The 2006 Bermuda Festival opens tonight on a funny note when Steve Solomon presents his hilarious one-man show, ?My Mother?s Italian, My Father?s Jewish, and I?m in Therapy?.

During the performance, theatregoers will ?meet? Steve?s family: mom, dad, grandma Angelina, grandpa Harry, Bubbie, Uncle Vito, macho Carmine, and various aunts and cousins, all of whom apparently share a solitary goal in life: driving Steve into therapy ? and unfortunately they succeed.

By masterfully weaving these crazy characters and a host of dialects into his stories, they take on a life of their own as the witty raconteur recounts memorable moments from his past, while making candid, and very funny observations on timely topics. Indeed, Mr. Solomon has taken the art of impersonation and honed it into a science.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Solomon grew up in the multi-ethnic neighbourhood of Sheepshead Bay ? a perfect training ground for a dialectician. As the class clown, and a very authentic-sounding Chinese restaurant delivery boy, he learned at an early age how to use his gift for imitating accents to his advantage.

Life became much more serious as a college student, however, and Mr. Solomon ultimately graduated with a doctorate in education. He went on to teach physics in high school, where he used humour, dialects and sound effects to help put his subject across. Eventually, he became assistant to the Schools Superintendent of Long Island.

Then Mr. Solomon discovered ?an incredible aptitude? for business, and designed, organised, built and became one of the owner/operators of cable television in Antigua and Barbuda ? until, tired of so much success, he left it all behind to return to his latent love of making people laugh.

?I was sick and tired of the regular pay cheques, the prestige and the educational glamour of an Administrator?s life, so I decided to get on the road and make $30 a show? is how the funnyman describes the transition.

A wise move, it seems, given that he has played to sell-out audiences wherever he has appeared, including, it seems, tonight?s Bermuda debut.

The current show, Mr. Solomon?s latest, has garnered rave reviews, and is billed as ?highlighting the best of his talents?.

Performances of ?My Mother?s Italian, My Father?s Jewish, and I?m in Therapy? will take place at City Hall theatre tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday night, beginning at 8 p.m. Please note: Theatre doors will close five minutes before curtain time, and there will be no late admissions until the interval. For ticket information visit the Festival box office next to the ferry terminal on Front Street between noon and 2 p.m., including Saturday, or ( 296-5774.