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If you are on the prowl for some very funny improv, follow the path that leads to Chicago’s Apollo Theatre at 2540 N. Lincoln Ave. It is there that every Friday at 10:30 pm the hilarious comedy troupe "Baby Wants Candy" takes the stage to perform a comedy musical that, as they say, "Will be the very first and very last performance ever". The reason being is that the audience gets to choose the topic for each show. After a brief introduction the audience is called upon to shout out a musical that has never been done before. For example past performances included "Barack Obama’s Baby Mama Drama the Musical", "My Cat Has Aids the Musical" and "Nobody Puts Baby Jesus in the Corner the Musical", "How Captain Morgan Saved Christmas the Musical" and "It’s 1986 and Things are Going to be Different the Musical"

The show, in particular, that I attended featured "Harry Potter and His 12-Inch Wand". Well, I’m sure you can guess by the title where that show went. With songs ranging from on-the-spot big chorus numbers to less harmonious, more refined numbers, the ensemble injects humorous lyrics into melody created in part by the live band that is also improvising as they go. A story is cleverly formed by borrowing subject matter from the title complete with its own climactic ending, all the while cast members bursting into song at any given moment. Though off-key vocals often fill the air due to the spontaneous nature of the production, the talented ensemble makes this improv show work successfully with use of their quick wit and physical comedy, taking it a step above other comedy improvisations.

The Chicago ensemble is loaded with an all-star lineup that includes two-time "Jeopardy" contender and Second City touring member Joey Bland, and Erica Elam, who has also performed with Second City, as well as Annoyance, and The Comedy Shrine.

Best of all, each show is completely different from the last making "Baby Wants Candy" a show that can be enjoyed again and again.

For more information or show tickets visit wwwbabywantscandy.com or call 773-935-6100.

“A Jew never laughs without looking at his wife for approval.” – Jackie Mason

Funny is a good way to be classified if you are involved in comedy. For a comedian, it is much better to be classified as a “side splitter;” making the audience hurt from the joke because they laughed so hard. Ordained rabbi turned comic, Jackie Mason, has never been classified as just funny, but only a “side splitter.” He has always been a comic’s comic.

Seeing Jackie Mason tell jokes is like stepping into the ring with a prize fighter. He will hit you with so many jokes in the matter of just a few minutes that it hurts. First he will hit you with an upper cut of a one liner. Then he gets you on the left side and then the right side. As he keeps going he gets more and more powerful with each joke told. He doesn’t give you a chance to breathe and he knows he is funny.

Jackie has been involved in the performing arts for over six decades and has become a comical legend. If you look up funny in the dictionary you find a picture of Mason. His ability to take an audience and tear them up with his jokes is just amazing. Absolutely a remarkable comedian to see live.

Jackie started out in the “Borscht Belt” as a comedian in the 1950’s. He shortly after became an ordained rabbi in his mid-twenties. After three years of being a rabbi, Jackie quit the synagogue to become a comedian. He later stated that, “Somebody in the family had to make a living.” He had almost instant success. Everybody was starting to love Mason and his popularity began to grow by the early 1960’s. He had made a few appearances on the “Ed Sullivan Show” that jump started his career and finally released his first comedy album I'm the Greatest Comedian in the World, Only Nobody Knows it Yet! The ball was rolling for the young comedian as he started to gain some momentum. He was on fire!

1964

Jackie Mason had an incident that caused him to be banned from the “Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964. During a Mason monologue, Ed Sullivan was off camera and gestured that Mason should wrap things up. The nervous Mason responded to Sullivan by telling the audience, "I'm getting two fingers here!" He then gestured back, "Two fingers for you!" All footage taken of his outburst didn’t show what Mason did with his hands. Sullivan was outraged and he was quite certain exactly what he saw. The ban lasted for a year and half and Mason made his final appearance on the show once the ban was lifted.

