This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with Steve Solomon.
Steve Solomon, the author and star of the three time award-winning, critically acclaimed show: “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy, is bringing his newest project, “Cannoli, Latkes & Guilt” to the Troesh Studio Theater at the Smith Center, April 29 through May 3.
A native of Brooklyn, Solomon grew up in the multi-ethnic neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay. This was the perfect training ground for a dialectician and comedian. Steve learned at an early age how to use his gift for imitating accents to his advantage.
He also realized that he was a prolific writer of jokes and stories. He submitted dozens of his stories to periodicals, friends and stand-up comics he knew in the business. With the coming of the Internet and e-mail, Solomon now had an outlet for much of his comedy writings.
Using humor, dialects and sound effects in teaching, he was a real life version of Gabe Kaplan’s “Welcome Back Kotter.” Eventually, Solomon became a physics teacher and an assistant to the superintendent on Long Island.
Solomon left his academic career behind and turned his attention to his latent love of making people laugh. As he puts it, “I decided follow my heart and become an impoverished comedy writer and performer.”