his final New York appearance to find out more about his stint Off-Broadway.
Question: You started out as a Rabbi. Was it a difficult transition to comedy?
Answer: No . . . I added humor to keep the congregation interested
Q: How have audiences tastes changed since the 1960's? What is funny now vs. then?
A: There is no difference in my audiences. I always got a very diverse group of people and still do...I talk about what is in the news..in the 60's it was vietnam ..Kennedy or what ever was in the headlines. Now it's Iraq, Obama, McCain, Bush, Clinton, global warming, gun control, gay marriage; as the times change so does my material. If it's in the news, it's in the show. The only constant that never changes is cultural differences which I love to explore.
Q: How do you come up with new material?
A: I read 6 papers daily and keep up with all cuurent events.
Q: You have been very outspoken politically. What are your key issues in the upcoming election?
A: The economy..Gasoline ..The war..
Q: Besides The Ultimate Jew, you also have a radio show, a blog, many newspaper columns, and are working on a book - do you ever find time to relax? And what do you do to relax?
A: Work to me IS relaxation. I love what I do and am very passionate about it.
Q: Are there any comedians that you would say have influenced your style?
A: No one ever influenced me but I could appreciate when I saw greatness in another comedian like Geogie Carlin who was a friend and will be greatly missed.
Q: What is the funniest film that you have ever seen?
A: I don't really have a favorite.
Q: You have won many awards. Which is most meaningful to you?
A: Being honored by the state of Israel for coming there during the first gulf war while the scuds were flying into Israel every day. I closed my Broadway show for 1 week and went there to perform because no one could leave their house. It was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.
Q: Is The Ultimate Jew, really your final one-man show?
A: Yes..I will never do another 1 man show on or Off-Broadway.
Jackie Mason: The Ultimate Jew closes Off-Broadway on July 20, 2008.
More about Jackie Mason:
Born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Jackie was raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan surrounded by rabbis. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather were all rabbis, as are his three brothers. No surprise that at age 25 Jackie Mason was ordained a rabbi. Three years later, he quit his job in a synagogue to become a comedian because, as he says, "Somebody in the family had to make a living." From his humble comic beginnings in NYC, the Borscht Belt, and comedy clubs around the country, Jackie Mason rose to be one the hottest comics in America in the early 1960s. He reached the apex of American entertainment when he became a regular on the nation's preeminent television variety program, "The Ed Sullivan Show," only to fall into Sullivan's disfavor over the interpretation of a now legendary hand gesture during a live performance in 1962, an incident which cast a shadow over Mason's career for more than a decade. Mr. Mason first emerged from that shadow in Los Angeles, where his one-man show, The World According to Me originated in 1984 to wide acclaim. Yet the greater triumph was his return to New York and his extraordinary success on Broadway.
Jackie set a new standard for one-man shows on Broadway when The World According to Me began its unprecedented two-and-a-half year run on Broadway in 1986, earning triumphant reviews and re-establishing Mason as one of the nation's foremost comics. The show earned Jackie a Tony¨ Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ace Award, an Emmy Award, and a Grammy nomination, and it toured successfully in America and Europe for two years. Each subsequent show was consistently a commercial success and collected an impressive array of nominations and awards including Emmy and Ace awards for the HBO special, "Jackie Mason on Broadway." His last show Freshly Squeezed opened in 2005 and has been touring the world ever since.
Jackie can also be heard on his nationally syndicated radio show on The Talk Radio Network (www.talkradionetwork.com), which airs Sunday nights from 5PM to 7PM EST. The show covers politics, news and current affairs. Jackie interviews some of the most informative and influential people in the world of news and politics.
Mason along with longtime friend Raoul Lionel Felder wrote Schmucks! Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars, the Armed and Dangerous, and Good Guys Gone Bad (Harper Collins 2007), which will soon be followed by Schmucks 2, coming out this Spring. Jackie Mason also writes a bi-monthly columns with Felder for the internet edition of The American Spectator, as well as jewishworldreview.com and World Net Daily.
And now, Jackie is conquering a new media outlet: not content to be confined to just the stage, screen, print, TV & radio waves, Jackie's newest frontier is the Internet. He brings his sometimes humorous/sometimes cantankerous commentary of current events, to the blogosphere; His blog on JackieMason.com attracts thousands of unique viewers daily and as does his bi-weekly vlog on YouTube. Which just goes to show, there's no media to which Jackie can't bring his unmistakable style.
Well known and beloved around the world, Jackie Mason has been honored by many including South African President Nelson Mandela, the United Kingdom's Oxford University, and scores of other organizations. In 1991, during the first Persian Gulf crisis, Jackie closed his show on Broadway and traveled to Israel in a show of solidarity that was later honored by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Jackie Mason calls New York home, but he lives on the road entertaining his many loyal long-time fans as well as the legions of new fans he earns each year.
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