The King of Kibbitz: Freddie Roman

Boca Raton, Florida

Freddie Roman: legend of standup, king of the Catskills, Vegas stalwart and opening act for the likes of Tom Jones, Shirley Maclean and Sammy David Jr…not to mention the dean of the Friar’s Club.

Freddie Roman: deli lover, deli maven, deli macher. No one on earth can match the encyclopedic knowledge of delis, past and present that Freddie Roman contains in his noggin. You say a city he’ll name a deli. “Atlanta…oh yeah, Tom Jones and I stocked up on matzo ball soup for his jet from this place thirty years ago…”

And so, a classic deli joke, as told to me yesterday by Mr. Freddie Roman, comedic and delicatessen king. (with credit to originator Myron Cohen):

A man comes in to the same deli for twelve years every night and orders a matzo ball soup. One night he pulls on the waiter’s sleeve and says “Taste the soup.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the soup” the waiter says,
“Taste the soup” the man insists, shoving the bowl toward the waiter.
“What the heck are you talking about?” the waiter says, “it’s the same soup you’ve been eating every night for 12 years, nothing’s the matter with it, we make it the same way.”
“Taste the soup,” he says again, sending the waiter over the edge.
“Ok Ok stop hollering, I’ll taste the soup!…where’s your spoon?”
“Ah Ha!”

*sorry Freddie, I butchered it.