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Randy Hodgins and Steve McLellan’s lifelong love of comedy was kindled when they met more than 40 years ago in graduate school in Seattle. While managing family and professional work responsibilities, they hosted a one hour comedy radio program on Saturday mornings for 10 years on a small radio station in Olympia, WA and also co-authored two books on northwest popular culture – Seattle on Film (1995) and Wet and Wired (2000). Stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic with hundreds of comedy albums, cassettes and CD’s gathering dust on their shelves, they launched Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy in May 2020, a weekly mini-program featuring a different comedy icon, with biographical bits and a nice slice of the comedy that made them famous. From standup stars, to stellar sketch teams, to novelty music maestros -- they are all part of our Legends.
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Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
Tuesday Nov 18, 2025
This week out we salute Jackie Mason who took comedy from the Temple and brought it to Broadway -- with a few roadblocks thrown in his path. Jackie started out his career as a rabbi -- and when he noticed that the funnier he made his sermons the larger the crowd he would draw Jackie connected the dots and made the leap to becoming a full-time comedian. A feud based on a misunderstanding led to a ban from the Ed Sullivan Show and two decades in the comedy wilderness for Jackie, but in the mid-1980s he made a spectacular comeback with The World According to Me, a one-man Broadway show in which Jackie really let the Jewish comedy fly. More shows followed and Jackie scored the highest pop culture tribute of our age when he was featured on The Simpsons as Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, the father of Krusty the Clown. Find additional clips below and thanks for sharing our shows
Want more Jackie?
From the start, Jackie was different from other comics, particularly in his willingness to spar a bit with a tough crowd. This clip from the Hollywood Palace back in 1964 shows his skill. https://youtu.be/hPlbXs18kDE?si=jlaYcU8Oi5f88n1N
Jackie's career hit it's peak when he returned from a long stint in comedy purgatory to create The World According to Me, a one-man Broadway Shows that in the words of The NY Times "Turn(ed) kvetching into comedy gold." https://youtu.be/5V4zYe23QLg?si=H3KT_GcO5FKisle-
Being featured on the Simpsons has become a career highlight for many entertainers and Jackie made the grade when he was featured as Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, the father of Krusty the Clown. Whatever the name it was unmistakably Jackie. https://youtu.be/-jR2LnD3Jms?si=wgN9M1nV91JAuQIu
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