| Despite endless
research and advances in the field of psychology, it took a comedian to
find an effective way to overcome childhood trauma: Turn your painful
memories into a comedy show.
If you live in the Bay Area and haven’t seen Brian Copeland’s
Not a Genuine Black Man, you’re probably in the minority.
The longest-running solo show in San Francisco history celebrated the
one-year anniversary of its run at the Marsh theatre on April 1, and has
been extended once again to run through August (as of press time).
Copeland says he’s floored at the response he gets from people after
his performance, which tells the story of his childhood in San Leandro.
“I’ve been doing standup since I was
18, and I’ve gotten standing ovations before,” he says. “But
not like this. People come up and cry and, you know, ‘Can I hug
you?’ I’ve had people come up and tell me personal, intimate
things that they’ve never told anybody. That’s pretty heavy.”
Though the unexpected success of the show has resulted in a lot of exposure
for Copeland - a segment on KQED’s “Spark,” and both
a TV series and a book based on the show are in the works - he says he’s
most excited about how it’s benefited the Marsh, enabling them to
build a second theater and a cafe.
|
“[They’re
getting] all of this press and attention from people who’ve lived
in San Francisco forever, and had no idea [about the Marsh],” he
says.
The comedian became a television personality in 1992,
as the host of KQED’s short-lived late night arts and entertainment
series, “Q.” Shortly afterwards, he began a five-year stint
as co-host of KTVU’s “Mornings on 2.”
|
But when he was
awarded custody of his three children after a messy divorce, Copeland
found it necessary to take his career in a different direction.
“I’d been working as Smokey Robinson’s
opening act, but now I couldn’t go on the road because I had to
make lunches and I was being Mr. Mom and pulling my hair out of my head,”
Copeland explains. “I’d wanted to do
a one-man show for a long time, so to save my sanity, I started writing
a show.”
Some advice from a comedy legend gave impetus to the
idea for Not a Genuine Black Man.
“Carl Reiner has been a frequent guest [on “The Brian Copeland
Show”] - he’s one of my heroes in terms of comedy writing
- and I asked him for advice on how to write this show. He said, ‘Find
the piece of ground that you alone stand on and write from there. My piece
of ground was, I was a married comedy writer living in New Rochelle with
my wife and kid, writing for a show in New York - that became Dick
Van Dyke.’
“My piece of ground is that we were one of the first black families
in [San Leandro] when it was the most racist suburb in America,”
Copeland says. “So I’d take the kids to school, then just
sit and write down every story I could remember, and I filled up 800 pages
of notes.”
Shortly after the show opened, Copeland received a call from an old friend
interested in taking the play to another level.
|
|
His biting social
commentary segment, “Copeland's Corner,” appeared daily on
KTVU's News at Noon, while he continued touring the country as opening
act for performers such as Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, James Brown and
Dana Carvey. “The Brian Copeland Show” debuted on KGO radio
in 1995; the top-rated program can be heard on Sunday mornings at 9.
|
