Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ordained rabbi and an american stand-up comedian”. Today it says “american stand-up comedian and actor”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American comedian and actor (1931–2021)”. It now reads “American comedian and actor (1928–2021)”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Jackie Mason (born Jacob Maza on June 9 , 1931 , in Sheboygan, Wisconsin ) is an ordained rabbi and an American stand-up comedian . He enjoys provoking controversy with his politically incorrect routines and his opinionated observations on Jewish and American life.He gained infamy by giving Ed Sullivan the finger . In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian , he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17769982.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jackie Mason (born June 9, 1931) is an American stand-up comedian and film and television actor.He is ranked #63 on Comedy Central 's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all-time.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668973168.
The opening as it stood in 2020
American comedian Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza ; June 9, 1928) is an American stand-up comedian and film and television actor. He is ranked #63 on Comedy Central 's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all-time. His 1986 one-man show The World According to Me won a Special Tony Award , an Outer Critics Circle Award , an Ace Award , an Emmy Award , and a Grammy nomination.Later, his 1988 special Jackie Mason on Broadway won another Emmy Award (for outstanding writing) and another Ace Award, and his 1991 voice-over of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in The Simpsons episode " Like Father, Like Clown " won Mason a third Emmy Award.He has written and performed in six one-man shows on Broadway.Known for his delivery and voice, as well as his use of innuendo and pun , Mason's often culturally grounded humor has been described as irreverent and sometimes politically incorrect .A critic for Time wrote that he spoke to audiences: "with the Yiddish locutions of an immigrant who just completed a course in English.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963144662.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American comedian and actor (1931–2021) Not to be confused with Jacqueline Mason .Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza ; ; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show The World According to Me! won a Special Tony Award , an Outer Critics Circle Award , an Ace Award , an Emmy Award , and earned a Grammy nomination. Later, his 1988 special Jackie Mason on Broadway won another Emmy Award (for outstanding writing) and another Ace Award, and his 1991 voice-over of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in The Simpsons episode " Like Father, Like Clown " won Mason a third Emmy Award. He wrote and performed six one-man shows on Broadway. Known for his delivery and voice, as well as his use of innuendo and pun , Mason's often culturally grounded humor was described as irreverent. A critic for Time magazine wrote that, throughout his career, Mason spoke to audiences: "... with the Yiddish locutions of an immigrant who just completed a course in English.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177566147.
The opening as it stood in 2025
American comedian and actor (1928–2021) Not to be confused with Jacqueline Mason .Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza ; Yiddish : יעקב משה מזא"ה ; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show The World According to Me! won a Special Tony Award , an Outer Critics Circle Award , an Ace Award , an Emmy Award , and earned a Grammy nomination. Later, his 1988 special Jackie Mason on Broadway won another Emmy Award (for outstanding writing) and another Ace Award, and his 1991 voice-over of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski in The Simpsons episode " Like Father, Like Clown " won Mason a third Emmy Award. He wrote and performed six one-man shows on Broadway. Known for his delivery and voice, as well as his use of innuendo and pun , Mason's often culturally grounded humor was described as irreverent and sometimes politically incorrect . A critic for Time magazine wrote that, throughout his career, Mason spoke to audiences: "... with the Yiddish locutions of an immigrant who just completed a course in English.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297168863. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “ordained rabbi and an american stand-up comedian”. Today it says “american stand-up comedian and actor”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American comedian and actor (1931–2021)”. It now reads “American comedian and actor (1928–2021)”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
ordained rabbi and an american stand-up comedian
Now
american stand-up comedian and actor
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
