Having enjoyed a long and successful run on the east coast American Burlesque circuit, Benson travelled west to play Las Vegas for the first time in 1957, with the Minsky Follies show.
[1] Benson gained national exposure during the 1960s, when fellow vaudevillian Milton Berle hired him to play a faux heckler named Sidney Spritzer.
[3] Benson became Johnny Carson's favorite comic and appeared frequently on the Carson-hosted Tonight Show.
[4] He was honored for Best Documentary at the 2011 Backlot Film Festival for "The Last First Comic" uncovering the roots of American comedy also going inside the colorful world of the Burlesque show.
Irving and Lillian had two children, and at the time of their death, they were survived by them, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.