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Taylor Mason

From the producers of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie, comes a new comedy feature with a slant on clean humor and wholesome themes entitled Thou Shalt Laugh. Taylor Mason, comedian and ventriloquist extraordinaire, holds the coveted closing spot in the film.

Taylor has always been involved in the arts and entertaining, taking piano lessons as a young boy. He did the usual school plays and public speaking during grade school, while also developing a keen interest in sports. “I can remember telling my parents one time I wanted to be a nightclub entertainer because one of my favorite baseball players had that occupation listed on the back of his trading card ” Taylor’s parents quickly tried to discourage the idea, but it didn’t take.

While playing college football at the University of Illinois during his junior year, Taylor received a severe knee injury during the kickoff of the first game of the season. “It blew out everything in my knee, so I had ankle to hip cast. I did a lot of sitting around and being creative.” Taylor was at a frat party when someone decided to hook up a microphone just for fun. “I just started talking and making fun of stuff. I was like a DJ/comedian for the night.”

During his impromptu performance, a member of another fraternity approached Taylor and asked if he would be interested in “performing” at another party, this time for money. That was the beginning of a career. “I haven’t had a real job since,” he says.

Taylor has been doing ventriloquism since he was a kid. “It is an old, almost dead art and nobody really does it much anymore. I grew up watching Jerry Lewis as a kid and for whatever reason I enjoyed it. When I got to college, not only was I probably the only ventriloquist in the Midwest, but I think I was also the only comedian at the University of Illinois.” This resulted in lots of work for him at both fraternity and sorority parties, as well as other assorted public events. He took ventriloquism, added piano and music to the comedy, and moved to Chicago.

“I was working for a catering company as a waiter part time and got bored at a party I was working. I sat down at a piano and played some old Beatles sing-alongs and Arnie Morton (restaurant magnate) just happened to be there. He hired me on the spot.”

This would be the entry for Taylor into the world of show business, providing him leads and credibility for some pretty illustrious future gigs. He eventually worked his way to musical director for the touring company of The Second City Theater in Chicago. Producing some of the most recognized comedians of our time, Second City has been a stepping-stone for large portions of the casts of Saturday Night Live, as well as popular television shows and movies. Mike Myers (Austin Powers), Chris Farley, David Spade, Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Tina Fey, Steve Carrell and Steven Colbert are just a few. The chance to work for Second City provided Taylor with an unprecedented opportunity to boost his status in show business, as well as hooking up with more of the right people.

While working for Second City, Taylor started moonlighting at Zany’s, a local comedy club. He performed a stand-up ventriloquism act, which allowed him to learn the art of comedy amidst his musical duties at Second City. “I was getting this sort of crash course in comedy. I went to grad school at Northwestern around this time too, which gave me the chance to meet a lot of artsy and creative types of people.”

Despite his work in school and all the long hard years of studying, Taylor graduated, got his degree and never once worked in an environment where his education impacted his career. “I never took a real job. This was during the eighties and then the nineties when the comedy club boom was hitting.”

Taylor had an appeal and draw that set him apart from all the other competitive comics at the time. “I was unique from the beginning because everyone else was working very dirty, very blue. There was a lot of crude stuff flying around, most of it bathroom or bedroom humor.” Taylor stuck out in this crowd like a sore thumb. “I didn’t use any profanity and I was a ventriloquist, so it wasn’t hard for me to niche myself just like any other business person would. I’ve worked ever since.”

Like any other student of show business, Taylor’s has had peaks and valleys. In the late eighties, he did a few television shows and became heavily involved in the college circuit. He has done thousands of college shows since. He won $100,000 on Star Search and performed on specials for Showtime, MTV, etc. Eventually he progressed to the point he has currently attained, basically headlining a feature film with extremely strong comedians.

Taylor has been so involved in Thou Shalt Laugh that besides his closing set in the movie, there are even special features and behind the scenes looks at what he does on the DVD.

As for the corporate market, Taylor has been doing this gig long enough and for the right people to know exactly what professional meeting and event planners are looking for. He offers 100% clean material, a fully customizable show and set depending on his client’s needs, as well as boatloads of experience. He has the ability to attend an event, absorb what has taken place and immediately incorporate that into his act. No request is too big or too small for Taylor and he has made it his priority to meet almost every a corporate client could dream of.

Consider bringing Taylor Mason in for your next event for a professional and completely clean-cut time. Check out his feature spot on Thou Shalt Laugh for a great look at Taylor’s presence, humor and style. You won’t be disappointed.

BOOK IT!
Tim Grable
Nashville Speakers Bureau
(615) 263-4143