When Mason Crossed the Racial Line : One Unamused View of a Comic’s Ethnic Jokes on Grammy Night

Many days after the Grammy Awards telecast, certain positive memories linger on, most notably the fantastic performance of Michael Jackson. Certain others leave a slightly odorous aftertaste, such as the almost total absence of first-rate jazz in a program that ran more than three hours.

In some circles, though, the episode that remains a topic of conversation is the incredible comedy routine--or, more correctly, the attempt to sustain a comedy routine--by Jackie Mason.

Somewhere there may be someone who found Mason’s act amusing, even enlightening. Perhaps they derived some satisfaction, or reassurance, out of being told that while blacks started fires out of anger, Jews start them for profit motives.

Actually, it seems unlikely that rednecks would react to Mason’s racially oriented material. Not that it would be too hip for them. On the contrary, the bumpkins might well be too hip for Jackie Mason.

It was, in fact, surprising that the presumably liberal audience laughed as Mason found himself sinking deeper and deeper into his racial quagmire. He started in with the Jews, then zeroed in on the blacks, eventually bringing in a Pope joke. One was reminded of Mort Sahl’s classic line at the end of his early nightclub act: “If there are any groups left whom I haven’t offended, I apologize.” But Sahl’s tongue was always clearly in cheek; his humor was subtle and appealed to a sophisticated audience.

Mason’s reactionary appraisal of American society may sit well within New York, where the large Jewish population may be willing to laugh at itself. But the same routine, or variations on it, played for an audience of millions, was downright embarrassing.

At one point, Mason seemed to be addressing himself to a group of blacks in the front row, among them Quincy Jones, with a series of condescending comments on how far blacks have come. As his patronizing quips became increasingly inept, a shot showing Jones’ reaction left little doubt that he was doing his damnedest to muster a faint smile to show that he was being a good sport.

“I was actually embarrassed for him,” Jones told me the other day. “Jackie has built a very successful career, but away from his normal audience and not doing his normal act, he got off in the wrong direction and just couldn’t get out--he lost control. I heard afterwards that he was sorry and upset about it.”

Despite some applause, there was no doubt that Mason had bombed on a massive scale. He had failed to realize one vital point: that in 1988 it simply is uncool to base one’s entire 4-minute appearance before a mass audience on racial humor, particularly when it involves the perpetuation of long-demolished stereotypes.

It was in a sense a throwback to the days when Richard Pryor saw fit to use the word nigger in every other sentence, something he no longer does, because he was sensitive enough to observe that it was neither necessary nor apropos. Mason is at the same point with the word Jew that Pryor passed years ago.

Whatever anti-Semitic and/or anti-black feelings exist in the United States today, they could hardly have been allayed by Mason’s apparent lack of understanding of where that subtle line has to be drawn between the “we all know these are only harmless jokes” attitude and the area, across the border, where bad taste begins. Mason crossed that border a minute or so into his act and never succeeded in backtracking.

Orrin Keepnews, the producer who won two Grammys that night for his Thelonious Monk album “The Complete Riverside Recordings,” characterized Mason’s performance as “ghastly.” (Keepnews is Jewish; so is this writer.)

Bill Cosby has built the most triumphant career in television without ever embarrassing his own race or any other. Without suggesting that the issue of race should never be brought up, it seems relevant to propose that Mason at least could learn something by taking a leaf out of his book.

A spokesman for Mason responds: Mason realized as soon as he went on stage that he didn’t have the right material for a music industry audience, even though it was the routine used on his Grammy-nominated album. He tensed up and couldn’t get his act rolling. Backstage, Mason, who had rushed in from a film location and had not been able to rehearse beforehand, said he felt his performance had “stunk.”

Mason, through the spokesman, said: “If I offended anyone, I certainly didn’t intend it. If I have, then I’m unhappy that I did.”