History Main / WaitingForABreak

The reason for the prevalence of the selected career being waiting is, as explained in [[http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4377793-1.html this article]] which shares its title with this trope (but the name was coined independently, it's a {{Pun}} after all) is because it lends itself well to an auditioning actor. They can work a few long nights a week and use the rest of the time to audition or rehearse, and as mentioned above they can use the charisma many consider necessary to be an actor to get themselves tips, with the people they are serving as their audience. In other words, TruthInTelevision and WriteWhatYouKnow are in play here.

Related to StarvingArtist (or GiftedlyBad if the reason they are still in such a job isn't that they are an undiscovered genius, but they just think they are). Contrast PursueTheDreamJob. See also FallenOnHardTimesJob,and IWasYoungAndNeededTheMoney for someone whose past need to make ends meet led them into something less reputable than waiting tables. Sister trope to PayingTheirDues, the unimpressive gigs most artists are reduced to taking at the beginning of their careers.

* Mary Jane from the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' films (in the comics they're based on, she's actually more successful at getting work, having had a lot of modeling jobs, a recurring soap part, some B movies, and a well-received off-Broadway play whereas her film counterpart struggles much more, with a soap opera telling her to get some acting lessons[[note]]though the novelization reveals she was actually rejected due to {{Nepotism}}[[/note]], and while she does establish herself as a model and off-Broadway actress a couple years later, she ends up as a singing waitress after being fired from her Broadway debut). Midway through the first film, she chats with Peter on the street, and when her boss yells at her for walking off the job, she ashamedly opens her coat to reveal she's wearing a waitress uniform underneath it.

* A tragic example shows up in the music video for Music/HollyUndead's "Been to Hell". An aspiring actress is shown working as a waitress on the side only to constantly get brushed off by casting agents (who even use her professional headshots as Drink coasters). At the end of the video, she [[spoiler:ultimately [[DrivenToSuicide kills herself in despair by jumping off the Hollywood sign]]]].

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': Kramer moved to LA and tried to market his script to [[Series/TheWonderYears Fred Savage]] while serving him as a waiter. Again, '''tried'''

** Creator/JohnLeCarre worked for MI5.

** Creator/RobinWilliams worked as a busboy at The Trident in Sausalito, California.

** Creator/BramStoker was a successful theatre manager (when he died, none of his obituaries mentioned ''Theatre/{{Dracula}}'' and he even got invited to meet UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt).

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' when Brian moved to LA he was a waiter at a catered party and used the opportunity to try to chat up some bigwigs. The operative word is '''try'''
* Squidward from ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' works at the Krusty Krab so that he can pay his bills until his career as a clarinet player takes off. [[DreadfulMusician Given how bad he is]], it's probably going to take a while...

* Roger from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' used to work as a waiter in L.A, in hopes of becoming a famous actor.
* A number of characters in ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' worked as waitpeople and Starbucks employees soon after arriving in Los Angeles, while waiting for a break. Bojack could himself be seen as a successful example of this trope.

Related to StarvingArtist (or GiftedlyBad if the reason they are still in such a job isn't that they are an undiscovered genius, but they just think they are). Contrast PursueTheDreamJob. See also FallenOnHardTimesJob. Sister trope to PayingTheirDues, the unimpressive gigs most artists are reduced to taking at the beginning of their careers.

* ''Series/Numb3rs'': Brought up in ''Hollywood Homicide'', as the victim was someone who was trying to break into Hollywood and actor Brett Chandler has numerous people coming and going in his home who are also attempting to get roles in Hollywood. Liz also gets mistaken for an agent by one of these people.

* ''Series/Numb3rs'': Brought up in ''Hollywood Homicide'', as the victim is someone who is trying to break into Hollywood and actor Brett Chandler has numerous people coming and going in his home who are also attempting to get roles in Hollywood. Liz also gets mistaken for an agent by one of these people.