Posted on 07/24/2021 8:12:12 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
NEW YORK (AP) — Jackie Mason, a rabbi-turned-comedian whose feisty brand of standup comedy led him to Catskills nightclubs, West Coast talk shows and Broadway stages, has died. He was 93.
Mason died Saturday at 6 p.m. ET at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan after being hospitalized for over two weeks, the celebrity lawyer Raoul Felder told The Associated Press. Mason was known for his sharp wit and piercing social commentary, often about being Jewish, men and women and his own inadequacies.
“Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe,” he once joked. Another Mason line was: “Politics doesn’t make strange bedfellows, marriage does.”
Mason was born Jacob Maza, the son of a rabbi. His three brothers became rabbis. So did Mason, who at one time had congregations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
“A person has to feel emotionally barren or empty or frustrated in order to become a comedian,” he told The Associated Press in 1987. “I don’t think people who feel comfortable or happy are motivated to become comedians. You’re searching for something and you’re willing to pay a high price to get that attention.”
Mason started in show business as a social director at a resort in the Catskills. He was the guy who got everybody up to play Simon Says, quiz games or shuffleboard. He told jokes, too. After one season, he was playing clubs throughout the Catskills for better money.
He was banned for two years from the “Sullivan” show when he allegedly gave the host the finger when Sullivan signaled to him to wrap up his act during an appearance on Oct. 18, 1964.
“Jackie was banned from the Ed Sulliva show for two years, after giving Ed the finger in 1964 when he asked Jackie to wrap his act up.”
***I didn’t even know “The Finger” was being used by anybody back in the early 60’s! I know the Italians and the Greeks had some kind of two arm rude, salute they gave when they wanted to say “Eff-You-Pal!”
A comedic genius, RIP.
The ‘finger’ was around with my Dad going back to the ‘40’s.
Mason did a couple of turns on The Simpsons, voicing Krusty’s rabbi father. RIP Jackie. Tell Rabbi Krustofsky we said hi.
RIP, Jackie.
He was one of a kind.
Alav haSholom.
A good man and super funny..god speed Jackie you will be missed
I thought he was gone already. RIP
Same age as my MIL, the only parent my husband and I have left. RIP, Jackie. My Mama loved when you made appearances on TV.
Sad to hear of Mason’s passing. I’ve been reading his book “Schmucks” co-authored with Raoul Felder, Collins, 2007 - subtitled “Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars, The Armed and Dangerous, and Good Guys Gone Bad”.
A couple of his jokes and comments:
“We dedicate this book to the men and women of our Armed Forces, both past and present, who have made and continue to make it possible for us to be able to name anyone we see fit a schmuck”.
When was the last time a leftist dedicated a book to our Armed Forces personnel, except perhaps a few honest liberal historians?
Re Tom Cruise: In serious need of a couch, criticizing the actor’s performance on “Oprah” and his “playing “the part of a middle-aged man in love. His soon to be child bride - a girl who during the week of their engagement posed for the cover of “Teen People” - admitted that when she was younger she had a poster of Tom Cruise up in her bedroom. Personally, we believe it’s a good rule to never date a girl who’s younger than your oldest shirt”.
On Madonna studying the Jewish “Kabbalah” texts, somewhat akin to a serious study but with mysticism thrown in.
Re her phony English accent as “she was born a Ciccone. Now, apparently she’s trying to convince us that back in the old country her people were known as Ci-cohen. Frankly, we liked her a lot more when she was dancing around in fishnets and that cone bra, Shtupping Warren Beatty.”
“And now because the world stopped paying attention to her for 20 minutes, Madonna has started buying - okay, adopting - African children. She has already introduced her Malawian son, David, to kabbalah. Trust us, THIS KID WAS HAPPY JUST BEING INTRODUCED TO FOOD. Okay, Madonna, we get it, you’ve gone from material girl to maternal girl. Mazel tov.”
On France and French food:
“But the ultimate French cuisine rip-off is escargots. These... are snails. Snails are slimy and vile looking, the vermin of the shelled world. You wouldn’t capture and cook a snail unless starvation loomed around the corner....
“If escargots were so delicious, every coffee shop in America would have them on the menu. However, they would not be served in the French style heaped with garlic in the shells but rather Americanized and ordered at diners as “Snails and Swiss cheese on toast,” or “Two eggs sunny side over, home fries and snails”.
And: “About the nicest things we cans ay about France now is that they gave us Impressionism, the Statute of Liberty, and the freestanding street pissoire where you can take a private leak in public.”
He was funny in “Caddy Shack II”, too.
RIP, Jackie. You made the world laugh when others were pissing on it.
Now you’ve got the biggest audience in the world, i.e. heaven, and you’ll be among the best comedians and Americans ever. Not only enjoy the show but put on one that will make heaven shake in laughter.
Thanks for the laughs and memories.
Aw that’s a shame. I like Jackie Mason. He was one of the best.
That’s too bad. I liked his comedy.
Great man full of truth and made us laugh with him at the insanity.
RIP. I always enjoyed his brand of humor.
“The gesture dates back to ancient Greece and it was also used in ancient Rome. Historically, it represented the phallus. In the early 1800s, it gained increasing recognition as a sign of disrespect and was used by music artists (notably more common among actors, celebrities, athletes and politicians; most still view the gesture as obscene).”
—wikipedia
Very funny man, saw him in person great comic. RIP.
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