I met him in person for the first time in the late 70’s after, legend has it, his blacklisting by Ed Sullivan over an on-air “middle finger salute” aimed at the host had hurt his visibility and commercial viability. That I met him at a fundraiser he agreed to appear at for a Brooklyn candidate for a seat in the state Assembly seemed to indicate that his career was at its nadir.
Some years later, “The World According to Me,” the first of five one-man shows on Broadway (four of which I would be the “general press representative” for) was lauded by the New York Times and almost everybody else as “genius.” And Jackie again became an A list star, beloved by millions for his observational humor.
Many remember and adore his various hilarious riffs on the difference between Jews and Gentiles, but many others, myself among them, saw his true genius in his criticisms of foibles of the American middle class culture the upper middle class as the true genius of his work.
His routine about Starbucks was knee-bucklingly funny, it was used as a case study in marketing by the Harvard Business School. (just Google ‘Jackie Mason Starbucks’ to appreciate it)
I left New York in 1988 to marry a cute redhead I met on a business trip to Los Angeles in 1987. When Jackie Mason’s one-man show, “Politically Incorrect”, came to LA in 1995 for an unlimited run, I was hired to do publicity on the show to push ticket sales.Jackie was alone in Los Angeles and he and I spent a great deal of time together. In our hours together going to events, interviews and late-night kibitzing sessions, I was surprised at the depth of his interest in me and my family and, even more surprisingly, his almost tender questions about the state of my marriage and relationship to other members of my family. A rabbi doing pastoral work, perhaps? It was during these hours that Jackie and I became friends.
His show ended but in the ensuing years, when I was traveling more than 200,000 miles a year for business, I would get together with him any time we were in the same city. We met and kibitzed in Sarasota, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Chicago and others and, of course, New York.
Every time I was in New York, I would see Jackie; mostly at his late-night “meeting” of friends, a collection of sad sacks, has-beens and losers (he called me his only “normal” friend) where no subject was taboo and everything was on the table, but sometimes for dinner with his wife, Jyll Rosenfeld and his best friend Raoul Lionel Felder (the lawyer and former client of mine who introduced us).
What do I remember most? Anytime Jackie did television interviews he would refuse makeup. And concerned that the makeup artist would be punished for his appearance after he refused, he would ask “Will they blame you?” and shmear them with a green bill or two in their palms.
In all of those late night coffee sessions, he took the check and left a more-than-generous tip for the server. And, most of all, he always stopped and talked to anyone who recognized him and he did so in a warm and genuine way.
Jackie Mason was my friend and an inspiration and mentor to me. May my friend Jackie know peace, and may Jyll, Raoul and all of those who, like me, loved Jackie, know peace. And may his memory be for a blessing.
The writer is a marketing, branding and messaging expert who was the architect who built Israel21c and the evangelist of the “beyond-the-conflict” messaging that changed the way Jews advocated for Israel in the 2000s.