THEATRE + COMEDY

The Improv Comedy Showcase and Restaurant presents Brad Garrett. 

Brad Garrett played Ray Romano's big brother Robert on the hit CBS series "Everybody Loves Raymond," which has earned him five Emmy nominations and in 2002, 2003 and 2005 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Garrett, raised in Woodland Hills, California, was born on April 14, 1960. After high school graduation, Garrett began performing his stand-up act at various Los Angeles comedy clubs, getting his start at the Ice House in Pasadena and The Improv in Hollywood. His first appearance - at age 23, on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," made him one of the youngest comedians ever to perform on the program. From this appearance, Garrett's stand-up career took off, garnering him headlining gigs at national venues as well as opening spots for legends, including Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Julio Iglesias, Liza Minnelli and Sammy Davis Jr.

In 1989, The Las Vegas Review Journal named Garrett the "Best Comedian" working on the Strip. At this point, Garrett made his foray into the world of television. Garrett's television guest roles range from stints on "Roseanne" and "Mad About You," to his trademark role of the obsessive mechanic on "Seinfeld" (you may remember him stealing Jerry's Saab in order to teach him a lesson about poor auto maintenance).

In nine seasons on CBS, "Everybody Loves Raymond" continued to be a critical and ratings success, posting numbers worthy enough to win its time slot every week. Garrett portrayed Ray Barone's (Ray Romano) brother Robert, the NYPD policeman. Robert's existence is constantly overshadowed by his sports-writer sibling. The rivalry helped coin the titled line, "Everybody Loves Raymond." Garrett's voice-over work includes giving life to Fatso, the ghost in the 1995 mega-hit feature "Casper," and can be heard playing the part of Dim, the rhinoceros beetle, in the Pixar/Disney feature, "A Bug's Life" and Bloat the blowfish in Pixar/Disney's, "Finding Nemo." He has since been seen in HBO's "Don King: Only in America," "George B," with David Morse, which was a finalist at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, "Suicide Kings," with Christopher Walken, Showtime's "Clubland," with Alan Alda, and director Woody Allen's "Sweet & Lowdown," with Sean Penn and Uma Thurman.

Garrett has also guest hosted The Late Show for a sidelined David Letterman. In 2002, Garrett played Jackie Gleason in the critically acclaimed CBS film, "Gleason," for which he earned an Emmy Award nomination and Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Movie or Miniseries. He starred in Disney's hit comedy, "The Pacifier," Warner Bros., "Music and Lyrics," with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore and on Broadway in Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple." He can be heard in Fox's "Night at the Museum," Disney's "Underdog," and Pixar's Academy Award winning animated film, "Ratatouille."

Garrett stars in the Fox comedy series, "'Til Death," currently in its second season, and performs his stand-up act to sold out theatres across America.