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 trademark 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.
Mason made several appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show during the 1960s, including the first episode to feature the American television debut of The Beatles. Mason revealed during his appearance on the BBC show Desert Island Discs that at the time he didn't think much of the group when he saw them perform on the show, referring to them as "four kids in search of a voice who needed haircuts"
In 1992, Mason won an Emmy Award for his voice-over of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in The Simpsons episode "Like Father, Like Clown", making him the first guest star to win an Emmy for his role. Mason has also appeared in The Simpsons episodes "Today I Am A Clown," "Once Upon a Time in Springfield," "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution," and "At Long Last Leave."
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.
His full length motion picture One Angry Man has been released in 2010 throughout the US and Canada.
Mason's latest film "Jackie Goldberg Private Dick" was not released in theatres, but was a 'straight to video release', released by FilmWorks Entertainment.
Mason was a comedian at the Fieldston Hotel in Swan Lake, NY in the summer of 1955. He was let go because his act was too far ahead of its time. The patrons had never been exposed to a comic who seemed to be ridiculing them. A few years later, Don Rickles came along, but by then audiences had become open to this type of humor.
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