Review: THE JACKIE MASON MUSICAL - Laughs, Songs & Heart at Rodney's Comedy Club

“How was the show? Oh, about two hours.”

The Jackie Mason Musical is full of Mason-style witticisms like that one. It just completed a run at Rodney’s Comedy Club on Tuesday December 30, 2025. The audience, packed with fans of the legendary comedian, were appropriately appreciative of the show, a throwback to the heyday of the Borscht Belt. The show sits somewhere on the bridge between modern referential / meta humor, and pure old-school fun. The book, music and lyrics were written by Ginger Reiter, Mason’s ex. It stars their daughter, talented comedian Sheba Mason, as Ginger, with Ian Wehrle doing a spot-on impression of Jackie. The show is framed as Sheba explaining her origin story, playing the role of her own mother in a flashback. It mirrors the real-life story of Ginger’s life, as she fell for the womanizing Jackie and eventually had a child with him. Sheba was the subject of a bitter paternity battle, the story behind which eventually birthed this musical.

Sheba kicked off the show with a hilarious standup routine, setting the stage and explaining a bit about her history. Although the show is very much rooted in the 1970s and 1980s, younger audiences will relate to the heartbreaking way Jackie plays Ginger, enmiring her in a “situationship,” even though that term wouldn’t be coined for at least another 30 years. Jackie looms large over the musical, shown being hounded by restaurant patrons (as in the catchy group number “Celebrity Seekers”), and any number of women who are obsessed with him, but we’re shown the situation through a feminist lens, mostly focusing on Ginger and her mother (played by Jennifer Yadav), their relationship to each other, and how crazy Jackie drives them. I don’t want to spoil the show (follow Sheba Mason on Instagram to find out when you can see it next), but we go through many of the comical and over-the-top ways the mother-daughter duo try to cope with the tumultuous relationship – even resorting to witchcraft at one point (“Oh Flame!”) – ultimately leading to a dramatic confrontation once Jackie realizes that Ginger is pregnant and intends to keep the baby. It's full of spot-on referential humor (holding the baby in her arms, Sheba-as-Ginger remarks that even though she hadn't originally wanted her, she did now ("She's here. She's beautiful. And I love her because she's really me," Sheba says with a sly nod to the audience, acknowledging that the baby in her arms really is supposed to be her.)

The show alternates between campy throwback and moments of real heart and pathos, with plenty of Yiddishisms (and of course, a few Jackie Mason routines expertly delivered by Wehrle) and fun choreography to round it out. It plays on nostalgia for a certain age of Jewish culture – at intermission, the audience was invited to take a “pish,” a word I haven’t heard or thought of since my grandfather passed away. It’s a moving, laugh-filled evening showing the untold side of Jackie Mason’s story – and the story of the women he left in his wake. You’ll leave humming the songs, and even more, contemplating the downfall of a formerly great man.

The cast of the most recent run at Rodney's featured Ian Wehrle as Jackie Mason, Sheba Mason as Ginger Reiter, Jennifer Yadav as Ginger's mother Mrs. Olivier, and an ensemble with Alissa Finn, Laurie Brownstone, Mark Lawrence, Mike Keegan, Brett Singer, Laura Slutsky, and Chris Fey.

Learn more about the show at thejackiemasonmusical.com.

Learn more about Sheba Mason at shebamason.com. Read an interview with Sheba about the show here.