Mason bounced back and had a successful career within standup comedy, radio, television, and movies. He had multiple T.V. specials and appeared on several shows including “30 Rock” and “The Simpsons.” Mason also performed in the movies; “The Jerk,” “History of the World: Part I” and one of his funniest roles was as Jack Hartounian, in “Caddyshack II.” He referred to everyone at one point in the movie as a “fonzinoon” and then he gave the definition. “A fonzinoon is a guy who farts in the bathtub and bites the bubbles.”  

One of the roles that is most commonly miss-credited to Jackie Mason is the role of the Aardvark in the cartoon “The Ant and the Aardvark.” The voice was actually done by John Byner and was meant to be an impersonation of Jackie Mason. Apparently Byner did such a good job with the voice that he had most people fooled.

Currently Mason is performing a weekly morning segment on the John Oakley Morning Show in Toronto. Jackie comes on for a brief segment in the morning to throw in his two cents. He also completed a feature film called “One Angry Man.” The movie was modeled after “Twelve Angry Men,” but needed to be tailored to fit the Jewish comic. He also has completed another movie that is scheduled to be released in 2011. The movie is going to be opening in Florida and moving around the country. He is scheduled to be at The Horseshoe Casino’s theater The Venue (777 Casino Center Drive, Hammond, Indiana) on March 12, 2011.

In 2006, the organization Jews for Jesus used Mason’s likeness for a pamphlet. His picture was set next to the quote “Jackie Mason … a Jew for Jesus!?” Mason filed a lawsuit against the organization for the unauthorized use of his likeness and won. The court papers that were filed with Mason’s comments within the documents stating that “While I have the utmost respect for people who practice the Christian faith, the fact is, as everyone knows, I am as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami. ”

Mason made claims that the organization had used his likeness to gain attention and try to convert people to their side of thinking. The group Jews for Jesus responded to the suit by saying, "Shame on him for getting so upset about this." The lawsuit settled, with Mason accepting the apology from the Jews for Jesus organization.

Mason has been accused of racism a few times over his career. In 1991, Mason made the comment about the mayor of New York, David Dinkins, that he was "a fancy schvartzer with a moustache." The NAACP criticized mason for his comments and he later apologized. After that he was accused of racism when a comic of Christian Arab Palestinian descent, was removed from opening for him at a Chicago appearance.

In 2009, Mason did it again. One of the worst people he could have said anything about was Barack Obama. During a live performance Obama was referred to as a "schvartzer" which in Yiddish and German it loosely translates into black or Negro. Later Mason’s comments came out trying to back pedal. "I'm an old Jew. I was raised in a Jewish family where 'schvartzer' was used. It's not a demeaning word and I'm not going to defend myself." A black political commentator Angela McGlowan defended Mason's comments and strongly disagreed that he was trying to use the term in a racist fashion. "It's easier to insult someone's mother than it is to insult Barack Obama," said Jackie. He had been chased down by reporters after the incident. He cursed at them and told them he has said worse things about other minorities.  

Mason has been making fun of politics during his entire career. He thrives off of the punch line. "If you wanted to hear politics, you'd go to Henry Kissinger, you wouldn't go to hear Jackie Mason. The reason I speak about politics is because I know I can get a laugh out of it. As soon as I tell a line without a laugh, I don't tell it anymore,” says Jackie.

This man’s comical career has been an amazing thing study and watch how it unfolded. So many comedians over the years have tried to be Jackie Mason, but there is only one problem. There will never be another Jackie Mason. He joke telling style is unique and no one can tell the punch line quite the same way.

As Jackie Mason enters into his sixth decade within the performing arts it doesn’t seem like the man will ever slow down. He has made people hurt from his jokes and stories in a clever way like no other comedian could. The side splitting ex rabbi has always been a comic’s comic and always will be.

Jackie Mason Quotes

"Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe."

"Politics doesn't make strange bedfellows, marriage does."

“It’s no longer a question of staying healthy. It’s a question of finding a sickness you like.”

“I was so self-conscious, every time football players went into a huddle; I thought they were      talking about me.”

"Did you know that the Jews invented sushi? That's right - two Jews bought a restaurant with no kitchen."

“I have enough money to last me the rest of my life unless I buy something.”

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