No election year would be complete without the irascible, irreplaceable and incomparable Jackie Mason - whose 8th and final all-new, one-man comedy tour de force, Jackie Mason - THE ULTIMATE JEW, opens at New World Stages, March 18th. And now, due to an unprecedented demand, the show, originally scheduled for only ten weeks, will extend until June 29th.
Long passionate about politics,
Jackie Mason is well known for his tough and outspoken position on a variety of issues. Elder statesman of the stand-up comedy world, Jackie combines pungent political satire, insightful observations on the foibles of modern life, and impeccable timing to create material that leaves audiences laughing until they cry show after show. The
Chicago Tribune said Mason is "splendidly funny, a side-splitter." Once in a generation, a performer emerges who is so extraordinary, so brilliant, that he or she become the standard to whom all others are compared.
Jackie Mason is such a performer, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time, now more popular than ever!
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.
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 can also be heard on his nationally syndicated radio show on The Talk Radio Network (www.talkradionetwork.com), which airs Sunday nights from 7PM to 9PM 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.
This limited run begins March 18th at New World Stages/Stage 1 (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 PM, with matinees Saturday at 2 and Sunday at 3 PM; special Wednesday matinees at 2 PM on March 26th, April 9th, April 23rd, and May 14th. For tickets from as low as $46 (including $1 facility fee), call Telecharge.com at 212/239-6200.
For more information visit
www.ultimatejackie.com
