Mason's show features stand-up comedy, songs and sketches

The show, Laughing Room Only, is one of several high-profile productions forced to close their doors early because of poor reviews or slow ticket sales.

Other recent flops have included Ellen Burstyn's one-woman show, Oldest Confederate Widow Tells All, which closed on its first night.

Bobbi Boland, starring Farrah Fawcett, was cancelled before it even opened.

Mason's Laughing Room Only opened to bad reviews on Wednesday and is scheduled to close on Sunday.

Farrah Fawcett's show was scrapped before it officially opened

The show features Mason's comedy interspersed with songs and sketches, mostly performed by five other actors.

Ticket sales across Broadway have dropped 5% this year - equivalent to 250,000 fewer tickets sold - according to one press report.

Part of the malaise has been blamed on high ticket prices as well as the standard of productions.

The average ticket price has risen from $58 (�35) in 2002 to $63 (�38) this year.

One ray of light is the fact that New York theatre takings have risen by 12% between 2002 and 2003 - but much of that was attributed to increased ticket prices.

More good news has come from the return of the original stars of musical The Producers, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.