Brad Zimmerman’s hit comedy My Son the WAITER: A JEWISH TRAGEDY is
returning to Chicago for a five-week engagement July 6 through August
13 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 SKOKIE
Blvd, SKOKIE, IL 60077. A press performance will be held Thursday,
July 13 at 7:30 p.m. One-part standup, one-part theatrical, My Son
the WAITER: A JEWISH TRAGEDY is the story of one man’s struggle to
fulfill his dream and ‘make it’ as a comedic actor in New York.The
fact that Brad Zimmerman has put the time in to work on his craft is
an understatement. He spent 29 years “temporarily” waiting tables
in New York,while continuing to pursue his dream of comedic acting.
In My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy, he tells the story of his
journey, along with a chronicle about his childhood, family, and
misbegotten love life with warmth, wit, self-deprecating humor, and
wicked charm, and combines his years of training as an actor with his
innate comedic talent.
In his 90-minute show, Zimmerman also reviews the trials and
tribulations of waiting on tables – particularly for someone not
exactly invested in that career, and with little tolerance for finicky
diners:
“I don’t want 60 questions, get to the point!” he said he would
tell restaurant patrons when he sat down for an interview for The New
York Times. He joked that if diners prefaced their orders by saying
they were in a hurry he would say “So go!” He says he did enjoy
some of the bantering he did with diners, and often tried out material
on them, however there were also ‘the bossy customers who would snap
their fingers to get his attention… and the health-food obsessives
who elaborately customized their orders and button-holed him over
ingredients.’ As he says in My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy,
he was convinced his epitaph would read “I’ll be right with
you.”
Eventually his determination and hard work paid off, and Zimmerman
went on to act - he had a small part in “The Sopranos” playing
Johnny Sack’s lawyer - and to become the opening act for a number of
well-known entertainers, including George Carlin, Brad Garrett, Dennis
Miller, Julio Iglesias, and 6 years with Joan Rivers who said
“I’ve had three great opening acts in my lifetime: Billy Crystal,
Garry Shandling, and Brad Zimmerman.”
Zimmerman worked on the script for My Son the Waiter: A Jewish
Tragedy for nine years, and performed it in small venues all over the
country, including a stint at Stage Door Theatre in Florida, where it
came to the attention of producers Dana Matthow and Philip Roy
(Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, Old Jews Telling Jokes, My
Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy). Since
then, My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy spent two years at
Off-Broadway’s Stage 72 at the Triad Theatre in New York, and has
toured the USA from coast-to-coast.
My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy will run from July 6 through
August 13 at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets
start at $46, and will be available online at MySonTheWaiter.com or by
phone at 847-673-6300. For group rates (10+) call 312-423-6612.
For more information about My Son the Waiter: A Jewish
Tragedy please visithttp://mysonthewaiter.com.
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07/08/2017 Last update