Big Daddy's Barbeque is a one man show written and performed (over 1,000 times) by stand up comedian Jeff Wayne. Directed by Ted Lange, Isaac of TV's Love Boat, the show opened in late January 1993 at Theater West in Hollywood, California. The show was an instant popular and critical success, "A One Man Riot" Variety, "Ferociously Funny!" (The Los Angeles Times). Lines formed down the block and soon theatrical and TV producers were checking out this funfest. Soon Jeff's one man show was following Rob Becker's "Defending The Caveman" at all the Improv Comedy Club chains national circuit. The show became a NBC pilot and then toured theaters and comedy clubs around the country to good reviews and box office for the next ten years. Some of the runs were up to 16 weeks.

Jeff Wayne plays a letter carrier on his day off barbequing for friends and guests (the audience). As he flips burgers, stirs drinks, and flourishes a garnish on your paper plate he delights his audience with a monologue on all that is happening in the world, and lets you know his wife, Phyllis disagrees with him on everything. Every hot topic issue is topped by a punch line, but as lighthearted as Big Daddy is, there is an underlying tension to the day's barbeque. Someone has given Phyllis tickets to the opera. Phyllis had never been to the opera. She has never wanted to go. But someone has given her tickets and she wants to go! And he doesn't! Shall he doff the shorts, Hawaiian shirt and Kiss the Cook apron and don a tuxedo?

Below is a list of the theaters and clubs where Big Daddy has appeared and some sample reviews from major periodicals:

Aronoff Center For The Performing Arts, Jarson Kaplan Theater, Cincinnati, Ohio
(3 weeks)

Horton Grand Theater, Gaslight District, San Diego, CA
(12 weeks)

Hanna Theater, Cleveland, Ohio
(4 weeks)

Tower Theater, Fresno, CA
(4 weeks)

The Show Box Theater, Seattle, WA
(4 weeks)

The Symposium Theater at The Radisson, Isile, Illinois (Chicago)
(6 weeks)

The Theater West, Los Angeles, CA
(2 weeks)

The Whitefire Theater, Sherman Oaks, CA

----Comedy Clubs----

The Dallas Improv, Dallas TX, 16 weeks
The Tempe Improv, Tempe, AZ,10 weeks
The Seattle Improv, Seattle, WA, 4 weeks
The Brea Improv, Brea, CA, 4 weeks
The Washington D.C. Improv, 2 weeks
The Chicago Improv, Chicgo, Ill. 2 weeks.

Other Comedy Club Venues

The Ice House, Pasadena, CA, 16 weeks
Comedy Night, Oceanside, CA 8 weeks
Giggles Comedy Club, Rochester, N.Y. 6 weeks
Standford and Son's Comedy Club, Kansas City, KS. 4 weeks
Spellbinder's Comedy Club, Houston, TX, 4 weeks
The Comic Strip, El Paso, TX, 4 weeks
The Comedy Works, Denver, CO, 2 weeks
The Comedy Corner, Colorado Springs, Co, 2 weeks
The Comedy Corner, W. Palm Springs, Fl., 4 weeks
Knuckle Heads, Mall of America, Minneapolis, MN, 4 weeks