Early Life
Jerome "Jerry" Seinfeld was born on April 29, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. His heritage was an interesting mix, as his father was Hungarian and his mother Syrian, and both were Jewish. His family moved from Brooklyn to Long Island when he was a child, and went to elementary school and high school out on the island.
Seinfeld moved onto college, and he started at SUNY Oswego in upstate New York, but he soon realized that he preferred the city life, and transferred to Queens College. Seinfeld was an amateur wrestler during his college years, and it was also at this time that Seinfeld became interested in comedy.
Career Beginnings
Seinfeld’s biggest comedic influence was Jean Shepherd, whose famous credits included the 1983 movie, A Christmas Story. Seinfeld attempted to incorporate that observational style into his early act, which consisted of several appearances at open mic sessions soon after his graduation from Queen College in 1976.
Seinfeld’s open mic sessions were a success, and he was soon playing his own shows at local New York clubs. Jerry Seinfeld tickets became popular on the local market, and talent scouts spotted him during one of these performances. This discovery led to an appearance on a Rodney Dangerfield HBO special. Once again, he was a hit, and Seinfeld began appearing on late night television with regularity, including The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman and The Merv Griffin Show.
Sitcom Forays
Most people don’t remember this, but Seinfeld had sitcom experience prior to his mega-hit. He appeared on Benson as a semi-guest in 1979, playing the role of Frankie, but he was suddenly fired, and he vowed never to work on a sitcom again unless he had much more control.
That control came in 1989, when he and Larry David launched Seinfeld, which was and is considered by many as the most successful television show of all time. The stories were based loosely on Seinfeld’s and David’s life experiences, and the most famous description for the show is that it was about “nothing.” This “nothing” show ran until 1998, and its success made every cast member a superstar. However, after nine seasons, Seinfeld wanted to move on, and the show wrapped up much to the chagrin of millions of loyal fans.
Post Seinfeld
Since his Seinfeld days, Jerry has been dabbling in several areas, but has also gotten back into on-stage performing. He wrote a few books, recorded webisodes for American Express, and even helped film a documentary in 2002 about life on the road for a comedian. Basically, he’s staying busy in several ways.
Seinfeld still is and always has been about his stand up act, and Jerry Seinfeld tickets will allow you to see a comedy legend in an intimate setting for a night of laughs.
