This Day in History: Jewish comedian Jackie Mason was born on this day in 1931. Mason, 88 years old, has never shied away from controversy. A few years back he stated, "There is only free speech now in this country for black people and homosexuals and any other minority ... But if you are a white Protestant American gentile you can't say a word" which is basically true. He is ranked #63 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all-time. I had no idea about this list so I had to check it out. There are very few women on the list, which seems to support Christopher Hitchen's refrain that women simply aren't funny. That might be an overstatement, unless of course you've seen a Samantha Bee commercial. Martin Lawrence made the list (#37) but I was surprised to read that he is German. I'm not sure about Richard Pryor as #1, but a list that includes Sandra Bernhard & Janeane Garofalo and excludes Jim Gaffican is bound to have some faults.
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