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Wyndham's Theatre Charing Cross Road WC2H 0DA |
Jackie Mason - Fearless | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map ©Silvermaze Ltd 2008 | Photo ©Tony Reading 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jackie Mason has done more stand-ups than any other comedian in the US by some accounts.
He's certainly been doing it for some time and now he is retiring - or
as one reviewer mentioned - getting out while the going is still good.
It is hard enough to explain a joke but to explain why someone is funny (or not) is even more impossible. It brings to mind my favourite English joke on humour which goes as follows: A new inmate in a prison - Jim - was lying awake on his second night
wishing he was in his own bed when a voice boomed in the hall outside. A few months later he decided to have a go himself and blurted out
"Thirty Three." There was complete silence and no jokes followed. Just
as he was falling asleep someone said quite softly At breakfast the next day he asked John
"So why didn't they laugh at my joke? - it's a good joke - init?" I have to applaud Jackie for bringing his repertoire of Jew jokes to London's West End where humour is considered very much 'IS' or 'AIN'T'. The majority of his gags are well known enough to be given numbers so the familiarity may have been a crowd pleaser as it so often is with musicals, however my view is that it is a relief to hear Jew jokes in an increasingly PC country and as everyone knows only Jews are allowed to say 'that sort of thing'. I do so agree with Jackie - freedom of speech is being seriously impaired by the miasma of PC and combined with lawyers - enough to keep anybody shtum. He has been criticised for having called Obama 'Schwartz' which as everybody knows from the well known hair cosmetic Schwarzkopf (meaning blackhead) means black. I suppose they all got so upset because Obama is actually a very attractive shade of brown. He sure is better looking than our old Jackie but being a comedian is not a well known source of true happiness. Some of them get very depressed. Another great thing about Jackie's show is his hilarious accent which never fails to raise a smile and made the Sopranos so popular. In England a strong Yorkshire accent has the same effect. You only have to say something in Yorkshire (especially if you are practiced in that manner of speech) and you will raise a smile and mostly get bought a pint....won't you Tony? Of all the accents, hired in call centres, Scots is the highest on the list for eliciting trust and Yorkshire comes second. Mind you we are talking about the famous integrity of Scots and Yorkshiremen here and Soprano lingo does not quite fit into that category where call centre HR depts. (human resources) are concerned. No that's not a joke and maybe bordering on dodgy PC - sorry ;-) Story Telling Jackie Mason is undoubtedly a master storyteller. Although he talks of retiring from the stage and live performances - I can see the continuation of his career as using his voice and love of telling a good story, extended to the audiovisual and audio book media where he can enrich some good stories and enhance the experience of adults and children alike. Wishing him well. |
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