My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy
by and starring Brad Zimmerman
WHEN: September 8 – October 2, 2016
WHERE: George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Avenue • New Brunswick,
steps away from plentiful parking and dining options for every palate and pocketbook
TICKETS: $45 and are available online at MySonTheWaiter.com or by phone at 732-246-7717.
For group rates (10 or more), please call 1-888-264-1788. For more information please visit http://MySonTheWaiter.com.
Box Office: 732-246-7717 • www.GSPonline.org
Group Tickets: 1-888-264-1788
Part standup, 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 – combining his years of training as an actor with his innate comedic talent.
In this 90-minute show, Zimmerman, who grew up in Oradell, N.J., 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.
Zimmerman recently told The New York Times he would tell restaurant patrons, “I don’t want 60 questions, get to the point!” 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 Joan Rivers, who once 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 Margate, 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.
