Happy Friday!

I say that, even though I'm well aware that it's not a joyous beginning of the weekend for lots of Americans who are in distress over the events of the last week. People like me who can't believe that in 2018, women who are brave enough to come forward and tell their stories are not only disbelieved, but mocked, maligned and terrorized. I can't decide whether to be more sad or angry.

I decided instead to do something positive to help the people with whom I share this planet. The Marsh and I have decided to continue THE WAITING PERIOD Project for another year and provide free performances of my play, a combination of depression awareness and Suicide Prevention, throughout 2019. This afternoon, we officially launched the GoFundMe campaign that will enable us to make this a reality and allow us to continue saving lives. Please do me a favor and take a few minutes to watch the video and listen to my story here: https://www.gofundme.com/5kp972-help-us-help-people-with-depression.

Please help us with this. Not tomorrow, or next week but TODAY. Momentum is so important. The Marsh and I are hoping to get grants and corporate sponsorship. If we can show that we already have community financial support, it makes these businesses and foundations much more likely to help. We're trying to raise $10,000 in this first week. We'd appreciate anything you can do. It's 100% tax deductible. Thank you!

Here's what else I was up to this week.

WATCHING

After numerous unsolicited recommendations from folks across the demographic spectrum, the Lady Love and I have gotten hooked on SHARP OBJECTS. When I'm getting men, women, millennials and seniors all telling me to check something out, I tend to listen. And I'm so glad that I did! Amy Adams stars in the HBO adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name. It's as twisted as Flynn's GONE GIRL (which I loved as both book and film). That's all I'll say, leaving the content for you to experience for yourself. Just WATCH.

READING

A MEASURE OF DARKNESS by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman. The audiobooks of Jon Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels as read by John Rubinstein were a influence on how I developed the performance part of NOT A GENUINE BLACK MAN. When I was writing the book version, I reached out to Jon and told him. He was such a good guy that this internationally known bestselling author held my hand and gave me pep talks to get me over the finish line and complete the manuscript. He even blurbed the book for me! When I did the play Off Broadway, his son Jesse came out and saw it. Jesse is now a Bay Area resident and bestselling author in his own right.

I mention all of this because A MEASURE OF DARKNESS is the second collaboration by the two that featuring Alameda County Deputy Coroner Clay Edison. The first, CRIME SCENE, came out last year and was a bestseller. Clay is from San Leandro! I finally asked Jesse if it was a coincidence. He told me that he and his dad made that character choice because of me and GENUINE. How cool is that? In CRIME SCENE, the book mentions SL's history of housing discrimination and its diversity now. In the new book, Clay talks about buying Air Jordan's as a kid from the Foot Locker at Bay Fair Mall!

The plot involves Clay's attempts to identify a Jane Doe who is the victim of a mass killing in Oakland. READ IT!

SAW

The Lady Love and I saw A STAR IS BORN last night. It's one of those movies that I'm still thinking about today. It's the umpteenth remake of the classic tale of an established performer (this time around musicians...it's been actors, singers and even broadcast journalists in other iterations) taking a newbie under his wing, watching her blossom and falling in love with her while battling addiction. Bradley Cooper makes his directorial debut with this picture in which he stars alongside Lady Gaga. They are both really superb in this.

Seeing Gaga without all of the costuming and outrageous makeup and hair is refreshing. She's so incredibly talented, she doesn't need all that crap. We knew she could sing, but who knew what an amazing actress she was?????

Prediction: Oscar nominations for BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS, BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, BEST ORIGINAL SONG and Sam Elliott for BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR.

Normally, for a film like this, I'd say GO. Today I say GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!

THEATER

Tickets are now on sale for TIMES UNSEEN, the festival of original short solo plays taking place at the Marsh San Francisco on October 19, 20 and 21. The mini plays are on the theme, “How the Trump administration has affected me personally.” I'll be performing a piece I wrote called THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE AIR. It's about what to do when someone you love supports Trump and an agenda you loathe. For tickets and information, visit themarsh.org.

LISTENING TO

Since I was a child, I have been enamored with Old Time Radio. The word pictures created and the “theater of the mind aspect” of the genre has been a major influence on my work. To that end, for the last few weeks, I have been obsessed with LUX RADIO THEATRE. The dramatic anthology series ran from 1934 to 1955 with the great Cecil B. DeMille hosting for most of that period. Sponsored by Lux Soap, the series consisted of one hour adaptations of movies of the day. Most of the time, it was with the original stars. I listened to MILDRED PIERCE with Joan Crawford, THE THIN MAN with William Powell and Myrna Loy and several great obscure movies I'd never heard of but now want to see on DVD like PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER with Shelley Winters and Gary Merrill. They're all in the public domain and you can listen for free here: http://www.otr.net/?p=luxr
Let me know if you hear some cool ones!

EATS

After literally decades of listening to my pal Ronn Owens and Jon Handlery do spots for the Handlery Hotel Union Square and The Daily Grill restaurant, I had dinner there with Ronn last weekend. Boy have I been missing out! Shame on me for not getting there sooner. Great steaks and salads. Plus, Jon Handlery (third generation proprietor) is the nicest man on the planet. When you're headed to Union Square, be sure to check it out.

If you know of any Bay Area eateries you want me to try, email me at copie@briancopeland.com.

THE NOISY AMERICAN

By popular demand, for the last nine weeks, I've been doing daily livestreams on Facebook Live. I call the commentaries THE NOISY AMERICAN because some on the right have said that critics of this administration need to “sit down and shut up.” As Americans, I think it's just the opposite. We need to be LOUD. Weekdays, I spend a few minutes commenting on the news and politics of the day then we discuss and debate through Facebook posts. What started as a lark is really growing into something. We're prepping two YouTube channels, THE NOISY AMERICAN CHANNEL and CopieTV, that we'll launch soon. We've also just launched a website. Check it out at TheNoisyAmerican.com. Check out my daily videos and follow me on Facebook where I'm briancopie1.

Have a wonderful week!

Copie

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