Max Brooks in Nazi SS costume with epaulets

Forbes interview of Mel Brooks by Todd Wilms, “Mel Brooks Talks Storytelling, Hollywood Friendships, And . . . Zombies?” includes a funny story about his son, Max Brooks, author of “The Zombie Survival Guide” and “World War Z”:

T: Did you ever feel a victim of your own success? Ya know, being ‘funny man Mel Brooks?’

M: Nah. You know, for a while maybe, but then I realized that it’s their problem, not mine. It is what you are expecting. Anne (Bancroft) and I would have people over for a dinner party and on the ride home they would say ‘Ya know, that Mel Brooks is just not that funny.’ Like they were expecting me to be ‘on’ all the time. Life is more challenging than that. Like there was this one time where my son Max as a teenager was trying to stir some stuff up and came down to a dinner party dressed in full SS regalia, all black with the boots and everything. I was a bit shocked as ya know, there were a bunch of Jews at the table, but Anne – without missing a beat – said ‘Max, epaulets, really? Isn’t that a bit much.’ The room just cracked up and she handled it beautifully. I was just embarrassed.

T: Max has made quite a name for himself, correct.

M: Max never disappoints. And I am not just talking about his work. He wrote The Zombie Survival Guide and then went on to write World War Z, which is being turned into a movie this summer with Brad Pitt. But I am talking about him as a son. As a person, he is just a nice, sweet supportive guy. He never disappoints as a son.