ONCE UPON A WALL STREET Set To Perform At Edinburgh Fringe

Wall Street executive by day, comic improviser by night, for years Jerry Topitzer lived two lives. During the day, he worked in the bare-knuckled, high-pressure world of Wall Street, with markets, spreadsheets, suits, and the constant pursuit of the deal. At night, he was secretly performing onstage in the goofball world of improv and comedy.

Now, following its award-winning New York run, Jerry brings his acclaimed one-man show Once Upon a Wall Street to the UK, with a special London performance at the Drayton Arms Theatre on July 30 and a month-long run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

Blending sharp comedy, personal storytelling, and the occasional existen,al realiza,on, the show explores the strange gap between the life society tells us to build and the one we secretly want to live. From the rituals of corporate culture to the therapy of late-night comedy clubs, Topitzer takes the audience through the absurdi,es of both worlds as he straddles the distance between the boardroom and stage. Jerry pulls back the curtain on what it's truly like to navigate the weird wide world of Wall Street, including the maze of wild, intense characters there who all come alive in his work.

“I fell into working on Wall Street accidentally, honestly never expecting to stay. But the money and excitement sucked me in in a way I never expected. As I conformed to that world in order to be successful - utlimately becoming a Managing Director at one of the world's top firms—I honestly lost myself along the way,” Jerry says. “Performing in comedy clubs opened me back up. I could be myself onstage in a way I could never be on a trading floor. Out of fear that no one at my firm would take me seriously, I kept my silly side hobby a deep secret. The biggest challenge was finally facing the question, who would I be if I actually left this world of prestige, wealth and status? Answering that question took so much more than I ever bargained for.”

Part confession, part comedy, and part identity crisis (the entertaining kind), the show asks a question many professionals quietly wonder at some point in their lives: What happens when you find out that corporate culture isn't the end-all be-all? How much of our identity is in the corporate uniforms we all put on? What does it take to walk away from “everything”? Topitzer describes Wall Street as a departure from what he expected to do when he graduated, which was “to do some actual good in the world”—a second dream that has come full circle for him. A few years before leaving Wall Street, Topitzer co-founded the social impact organization, arksolves.org with his wife, Ayesha Vera-Yu.

Ark's Innovative Feed Back program has grown to become the leading food security solution in the Philippines, having been launched in over 120 communities in ten provinces, helping farming and fishing communi,es solve hunger and gain new income in under 16 weeks. Its programs have helped more than 220,000 people become food secure.

Now, with Once Upon a Wall Street, Topitzer brings that journey full circle: tracing the path from a life defined by pressure, performance, and success into one guided by purpose and impact. Alongside his work onstage, his commitment to arksolves.org reflects the same underlying question at the heart of the piece: what does it take to step away from a life built on status and trust something deeper?

The show doesn't offer easy answers, but it reveals, with honesty and humor, the cost and the courage of taking that leap. After earning Audience Choice Award and Best Comedy honors during its New York run, Once Upon a Wall Street now makes its UK debut with a special performance at London's Drayton Arms Theatre.

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