Christopher Mason — the British émigré who wrote “The Art of the Steal: Inside the Sotheby’s-Christie’s Auction House Scandal” — has found a new calling.
The journalist has become so adept at making homemade hot sauce, friends are urging him to scale up and start selling his fiery concoction.
“It’s something I’m making in batches and giving to friends,” Mason told me. “But now everyone is screaming for it and telling me to go into business.”
Finding investors shouldn’t be a problem. When he first arrived in New York in the ’80s, Mason performed at the city’s swankiest parties, playing piano and singing satirical lyrics he penned on commission for the likes of Malcolm Forbes, Brooke Astor and David Rockefeller.
More recently, Mason wrote “Putin on the Blitz,” about Russia’s invasion of Crimea, and “Bottoms Up!,” a musical tribute to Kim Kardashian’s derrière.
Mason also hosted “Behind Mansion Walls” (2011 to 2013) on Investigation Discovery, which delved into the scandals of America’s wealthiest families.
While slicing the powerful Scotch bonnet peppers, Mason wears goggles, a surgical mask and rubber gloves, having suffered a painful accident that caused burning in his eyes and even his private parts.
“I called a doctor in agony, and he told me to cover everything in yogurt,” Mason said. “It weirdly does the trick.”
The resulting product, Christopher Mason’s Hot Stuff!, is bright orange, “my favorite color,” he said.